Carl's Jr - Burger Review

As of August 2010, there's a new burger in town and I'm eager to try since I'm on a quest with my friend in search of the best burger in town. I had the chance to try it out a week after its grand opening and here is my story...

I arrived just in time before the dinner rush hour kicks in which gave me zero queuing. It's my first time and I'm not at all familiar with their menu, so I took a few minutes when choosing my order carefully. Like most burger joint, they also have variety kind of burger; beef, chicken, bacon, with BBQ sauce, with mushroom sauce, with chili, etc. I figured that I wanted to know their quality and taste, so I just ordered the standard burger called Famous Star with Cheese. Fortunately for me, they are having promo in cooperated with BCA cc and Gcard member of Grand Indonesia. It was a free up-sized promo (for fries and drinks only). They took my order, I paid my meals and they handed me a sign number and empty paper cup. The guy immediately said "The meals will be delivered to your seat and feel free to choose any kind of beverages from the refreshments corner and it's included with free refill". Wow...a very nice concept right?

I savored each bite and wanna remember exactly what its taste like. The burger bun was soft, the beef was tender and juicy but not quite thick enough, the veggies were fresh, the fries was not too crunchy nor crispy so we could actually taste the sweet potato, and the chili sauce and mayo was just perfect. I love it! Hands down the best burger in town...ladies and gentlemen....we have a winner!

You could choose any kind of drinks that you like: cola, sprite, fanta (blueberry even), lemon tea, hot tea and it's bottomless a.k.a free refill until you just had enough.

Okay, we may have just heard of Carl's Jr in Indonesia but they sure have been around long enough back in U.S, dated to 1941. Started out with just a hot dog cart, then within 5 years opened a hamburger drive-in and look at them now? Impressive right?

Since I didn't take any picture, so why don't you just check these websites for a closer look:
Facebook Fan Page consists of burger pictures
www.carlsjr.com

Go ahead and knock yourself up with their burger in:
Grand Indonesia west mall LG 25
Jakarta


Happy trying burger-lover

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

Kitchenette - Restaurant Review

My husband and I have been so curious to try this not-so-new resto, every time we passed it by the curiosity grew and we passed it a lot since we're always around Plaza Indonesia every weekend. But there's something about the place or the atmosphere that just don't feel right.

One night, we finally caved in to our curiosity and decided to give it a try. It was packed, as always, but the waiting list was friendly and we merely wait for 5 minutes before we're shown to our table. I instantly feel even more uncomfortable sitting in the restaurant than I was when we were just passing by. I think that it's because of the open-room concept in the middle of a shopping mall, with lots of people walking by all around us, the crowded que line out front and the fact that the space it self are very minimum, thus making me feel like suffocated. Basically I don't like being in a crowded place, it always makes me gasp for air to breath.

I ordered a simple meal, Spaghetti Aglio Olio with chicken. I always try out the pasta from every new restaurant and eventually became the benchmark for my food review. This aglio olio definitely didn't pass my test. Then my husband ordered the house specialty; galettes named Louis Bundle. This one is quite okay, worth to try.

Note:
Spaghetti aglio olio is worth IDR 45k
Louis Bundle package (incl. salad of the day and coke) is worth IDR 75k

I didn't spend too much time here since the que line out front was growing by the minute. So, it feels like we were rush out to finish our meal.

Well, maybe it's just me who didn't like the ambiance, the rushing, the crowd and other things. So, if you're interested to try out the place, then I definitely recommend the Louis Bundle.


Come and prove it yourself at
Plaza Indonesia level 1
Jl. MH Thamrin


Happy rushing eaters

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

La Collina - Restaurant Review

Who would've thought that we can have some sort of little vacation just by going to the outskirt of Jakarta, just 45km away to be exact.

On that fine day few weeks ago, I had to go to a meeting in Karawang and I practically dragged my ass down there, right in the middle of nowhere. Oow well, sometime you gotta do what you gotta do. I was starving after my meeting and desperately looking for something to eat, at this point, any kind of food will do just fine. Then, I remembered passing by San Diego Hills right after I exited the highway and definitely saw a restaurant banner. So, without further ado, I went straight to that so called cemetery.

I easily found the restaurant and surprisingly shocked to see the place. It was nothing like I ever imagined. Well okay, I knew that San Diego Hills is the most expensive and the best cemetery in Indonesia. But after seeing the place with my own eyes, it's definitely nothing like a cemetery!

I landed in La Collina, an Italian Restaurant. I was starving for sure but I immediately forget all about my craving for food and went straight to observed the whole place. Somehow, it made me feel like I was somewhere out of the country, maybe the landscape, the ambiance, the pool, etc gave away that impression.

After few minutes of photo session, I ordered spaghetti aglio olio and shirley temple to wash it down. Truthfully, I didn't expect the taste would be delicious but I was wrong cause it's one of the great meal that I ever tasted.

Okay, I know how ridiculous it may sound if I suggest you to come all the way here just to try out the restaurant which located inside a cemetery no less. I'm just saying that it could be an option for you if you wanna get away from the hectic of Jakarta or maybe if you're on your way out of town to Bandung per se. Anyways, stop by and try it out. Who knows, maybe it could bring the same joy to you as it did to me.







Come to La Collina Restaurant:
Exit Karawang Barat 2,
T : (0267) 845 3332
Open 8am - 5pm (daily)

Check this website to have a better view of the place:
www.sandiegohills.co.id


Happy dining explorer.

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

The Cutest Birthday Cake Ever - Icip2 Di Dapur Review

My daughter just had her birthday a couple of months ago. As a typical OCD person, I made all the arrangements 2 months prior to her birthday. I wasn't planning to have a birthday party for her this year, just a simple family dinner and of course a nice cake would be mandatory for the occasion. The dinner part would be easy, I just have to call our favorite restaurant and made reservation. The cake part however, that's gonna be a bit tricky.

Lucky for me, a good friend of mine was throwing her daughter a 1st birthday party at the time. So I asked for her help on the cake matter. Voila....she gave me a couple of vendors for it. I was back on track and kept on planning. I researched on both vendors, I browsed their websites, I looked at every single one of the cake that they ever created and posted, then eventually chose one, I chose Icip2 di Dapur.

The cakes were exactly what I had in mind, it were the kind of cake that I wanted to have for my daughter's birthday. I fell in love.

Now came the second hardest thing to do which is to chose the type of decoration for the cake. It supposedly easy but the level of cuteness of each and every one of those cakes is making me hard to chose. I spent 2 weeks to finally able to chose.

I contacted Ria, the cake creator, to order the cake and to secure her availability in making my cake. She was very helpful, very informative and very friendly right from the start. She's very patience dealing with crazy mother like me, hehe. She understood and accepted my detailed request which I appreciated it very much. She's great!

I waited patiently for the cake to arrive, well okay...maybe not so patience cause I ordered the cake a month before D-Day. Finally, the waiting and anticipation could cease to an end. The cake arrived safe and sound exactly 1 day before my daughter's birthday (as per my request) and exactly on the hour of arrival estimation given by Ria. I value punctuality since it's a rare commodity to find in our beloved city Jakarta and Ria has proven her business once more. Bravo!

I opened the box and gasped a little...there it was...the cutest birthday cake ever! I love it!

I looked forward to see my daughter's reaction when she see the cake, would she recognize the character? Would she love it? Well, I made the cake with Barney figurine because it's her favorite and maybe the only character she loves. So, it has to be Barney, as simple as that.

On the morning of her birthday, we gathered up in our living room and open the box for her to see, then she immediately screamed "Biiiiii" (It's her nickname for barney). She kept on touching the cake, especially Barney figurine and I could tell that she loved it too....(I'm glad).

Dear friends, I know what it feels for wanting a perfect cake to complete your perfect event. We all done our share of confusion, stress, and maybe a little panic. Well, I'm happy to tell you that those days are over. You could have any type of cake you wanted, play with your imagination and share it with Ria who I'm sure would bring those imagination to life.

Check her website and order her cake for your next event:
www.icip2didapur.blogspot.com


Happy creating party-planner.

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

Bubugiri - Acoustic Band

I usually write reviews about cloths, accessories or food. But this time, I wanna try something new, I wanna review music, well, a band to be exact. So, after gathering the courage for a while, I decided to write a review for a new band that I came across recently.

I was very fortunate to have seen Bubugiri’s performance, to have the chance to chat with them, and to write this review before they become famous which I’m sure gonna happen anytime soon now.

Bubugiri is an acoustic band from Bandung, It only has 2 personnel, Bubu the singer and Giri the guitarist. I only need 2 minutes to realize how very talented they are. Bubu has a very strong voice character, kinda blues-y and jazz-y type of voice, very powerful, very beautiful. While Giri is the most amazing guitarist that I ever saw in whole life.

I stand front and center on the night they performed at Pizza e Birra, Plaza Indonesia and I was hypnotize instantly (and I wasn’t even blinking until a friend reminded me). I was hooked by Bubu’s voice and Giri’s guitar performance. They ended the show with a medley of Michael Jackson’s songs: One Day in Your Life, Heal the World, Billie Jean and Black or White. And it rocks!!! Everyone cheers at the end. Simply outstanding.

I talked with their band manager after the show, I wanna know them. It turns out that they were auditioning at Pizza e Birra at the time and they just started to perform and in search of regular schedules at cafes or restos in Jakarta. Let me tell you something people, this band is a new rising star! Trust me on this one…He (band manager) told me that both Bubu and Giri already have a lot of experience in music industry. Bubu was in Indonesian Idol season 1 and Giri has performed everywhere even abroad like few countries in Asia and even Europe.

Like it was written and meant to be, the most amazing thing happen by the end of that night. They were ask to perform in one of a TV Show (I won’t mention the program or TV Station thou, I want you to find out on your own). It was a simple audition but it has opened many doors and opportunity for them. Well, I always believe that good things will happen on its own time. I wish you all the success Bubugiri.

Follow them on twitter to get new updates on show schedule and others:
@bubugiri


Happy rising to the top BUBUGIRI

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

A New Phase

Wow, It’s been a while since my last entry. I’ve been very busy at work and I’ve been trying so hard to control my shopping spree. Well, it’s June already which means that my bet period is over and I’m proud to say “I won the bet”.

I realized that my bet period was a very effective therapy for me as a shopaholic. Therefore, I wanna share my experience with you and maybe it could help you too.

I learned a few things from this simple bet with my friends. I AM a shopaholic, that’s the most obvious one. However, despite all those urgency and temptation to shop, I realized that I can control my self and say NO when any temptation occurs. After all, we are the master of our own mind right? It’s only the matter of being in control. It was very hard for me, obviously, but I could still go to malls, to bazaar, or anywhere and I could survive it. I come and go without buying anything.

It’s like dealing with your problems in life, you shouldn’t run away from it but you need to face it and find a way to overcome the problem. Am I right? So, in this case, it’s actually similar, never avoid the places where could give you the temptation to shop, you should just come to those places as usual and face the temptation, then you would find a way to handle those urgency to shop. In my case, I usually set a target or goal in mind. For example; “I will not shop because I wanna win the bet” or “I will not shop because I wanna safe my money and have a huge saving account”. I simply remember my target/goal/vision every time those temptations occurs and it works.

Even though the bet period is over, I still wanna suppress my urgency to shop, so I set a shopping budget and made a promise “I will only gonna shop once a month and the cost has to be within my budget” and hopefully I will not be a shopaholic anymore, wish me luck people!


Happy saving shopaholic….

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)

By the Beach - Restaurant Review

I've been walking pass through this restaurant for a few times in the last couple of weeks, I was getting more curious each time and I promised to my self to try it out. I imagined my self sitting on one of those chairs by the window in one afternoon and writing an article about the place.

So, I came during weekends cause that's the only free time I have in the afternoon. The place was already packed by the time I get there which shows a good sign, the food must have taste good. It's considered as a good crowd for such relatively new place like this. But my mood wasn't right ever since I walked in, not only I didn't get my spot by the window but they gave my requested spot to other customer even though I already specifically requested the spot 3 times. My mood was ruin instantly and decided to write the article some other time.

They do have a cool decor inside and outside. It look like a typical restaurant that you might find by the beach somewhere, but....what makes it different, this restaurant was in a middle of a shopping mall in Jakarta and they even have few palm trees inside the restaurant (fake ones of course). Well, I admit....the place do have cozy atmosphere, lots of lights (during day time), and comfortable sofas and chairs.

They offer seafood based menu selections from fishes, prawns, calamaris, and even sea shells. I ordered prawns with mayonnaise, grilled "ikan sebelah" with Jimbaran sauce, By the Beach Iced tea and Mango mint Iced tea. I love the prawns the most but everything was delicious, even the iced tea. They have ordinary iced tea and By the Beach iced tea as their signature, it was ordinary iced tea mixed with mint leaves and slices of apple which were shaken together so the apple and mint taste mixed with the tea, created a different kind of flavor to our tongue.

One important thing, If you consider to come with your children, then I suggest you to reconsider cause apparently they do not have separate areas for smoking and non-smoking. So, It is very possible that a smoker sits in the next table of an infant. Maybe they should do something about it cause it's bothered me so much.

Anyways, aside from they lack of service quality and smokey room, I do recommend the meal and the atmosphere, it was great...I felt as if I just came back from a vacation in the beach.

Note:
Prawns with mayonnaise is worth IDR 78k
Grilled ikan sebelah with Jimbaran sauce is worth IDR 79k
By the Beach iced tea is worth IDR 23k
Mango mint iced tea is worth IDR 23k
Rice is worth IDR 9k/portion

Come and try this new restaurant:
EX 2nd Floor
Jakarta
(Located at ex Fashion Bar)


Happy eating sailor...

Cheers,
MissCandyBar
=)