Saturday, April 26, 2014

food review: platinum grill

my husband suddenly had this craving to eat something nice, and we haven't tried platinum grill yet, so he asked me to make reservation for last saturday, no special occasion. fortunately, last saturday wasn't that crowded. probably people still check out domicile or 1914 or le ciel blue. anyway, this will be our first 3 courses dinner. hahahaa..

the place: it was pretty dark, though it was still 6 pm. plus the restaurant was surrounded by trees and no big lamp inside, so there was just a glimpse of light just enough for us to see our way. everything was decorated black. even the waiter and waitresses were all dressed in black. plus last saturday it was cloudy and rainy, so it added extra darkness. the place was decorated for easter, though they moved some bunnies from the original place, probably to avoid it getting drenched by the rain.

the service: they were very meticulous about the service. they asked us whether it was our first time there. they even gave us extra chair for our bag. they explained the menu for us if it were our first time there. anything you asked them, they'll answer it for you. they even urged us to pick a main first and immediately order it for it took some time to prep the main.

the food: 3 courses menu. entree, main, and dessert. all in a package. so the price on the main was for the whole package. the entree was salad or soup, but if you wanted another entree, they will calculate it for you. my husband picked fjord something, which was something he usually didn't eat. below the dishes' name there was a simple explanation, and for the fjord, it was salmon, citrus and caviar. and just that. it turned out smoked salmon, with oranges underneath and some caviar. they served it in a bowl with lid closed, but they opened the lid at your table so you could smell the smoke. hahaha.. pretty theatrical. and i chose mini burgers. i thought if matthew demanded something to eat, he could try it. but turned out i had to eat the fjord since the salmon was raw. hahaha.. my husband had no idea what he chose. and he ate the mini burgers instead. the salmon was too salty for my taste, and the orange was too sour. eaten together the sourness of the orange did balance the saltiness, but i could still taste the salt. oh.. i forgot. when we were reading the menu to pick, they gave us cinnamon crunchy stick to munch.. and some tiny appetizer. it was consisted with orange and egg belt, meat covered in cheese (but looked like klepon) and cherry with mayones. tiny bits. after that, since we both chose steak, they gave us bread and butter. matthew loved it. he ate two. hahaha...

main: tenderloin with mushroom sauce and french fries for me (the fries were supposed for matthew, but he was full from the bread, so i ate them instead) and baby back pork ribs for my husband, bbq sauce and potato wedges. i wanted to try the seafood, but i was uncertain about their dressing and sauce, so i just picked the steak. after all, i wanted to eat some meat too. tenderloin was okay, they cooked the meat perfectly, but the sauce was soooo little. i wanted more sauce. my husband still prefer stevan's for the steak. the baby back pork ribs was delicious. it was tender and delicious. for me it tasted just like domicile's but more meaty. but my husband said it was too much, probably since he chose the large portion. hahaha.. jadi mbleneg, he said.

desert: i chose chocolate gateux and the apple for my husband. i thought there will be a proper size of apple pie, nice, sweet and comforting. but turned out there was just tiny apple pie, just a bite size, and a sponge cake, foam and an ice cream. for me, the chocolate gateux was perfect. rich and moist chocolate cake, with vanilla ice cream, raspberry and orange sauce, drizzled at the top and bottom of my plate and candied orange. i didn't like the candy, it was too sweet for my taste.

for the drink, they gave us lime infused water for free. free top up too.

conclusion: this was a nice example for 3 courses dinner. the menu was all french but the taste was changed to suit asian tongue. though they didn't use overpowering spice, and the side dish (the veggies) was blah. the mini carrot and turnip was actually a regular size cut into mini veggies. and it was bland. the mushroom also was bland. so in case of copying the actual french dish, they were failed at side dish, probably because we didn't have baby veggies like western countries. and our veggies tasted different, like soil and grass, while abroad, some of them tasted sweet. but if you wanted fine dining, but not too french-y, you could try platinum grill. my stomach was a happy stomach that night.
fjord : salmon, citrus, caviar

mini burgers

baby back pork ribs

tenderloin with mushroom sauce

chocolate gateux
the apple


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

food review: domicile

actually, i was planning to dine here on my birthday, but things went south that day, so we finally could try it last saturday. this restaurant's been a hype in surabaya, and i was kinda late to try it, but better late than never i guess.

one thing about the place: it didn't have enough parking space, or any empty lot nearby for valet parking. so i guess the owner might want to reconsider parking arrangement.

interior and decor: once you step inside, the indoor dining place has high ceiling and it feels spacious. the center island is their cake display and cashier. they also have outdoor space, or false outdoor space to be exact. the outdoor space is covered with glass and fake plants to make it cooler. they even put air conditioner out there, so i bet you won't feel hot outside. when we were there, it was near easter time, and they made special outdoor setting with easter theme so people could take picture there.

the service: you have to make reservation before going there. not like other restaurants which apply "first come first serve" principal. but they make 15 minutes tolerance for the reservation, so even though you've reserved it but when you're late more than 15 minutes, they will give up your table if someone else's coming. the waiters are okay. though those without uniform (the apprentice) are a bit slow. funny things happen here though. one of the waiter that take us to our table asked me if i was a doctor. and when i said yes, he asked me if i worked at mitra hospital. i completely had no idea who he was, but he told me at the end that he was the medical record officer. fiuh.. pretty big leap from medical record officer to waiter.

the food: lots of choices from the menu. from appetizer, side dishes, pizza, pasta, main and even lunch special. and don't forget desert. they also have a lot selection of liquor. just like la rucola. from what i see, lunch special is another name for dishes with rice. more like asian dishes. pretty weird thing is the pizza topping. they have beef sausage, which usually will be favorite since it's pretty common, but they combine it with beef carpaccio, which is raw dish, so i can't predict will it be favorite or not. i ordered their black ink seafood fettucine with cream sauce, my husband tried their baby back pork ribs. both were great choice, though the portion was a bit smaller than la rucola. but the pizza was huge. pizza was nice, with the thin crust.

overall, this is a great place to taste a new take of western cuisine, italian particularly. but they also give asian choices so for those who can't eat without rice or take their nanny with them won't have to worry. unfortunately, not to child friendly. no child menu and maybe only a few baby chair too.
black ink seafood fetuccine

baby pork back ribs

Thursday, April 3, 2014

food review: cut catch cucina

the name was difficult to spell, even the receptionist at the hotel only said its acronym, CCC. hahaha..
the restaurant was inside the sofitel hotel bali, so unless you were staying at the hotel and had no other options, you would probably skip this restaurant.

since we were on a budget and my husband was not too fond of western cuisine, so we decided to choose the package menu and a pizza. the package menu was a 3 course menu, minestrone soup as appetizer, beef tenderloin for main, and for dessert supposed to be bavarois, but the strawberry was unavailable, so they changed it into tiramisu. actually, after trying the desert, i was happy they changed the desert. hehehe...

appetizer: i forgot to take any picture, but even though i took the picture, all you could see was orange soup. minestrone was a tomato and lobster soup, a fancy one. but here the lobster was substited by big shrimp. at first they plated it beautifully, with the shrimp in the center and all the garnish at the side, but then the waiter poured the tomato soup and everything was covered by orange sea and nothing could be seen. the minestrone was okay, it was not too sour for a tomato soup, you could taste some saltiness, sweetness inside the soup. it was nice, but it was a hot and sunny day, so after eating the hot soup, i felt hot and sweaty.. not suitable for tropical place like bali.

main: beef tenderloin. the presentation was unique. the beef was cut like a log, and put in the center. the vegetables were arranged around it like bushes. there was some ground-like thing and my husband said it was cinnamon. the beef was tender though it was grilled well done. we asked the waiter about it and he said it was sous-vide first before they grilled it. unfortunately, i prefer beef tenderloin with lots of sauce. and sauce was the only thing that's missing from this dish.
beef tenderloin

pizza: what can i say about this pizza? though the dough was thin and a bit crusty, it was not chewy. and the sauce was nice, a bit sour and sweet, made from fresh tomato sauce. even my husband liked it. he was pretty picky for pizza.

dessert: it was a deconstructed tiramisu. it was delicious. but it needed more coffee ice cream and the crumble. other than that, it was perfect.
tiramisu

holiday alert: seclusion day in bali

yep.. you might think we were weird for spending seclusion day in bali. well, we were too, until some travel agent guy told my husband that it was perfect for a quiet weekend in bali. he recommended hotels in nusa dua especially those with pools. we were excited and started searching. we decided to choose sofitel. it was new, and the pool was big. the beach was at the back of the hotel but we couldn't go to the beach on seclusion day. but it was okay. we decided we'd go for it.

and we did. we survived seclusion day in bali. even balinese decided to stay at the hotel in order to avoid the tradition. particularly those who didn't celebrate seclusion day. so the hotel was crowded on seclusion day.

day1: arrival
it was hot and humid. the first disappointment was the car wasn't as nice as before. but what can we ask? at least we had car to go around. and we decided to shop at the new mall. unfortunately, my son refused to eat. blah. so much for a start. then we drove to the hotel. it was big and nice. my son was excited. he was running around. the bathroom was big.. and we could see the pool from our balcony. we ate at jimbaran that night, and it was sooo crowded. we even didn't eat at made, my husband's usual cafe. we picked nyoman instead. fortunately, the food was okay. at least we finished the first day with our stomach full.

day2: safari time
we decided to spend the morning at bali safari and marine park. it was another hot day. my son refused to eat breakfast again, even though there were plenty choices to choose from. unfortunately, no dessert spotted. what can i say about bali safari? it was soooo hottt... my son was excited while waiting for the animal education show, and he enjoyed it. after the show we went to the safari journey. fortunately, when we saw the tiger, it was standing when we came nearby. usually it was sleeping and did nothing. my son was excited watching the tiger. though he was sleepy at that time. and by the end of the safari journey, he fell asleep. and we got out just in time to get our lunch at mcd since most food outlet were closed after 1-2 pm. actually, most people suggested us to watch ogoh-ogoh festival in the afternoon, but we were afraid that my son would freak out since it was creepy toy that they carried, and it was full with many kind of spirit, so.. for my son sake, we just stayed at the hotel and enjoyed the pool. the children pool was okay and it has a slide so he was excited walking around the pool. ahh.. another day at the paradise.

day3: seclusion day
we spent the morning swimming at the pool. the hotel officers made some games for those in the pool to play. but we had to be quiet. well, it was not easy, since everybody was excited and excited equals screams. we won the treasure hunt game, hahaha.. my son was excited walking around to find the unusual things we were supposed to find. but it was my husband who actually found it. hehehee...my son was exhausted so he was fell asleep pretty quickly, so me and my husband could sneak out to hotel restaurant to enjoy lunch. we picked the CCC restaurant, but the price was insane. so we just chose the package menu and a pizza. i'll review the food later. for dinner we ate at the kwee-zen, the one we usually ate for breakfast. but this time we ate ala carte. it was super hot and my son was uncomfortable. we finished dinner quickly and walked back to our room in darkness. the hotel provided a small flashlight so we won't trip on our way. and my husband was right. when everything was quite and dark, you could see the stars brighter and a lot more than we used too.

day4: our last day
ohhh.. the holiday came to an end. my husband had some business to take care for, so me and my son decided to play sand near the beach. but it was strikingly hot and my nanny told us not to play directly under the sun, so we found a nice place under the tree to play. hehehe.. he was soooo happy playing sand that he refused to get back to hotel room to pack up before going home.

overall, it was nice and quite spending time at bali on seclusion day, so probably you guys might consider it. the hotel price was lower than the holiday season, so you could enjoy the 5 stars hotel without bleeding money. hehehe.. as for sofitel, it was recommended.