Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee

On December 19, 2020December 23, 2020 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

I will be here in Malaysia for almost two solid (hopefully) good years. So I am thinking to start writing articles about local foods and restaurants. A friend of mine have given me a good long list for me to explore and I tried three or four places already. So… before I forget, let’s start with this one.

Today I had early dinner in Damansara Uptown Hokkien Mee. As per its name, this local restaurant’s specialty is Hokkien Mee. Hokkien mee is a malaysian style stir fried noodle cooked with pork lard and thick soya sauce, usually added with seafood like shrimp or squid, sometime topped with crunchy fried pork skin. Some halal version use chicken skin as replacement of pork lard.

The one in Damansara Uptown is the non-halal one. This local restaurant sells different kind of Hokkien Mee, Cantonese style Kuay Teow, Fried Chicken Wings, Fried Lala (lala is a type of clam), Loh Mee, and Vegetables. My Malay friend recommended me to try its specialty: the Hokkien Mee and Chicken Wing, so I ordered those.

The Hokkien Mee is delicious. This tick noodle is cooked with pork lard and thick soya sauce, added with shrimps, crispy pork skin, and cabbage. It is very rich in flavor, melty sweet savoury in the mouth with a tiny bit crunchy texture from crispy pork skin, cabbage, and shrimp. It is very yummy, especially when I added their garlicy chilly sauce. YUMMM…

Beside the thick noodle you can also order other type of noodle for the Hokkien Mee: yee mee (Cantonese Noodle) or mee hoon (rice vermicelli) or a mix between yee mee and mee hoon. You can also order kuay teow (flat rice noodle). You can also order for 1 pax, 2 pax, or 3 pax. I saw some families coming and they ordered a big portion of Hokkien Mee with some other side food like thr Fried Lala, Chicken Wings, and Garlic Vegetable, and shared them.

Now about the chicken wings. I love chicken wings in all kinds of cooking style, name it… KFC, korean style, Indonesian BBQ, etc. So I had high expectation when I ordered it.

It is crispy in the outside, which I like from chicken wings, but the meat is rather dry but not too dry. LOL. I find it very hard to describe here. It is delicious and paired very well with Hokkien Mee and the garlicy chilly sauce. Will I order again next time? Maybe… if I have a friend to share with. The minimum order is two chicken wings, and I could only eat one piece.

I will surely come back for trying more menu 😊😊😊, before I officially move to my permanent apartment.

Update on December 22. I went for dinner after taking a stroll to buy bread and cakes from a nearby local bakery. I went here again and try its Cantonese Yee Mee, dry noodle with thick soupy broth, pork meat, shrimps, and veggies. This is not oily and suitable if you want to get something warm for the day.

DAMANSARA UPTOWN HOKKIEN MEE. 117, 119,121, Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Open Monday to Friday. Monday – Friday: 4 PM – 2 AM. Saturday – Sunday: 1 PM – 2 AM.

Petaling Jaya, December 19, 2020.

Mapo Galmaegi / Ma Gal Korean BBQ

On June 15, 2019June 15, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

Tonight I took my father and mother for our usual weekend dinner. Weekend dinner is something that we are always looking forward to because we can catch up and have long talk with each other. Tonight, we went to Mapo Galmaegi or in short Ma Gal Korean BBQ, nearby our house.

Ma Gal Korean BBQ is a chain restaurant originated from South Korea and it has more than 500 outlets worldwide. The restaurant has a few branches in Jakarta and big cities in Indonesia. Ma Gal is considered new compared to similar restaurants which have been established in Jakarta like Han Gang, Born Ga, or Chung Gi Wa. The price is slightly lower therefore make it popular in relatively short time.

Ma Gal serves free side dishes, like green salad with its special black sesame dressing, macaroni salad, kimchi, pickles, sweet potato, etc. We can always ask for more free side dishes. We usually order our second bowl of green salad and 3-4 more portion of kimchi.

Today we ordered three kinds of pork meat (sweet, spicy, salty) and pork japchae. Japchae is a korean style sweet savory stir-fried glass noodles with vegetables and pork / beef. Our order usually is enough for 4-5 people, unfortunately my brother could not join the dinner tonight.

In Ma Gal, we can prefer whether we want to cook the meat by ourself or ask the waiter to cook it for us. We usually prefer the waiter to help cooking the meat because the charcoal grill is extremely hot. Plus it gives us more time to talk to each other during dinner 😊.

Our pork meat were tender, juicy, and nicely marinated (I know this is not ideal for me who is on keto diet due to their sweet sauce, but it is better than not doing it at all). I asked the helper to grill the meat together with green chili and garlic, because it gave the meat nice garlicy aroma. When it was done, the meat also had this charred aroma from the charcoal grill.

Grill the meat with green chili and garlic

The restaurant also served complimentary fried-egg which was cooked at the side of the grill. The egg was fluffy and tasty, but we were not able to finish them. The egg was a lot!

Ma Gal serves two kinds of sauce for the meat: sesame oil sauce with salt and sweet sour sauce. It is really a preference, many people like the sweet sour sauce, I personally like my meat with the sesame oil sauce.

Some people like to eat the meat with rice (oh yes, Indonesian loveees rice!). However, I like to eat the meat with green chili, garlic, kimchi, wrapped with lettuce or mint leaves. Yummy!

This is how I eat the meat: with green chili, garlic, kimchi wrapped in lettuce

Ma Gal Korean BBQ is never fail to satisfy us. We love this restaurant and our family always comes back here for more.

Ma Gal Korean BBQ. Jl. Pesanggrahan Raya No. 8A-B, Meruya, Jakarta Barat.

$$$: IDR 100-150K / person.

Jakarta, June 15, 2019.

Shaburi: All You Can Eat Shabu-Shabu

On June 10, 2019June 15, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

On Sunday, our family had lunch in Shaburi, all you can eat shabu-shabu in Puri Indah Mall, the shopping mall near our house. Shaburi has many branches mainly in big malls in Jakarta.

The restaurant is always full during lunch and dinner time. If we arrive slightly late, we usually end up in a long waiting line. We were lucky on Sunday, my brother who arrived first, got a table for us right away.

Shabu-shabu is Japanese cooking style where diners cook thin slice of meat in boiling broth and then dipped them in sauce.

I love this place because beside provide good quality beef, it provides many choices of vegetables, meatballs, tofu, and other side dishes. It is perfect for me who is on keto diet (or to be precise trying to restart my keto diet).

Shaburi provides many broth options: original konbu, sukiyaki, hot miso, paitan chicken collagen, japanese herbal soup, and tom yum. My favorite is hot miso, while my family likes original konbu.

For the meat, Shaburi provides 4 grades of meat: beef shabu (standard one), special beef shabu (this one has additional angus beef), wagyu beef shabu, and special wagyu beef shabu. We usually just choose the beef shabu (standard one). The standard one provides three kinds of meat: tasty beef (contain more fat), low fat beef, and chicken slice.

What I like from this restaurant is it provides personal pot for each person. So we can pick the vegetables and other side dishes according to personal choice and taste. With 90 minutes time limit to order the meat, it surely provides enough time to eat and chat.

Our family had a great lunch and family time! 😊😊😊

Click this link for more information about Shaburi: http://www.shabu-shaburi.com/eng/

Jakarta, June 10, 2019.

Aroma Seafood Muara Karang

On June 8, 2019June 8, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

We tried our luck to have dinner on Aroma Seafood Muara Karang on Saturday evening. My mom has been wanting to come to this restaurant for a long time. We have not managed to come because the place is a bit far from our house, around 1 hour drive. In addition, to come to this place, we really need to leave home early.

We can not reserve tables in Aroma Seafood, so it is based on first come first serve basis. The restaurant opens at 4 PM. We arrived at 5.15 PM and the place was already totally full. Nearby, there are some seafood restaurant too, but this place is always the most crowded one.

Aroma is not a fancy type restaurant, more like an elevated hawker with air conditioned room. The restaurant is located in old “Ruko (Rumah Toko) complex / “Shop House” complex in Muara Karang area, North Jakarta.

After some battle to get our seat, I, my brother, and my brother’s girl friend went for another battle: order the food. In Aroma, we have to choose the seafood selection from their aquarium or fish box. All the seafood is either still alive or fresh. After we picked the seafood, the waiter weighed them and noted whether we wanted them to be fried, steamed, grilled, or boiled.

Today we ordered: 1.3 kg boiled shrimp, grilled squid, fried small fish, kerapu steam ala nyonya (the house specialties), boiled snail, and spicy morning glory. All the seafood was served with sambal terasi (chili mixed with shrimp paste), sambal kecap (chili mixed with sweet soya), or pickle.

Despite of the super long waiting, the food was delicious. My favorit was the boiled shrimp. It tasted very sweet because the shrimp was caught alive from the aquarium.

With rice and the drinks, we paid IDR 1 mio. The restaurant owner told us that the restaurant increased the price during Eid Holiday. In regular day, we might only pay IDR 800 K.

If you don’t mind a super crowded non fancy restaurant and the super long waiting, Aroma Seafood Muara Karang is highly recommended. The seafood price is relatively low compared to the other famous restaurant in Jakarta, yet it provides fresh seafood everyday.

Aroma Seafood Muara Karang. Niaga I No.6 Muara Karang Raya, Pluit, Penjaringan, RT.11/RW.3, Pluit, Jakarta Utara, Jakarta Utara 14450

No reservation needed.

$$$: IDR 150 – 200 K in average per person.

Jakarta, June 8, 2019.

Hay Thien – Chinese Steam Boat Restaurant

On June 7, 2019June 7, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

Holiday is best shared with family over a good meal. So for the past one week, we have been going out for lunch or dinner, hunting any restaurant which opens during Eid Holiday. Today, we had lunch in Hay Thien, a Chinese Restaurant that serves steam boat.

Hay Thien has many branches in Jakarta and there is one nearby our house. This restaurant has been our family’s favorite for years. We always go there whenever we are craving for warm soup and dumplings.

Hay Thien Steam Boat

Hay Thien offers many choices of meat, meatball, dumplings, tofu, fish, and vegetable for the steam boat. All of them will be boiled with chicken broth. In addition the restaurant also serves satay: pork satay, clam satay, enoki satay and fried stuffs like fried shrimp lumpia, go hiong, and fried dumplings.

Sweet Pork Satay & Fried Go Hiong

The meats that have been boiled will be put on the plate that has sesame oil. Then it can be eaten right away or dipped into the soy and spicy chili sauce. The vegetables will be served together with the chicken broth in a small bowl for each person.

Swekiau (left), Soy and Chili Sauce Dip

We were very hungry when we arrived. The food was gone very quickly. LOL. We had a good lunch and a happy tummy today 😊.

Hay Thien. Jl. Puri Indah Raya Blok A No. 1, RT.1/RW.8, Kembangan Selatan, Kembangan, RT.1/RW.8, Kembangan Sel., Kec. Kembangan, Jakarta Barat 11610.

Open everyday: 11 AM – 12 AM.

No reservation.

$$$: 100.000 IDR / person in average.

Jakarta, June 7, 2019.

Dinner at Steakhouse Lutscher Alm

On April 25, 2019April 25, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

April 24, 2019. Today we had dinner at Steakhouse Lutscher Alm to celebrate… me. Haha 🙂 Naaah… we just wanted to have a special family dinner. In addition, I wanted to treat them to dinner as a thank you for taking care of me while I am here.

The restaurant is located in the middle of nowhere, we even could not get cellphone signal. However, this restaurant is famous in this area, and for special day like Christmas, Easter, or Valentine, people need to reserve 6-9 months in advance.

Usually when the the restaurant is full house, at some certain hour the waitress will entertain the guests by dancing Austrian Folk Dance . Too bad they did not do it today.

Lutscher Alm is famous for its Pork Ribs BBQ. The foods are always accompanied by two kind of salad (Special House Salad and Garden Salad) and two kind of potatoes (french fries and baby potato), placed in the bowls and served in the middle of the dining table. We can choose whatever we want to eat as side dish.

This was my second visit to the restaurant. The food is as good as I remember. I ordered a plate of BBQ sampler (pork ribs, chicken, beef, and pork) because I wanted to try them all. It was a big portion, I ended up giving away half of my plate to my brother in law.

The highlight of the dish for me was its special house salad. The house salad consists of lettuce, raisins and walnut, mixed with sweet sour taste mayonaise. It was very refreshing for eating heavy BBQ dish.

And we closed the dinner by ordering desserts. Mine was not in the picture. It was good, but… my brother in law ordered the best one. He ordered vanilla ice cream with warm cherry sauce (pic: top right)

We had such a wonderful time at the dinner. Happy tummy, happy family. Haha. 🙂

Steakhouse Lutscher Alm. Address: Lossersestraat 189, 7525 PE, Lonneker, Enschede

Hengelo, April 25, 2019.

Day 3: My Dinner

On March 13, 2019April 23, 2019 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & Cuisine, My StoriesLeave a comment

I am just glad that today’s meeting was finally over at 7 pm. We were totally being locked up from 9.30 am in the meeting room.

So today, I am simply grateful that finally I could get out from my office and had this delish mackarel fish for my dinner.

(I will come back to Genki Sushi for this! I found out that it tastes better and less expensive than Sushi Tei).

Jakarta, March 13, 2019

My Favorite Food

On February 23, 2006January 1, 2012 By Yuliana BiantoroIn Foodies & CuisineLeave a comment

Food… food… food… I miss eating delicious food, craving for sweets and ice cream, and right now really want to eat KFC. Sesshh… How come losing weight is just sooooooo hard for certain people? And I am just one of those unlucky people. Maybe because I love eating… and I love food. And I am getting near 30, so the body metabolism is going slower now.

Talking about food… I like any kind of food, but most of all:

Japanese food: tempura, teriyaki, tepanyaki, sashimi, sushi, pork ramen, unagi don, yakiniku, miso soup.(slurup…!).
Chinese food – chicken kungpao, black pepper beef, brocoli garlic, mayanoise shrimp, sharkfin soup (my grandma made the BEST sharkfin soup in the world), lumpia, dim sum. (yummy…!).
Indonesian food – nasi padang and friends, nasi uduk, serepeh chicken (traditional BBQ chicken from Lasem, my dad’s hometown), any kind of soto, chicken satay, kodok tauco. (hungry….!)
BBQ: seafood BBQ (squid, fish, crab), steak, ribs BBQ.
Dessert: rum raisin ice cream, opera cake, tiramisu, strawberry smoothies, cheese, bitter sweet chocolate, chocolate bar, bread-talk abon sapi, macaroni panggang. (nyam..!).
love rice (miss eating rice badly!)

Seshhh… I can only write about it, but too bad that I can not eat most of them now. Well… I can actually but just a few during the weekend. Now… I am feeling kinda hungry after writing about my fave food. LOL… Ganbatte! 63… I am coming! (there must be something wrong if I can not achieve it!!!! and only God knows why).

Live Fullest Life

Category: Foodies & Cuisine