MIKA - Japanese Bistro

MIKA located in Kota Kasablanka - Food Society Ground Floor. I've heard about MIKA for several times and often passing through in front of their restaurant. But never got a chance to visit. So excited when I got a chance to visit MIKA

Venue
MIKA have a very unique, cozy and homey ambiance. With a big shelves full of cute stuffs and make want to grab some hahaha... There are 2 sitting area, indoor and outdoor. They have lots of chairs to accommodate peoples. And they have classic sofa with shelves as a backdrop. Pretty nice to take a picture. If you more like dine and still can see peoples around, just sit outdoor. As for me, I prefer sit indoor. Because so many good spot to take a picture hehehe... For example their open bar with white big cabinet behind it. Or rustic cabinet full of antique things.

 

MIKA have a lots of kind of food and beverages. I'll spread those to make you mouthwatering and dreaming to go to MIKA also...

BEVERAGES BLAST

Freshening Mocktails

PURPLE LUSH - IDR 25.000
Grape fruit and Juice, Mixed Yoghurt and Strawberry fruit . Blended strawberry and grape bring out the freshening of those fruits Combine with yoghurt leaving bit sour taste.

MY SISTER'S FAVORITE - IDR 40.000
Peach, Grenadine & Sprite. I think this drink has become everybody's favorite. The sprite bring out the freshness from the peach. So it become not too sweet.

RED CALPIS - IDR 27.500
Calpico, Mint, Dutch Eggplant Syrup with Mint Leaves. I never imagine that Calpico can be this good. And this is also the 1st time I taste Eggplant Syrup hahaha... The mix between all ingredients is just so great. Freshening.

POISON IVY - IDR 90.000
Jack Daniels, Apple Juice, Cantaloupe, Melon Syrup. At first I taste the Jack Daniels a bit too strong. But then again, apple juice and melon syrup can balance the Jack Daniels. Using melon stick and cherry as a garnish, this Poison Ivy pretty good to try.

BIMBOLICIOUS - IDR 38.000
Strawberry, Milk and Fresh Lychee. I don't know because we're taking this drink too long for a photo shoot, or this is the real taste from Bimbolicious. Because I don't feel the real taste from each ingredients. If their pop out all those Strawberry, Milk and Fresh Lychee it would be great. And I'm sure this is going to be Kids favorite.

MANGO YOGI - IDR 25.000
Mango Fruit & Juice, Lychee Yoghurt, Fresh Milk & Raspberry Syrup. Aaakkk... I can't stop drink this Mango Yogi. All ingredients blend together leaving a very fresh taste. Not too sweet also. The mango dominated all the flavor.

MISTY LYCHEE - IDR 48.000
This is menu drink of the month from MIKA. Consist of Pear, Sake, Lychee, Vodka, Sour Mix. Lychee can be a balancing for vodka and sake. Even at first I taste that the vodka and sake a bit too strong, but not leaving a bitter taste after it.

NAOMI KYURI - IDR  65.000
Fresh Kyuri, Sake, Sour Mix. Who ever think that kyuri (a.k.a Japanese cucumber ) can be this fresh. Blend with traditional Japanese drink, Sake, make this drink quite unique.

HARAJUKU POP - IDR 75.000
Sake, Raspberry, Cranberry, Melon Syrup. Do you remember pop candy called pop rocks? Yeepp... MIKA use that candy for Harajuku Pop garnish. I like the mix of Harajuku Pop. The taste so fresh and really pop in my mouth.


APPETIZER & SALAD
From beverages, now we move to food. Begin with some of appetizers & salad.

Various Salad

ONSEN TAMAGO SALAD - IDR 30.000
Romaine Lettuce Topped with Soft Boiled Egg, Parmesan Cheese Slices and Creamy Caesar Dressing.
This salad I can call East meet West. Classic Caesar Salad with onsen tamago or soft boiled egg that cooked under 65 celcius to get creamy texture. Fresh romaine lettuce with a bit sour thick salad dressing make this salad taste yummy.

GOMA TOFU SALAD - IDR 30.000
Mesclun salad topped with deep fried sesame crusted tofu, corn salsa and soya dressing.  at 1st I thought that was a Tuna. But then I was wrong. It's a tofu covered with battered and sesame seed. It's quite good and unique, especially with soya dressing.

TERIYAKI CHICKEN SALAD - IDR 33.000
Mesclun Salad Topped With Grilled Teriyaki Chicken, Crispy Rice Noodles and Spicy Peanut Dressing. Another unique salad from MIKA. what makes it unique, because they use spicy peanut for the dressing. It remind me our local salad, Gado-Gado and Pecel hehehe...  The chicken taste really tender.

Are you confused with the word Mesclun ? Well... me too. Don't bother to roll your eyes for Googling. I found it for you.
According to Wikipedia, Mesclun (French pronunciation: ​[mɛsˈklœ̃]) is a salad mix of assorted small, young salad leaves which originated in Provence, France. The traditional mix includes chervil, arugula, leafy lettuces and endive in equal proportions, but in modern iterations may include an undetermined mix of fresh and available lettuces, spinach, arugula (rocket, or roquette), Swiss chard (silver beet), mustard greens (Dijon's Child), endive, dandelion, frisée, mizuna, mâche (lamb's lettuce), radicchio, sorrel, and/or other leaf vegetables.

Lite Bites

EBI CREAM & RICE KOROKKE - IDR 34.000
Coated Fried Creamy Shrimp and Rice Balls with Cheese Filling, Served on Top of Tomato Sauce.

It similar like croquette or kroket in bahasa, the different is if kroket using potato, meanwhile for korokke, they use rice and ebi. I like ebi better than the rice. The cheese more blend and taste really good. Mix with their tomato sauce, the taste a bit like spaghetti sauce. yummy...

TORI KARAGE - 25.000
Marinated deep-fried chicken pieces served with tartar sauce and spicy dark sauce. This chicken texture is crispy outside and tender inside. The tartar sauce is so unique. Because it combine with nori. It taste good. Squeeze with lemon before you eat it.

GYU TATAKI - IDR 38.000
Thinly Sliced Pan-Seared Wagyu Beef with MIKA’s Special Sauce.  I love this Gyu Tataki. For more perfect, order Medium for the wagyu. The texture more tender and good. The sauce taste savory. Melted in mouth in suddenly.

SALMON TARTAR WITH CRISPY RICE - IDR 36.000
Norwegian Salmon Tartar with Spicy Ariracha Dressing, Layered on Soy Crispy Rice. the salmon taste fresh and not smelly. Perfectly cooked, i love it. They grill the rice so it became crispy.


MAIN COURSE
MIKA served many various of main course. From east to the west, or combine between the two of them.

EBI KATSU WRAP - IDR 54.000
Fried Shrimp Katsu with Salsa and Spicy Mayonnaise.Served with MIKA’s Special Soya-Base Dressing.  Choices of Potato Wedges or Fries.
The portion quite big. Enough for 2. We can choose the side dish. The filling is very generous, with a pretty big size and tender of shrimp, lettuce, corn, tomato and onion. Served with spicy soyu sauce.

TERIYAKI LAMB RIBS - IDR 80.000
Australian Teriyaki Marinated Lamb Ribs, Grilled to Perfection and Served With Mixed Salad and Balsamic Dressing.
I'm not a huge fans of lambs. But MIKA's lamb taste good. It so tender and ripped easily from its bone. It took 4 hour to get juicy meat like this. Perfectly seasoning.    

DEMIGLACE OMURICE - IDR 65.000
A Japanese-Style Omelet and Tomato Fried Rice with French Influenced Thick Brown Sauce. It took 7 hour to get yummy and tasty demiglace sauce like this. The thickness is just right. MIKA used Omega 3 egg. It cooked really soft.

MEATBALLS OMURICE - IDR 65.000
 A Japanese-Style Omelet with Garlic Butter Rice and Meatballs, Served with Bechamel and Curry Sauce. This Omurice served with 2 kind of sauce. Curry Sauce taste a bit bland, however, the meatballs so tender and good. Bechamel sauce texture is really creamy.

KIMCHI SPAGHETTI - IDR 45.000
A Traditional Fermented Korean-Style Cabbage with Mix of Seasonings, Cooked With Your Choice of Pasta.
I usually  like kimchi. Taste sour and spicy. But this time I think I should passed it. Probably because it leaving too long for a photo session. So, it leaves a very weird taste after.The pasta cooked aldente though.

MIKA'S HOMEMADE BASIL PESTO - IDR 50.000
Sauteed Chicken in MIKA’s Homemade Basil Pesto Mix with Your Choice of Pasta
I love it. MIKA use  sun seeds instead of pine nuts. The herbs really tasty. With generous chicken chunk.

CURRY CARBONARA WITH ONSEN TAMAGO - IDR 60.000
Creamy Curry Sauce, Beef Ham Slices and Soft-Boiled Egg
Curry mixed with carbonara actually pretty good. With slices of smoked beef, this spaghetti really have rich flavor

DESSERT
The journey is not over yet. we still have some desserts to dig in.

CHOCO MELT CAKE - IDR 35.000
Chocolate melting cake with ice cream. The warm cake is really smooth, and the chocolate really melt all over the cake. Served with choice of ice cream, chocolate and macademia nut. The taste not too sweet.



BANOFFEE PIE - IDR 40.000
Banana and Coffee Pie with Chocolate, Caramel and Cream
This Banoffee Pie also great. The Pie crust texture no too thick and smooth. The filling also generous. All the sweetness balance with coffee on top. 

PANNACOTA - IDR 25.000
MIKA’s Homemade Italian-Style Pannacota with Choices of Matcha or Houjicha Flavors
The texture really smooth. Both great. Each come out with each flavor. 

Overall, very satisfied with MIKA. They really can served Japanese fusion dish into a different level. The service also great. So patient explain about each menu. If you want to have unusual Japanese dish with good ambiance, just visit MIKA.


MIKA Japanese Bistro
www.mika.co.id
Ground Floor #M-11, Food Society
Mall Kota Kasablanka
Jl. Casablanca Raya Kav. 88
Jakarta Selatan 12870
(021) 2946 4975

facebook : https://www.facebook.com/mikajbistro‎
twitter: @mikajbistro
 

365 Ecobar

Last week I attended an Food Tasting event that held by Openrice and 365 Ecobar. I'm so excited reading the theme and menu from this restaurant. So here I am, beat the worst traffic in the evening just to answer my curiousity.

365 Ecobar located in a very hype location, Kemang. Take the eco friendly theme, 365 Ecobar use so many recycle material like ship container that been re-design and re-painted. 365 means there's 365 days in one year. And if you notice the number infront of the restaurant, it change every day. When I visited 365 Ecobar the bar shows 204. This place so unique and feel good. It's a great for hangout with your friends. Sadly... they don't have separate room for smoking and non-smoking area. I prefer seat outside, where I still can feel the air. Outdoor area with a greeny drop leaves, sitting here just like sit in a garden. I also can't blink my eyes when I saw the bar area. With colorful wooden stool, it look so fun. Indoor, beside the bar area, 365 Ecobar have private sitting area complete with a nice and big sofa where we still can see the stage. And if you want to get really close with the stage, so you can straight to perform and act like a fab singer... You can sit in a couch infront of the stage.

Outdoor Area

Bar Area

Private Seating Area

Our gathering begin with mocktails and cocktails from 365 Ecobar. After that continue with their appetizer. Sadly (again) since I came late, so I missed some picture moments for several menus. Luckily my skinnymini mates, Aline & Yenny allowed me to use some of their pictures.

Virgin Colada – IDR 43.000

*picture courtesy of Aline-Foolosophy

Tropical blend of pineapple, coconut and cream. Eventhough there's coconut and cream in ingredients, but the pineapple dominate this mocktail. It fresh and not too sweet.

1000 Kisses – IDR 43.000

*picture courtesy of Aline-Foolosophy

Light Cherries, Tea and Cream Smoothie.  A very ear catching names. Give it to your girlfriend for a lil' bit flirt hehehe.... Taste like strawberry milk. But since it also blend with tea, taste more freshening.

Fuzzy Kiwi - IDR 85.000

Pears Vodka wit Muddle Kiwi Cube. Me like this one. The vodka is not overpower. The kiwi make it more fresh. You can still feel the Kiwi chunk in it. Since they smash the kiwi into a little chunk.

Russian Roulette - IDR 85.000

Coffee Liquor, Vodka, Irish Cream and Milk. For coffee lover, like me, you gonna love this one. Between one ingredient to other nothing to overpowering. So you still can taste the coffee it self.

Coffee Liquor Aceh Gayo

Aceh Gayo Coffee mixed with Rhum. I never can imagine that Aceh Gayo can be this good infused with Rhum. It's quite unique.

After open by great Liquor, now we move to appetizer....

Tequila Quesadilla – IDR 45.000

*picture courtesy of Aline-Foolosophy

Tequila Quesadilla

Tequila Marinated Chicken Julienne, Pan Fried with White Tortilla. Imagine if you eat chicken that been marinated with tequila. This quesadilla is so great. The tequila is not too overpowering. When we eat it, we only can smell the aroma. Topped with guacamole and fresh tomato, make this quesadilla more flavored.

Mediteranian BBQ Wings – IDR 39.000

*picture courtesy of YennyMichael

Grilled Chicken Wings tossed in Tangy Barbeque Sauce. The chicken quite tender, but the texture a bit too dry, probably it too overcooked. So it make the chicken lost it juiciness.

Tenderloin Shish Kebab - IDR 75.000

Tenderloin Shish Kebab

Turkish Style Shish Kebab Of Tenderloin Cubes, Green Pepper and Mushroom Over Rice. From western to mexico and now middle East. 365 Ecobar really want to fulfill your appetite. A very tender tenderloin grilled with green pepper, onion and zucchini. The waiters help you loosen all the ingredients from it's skewer. Served with steamed rice. I love the tenderloin. It so tender and perfectly seasoning.

Chicken Parmigiana - IDR 63.000

Breaded Chicken Breast Covered in Marinara Sauce Topped with Mozzarella and Parmesan Melt. The chicken is so tender. It still crispy outside and tender inside. The marinara sauce and the cheese make this Chicken Parmigiana is so tasteful and make want more. Served with watercress salad infused with balsamic dressing that I think a bit salty and also served with french fries. The side dish can be replace with mashed potato or butter rice.

Chantily Chocolate Martini - IDR 30.000

Dark Chocolate Mousse with Layer of Chantily Cream. This chocolate mouse taste like heaven. It so smooth and not leaving weird taste after it. The chantily cream balance the taste from chocolate. Yummy...

Overall, 365 Ecobar success to be one of hangout place in Kemang area. The ambience is great, the price pretty reasonable, and too forget about the service, their so friendly and really patient explaining every single menu that we asked. Open until 4am in the weekend, really great for you to hangout and listen to live music.

365 Eco Bar
Aksara Kemang Parking Lot
Jl. Kemang Raya No. 8B Jakarta Selatan
(021) 719 1032

Website : www.ecobar.co.id
Twitter : @365_ECOBAR
FB : https://www.facebook.com/365EcoBar

The Playground - Live To Eat + Love To Drink

A view weeks ago I've got an invitation from The Playground. I'm so excited and curious hearing that The Playground who had the same name with my blog name open their new store in also in newest mall Pondok Indah Mall Extension (Street Gallery). Woohh.. already have another extension. Make me more curious.

The Playground 1st opened their store in Plaza Indonesia.  So, more less I already know what the place looks like. Like it's name, the place so typical like playground. Feel like back to childhood era. Even they have swinging chair also the round wheel chair. This is so much fun.

I got a very warm welcoming from Ms Hani & Ms Georgetta from  The Playground. And it makes me feel bad to came late on-site. Not wasting my time, I start to dig and got some picture the menus left.

MAIN COURSE

Here are some pasta and steak menu that The Playground served that day...

Honey Red Wine Salmon - IDR 105.000++

Fresh grilled Norwegian Salmon served with 'Spinach Bakwan' and perfected with the Playground's signature Honey Red  wine sauce. Eventhough the grilled salmon a bit overcooked, but I guess it covered by they tasty sauce. It a bit sweet but tasty.

The Legendary Katsutti - IDR 75.000++

Katsu-don is one of Japanese traditional and favorite dishes. In Japanese "don" means rice. The Playground invented a legendary dish by substituting its rice with a special spaghetti and sauces. The spaghetti cooked aldente. With a creamy sauce making it more tasty. The chicken katsu mixed with eggs. So its looked like chicken omelet. The taste for me is so-so. 

Sateghetti Pasta - IDR 60.000++

I bet you all already can guess what's in it. Yeepp.... it's succulent chicken skewers ("sate") in Peanut sauce. This is my 1st time actually eating pasta with peanut sauce, I guess this is 'Gado-Gado' Italian Style. the sauce is a bit thick. But, the meat is tender and seasoned well.

Green Curry With Crispy Dory Spaghetti - IDR 60.000++

Thai-nesia Homemade green curry served with deep fried dory. This become my second favorite dish. The green curry taste a bit spicy but it balancing with the apple. So the taste a bit spicy and sour. Leaving a good taste. The dory also perfectly cooked. Still crispy outside and tender inside.

DESSERT

Moving to next meal. The Playground served some martabak. I usually buy some martabak somewhere in the street. Yeepp... the Playground has bring this street food into the next level.

 All Day Martabak

From 8 kind of Martabak that The Playground have, 4 of them was served that day which are Cheese Cookies and Cream (IDR 40.000++), Apple Crumble Martabak (IDR 50.000++), Monkey Genius (IDR 45.000++) and Traditional (IDR 35.000++). From all above, I like the  Cheese Cookies and Cream better. I also like the Apple crumble. But, it could be even better if they really add the crumble. The martabak dough quite good and soft. The portion was decent. Enough for 2.

Creme Brulee - IDR 35.000++

Creme Brulee that The Playground served was quite unique, since it serve in the Egg shell. It has 2 variant. the original ( with raspberry on top) and the fermented black glutinous or usually called 'ketan hitam' (with blackberry on top). What I like about this Creme Brulee that it has not too sweet taste. But I had taste a better Creme Brulee in other place.

BEVERAGES

Cafe D'Avocat - IDR 40.000++

Cafe D'Avocat consist espresso blended with milk, avocado, cinnamon. For those who don't like  coffee, the avocado can be a balancing for the espresso. The combination was just perfect. the taste a bit sweet but still leaving coffee aroma from it.

Playground's Punch - IDR 45.000++

The freshening green look from Playground's Punch. consist of green tea and tropical fruits also soda. I taste mango, lemon and pineapple.  With a slice of peach, this mocktail really good for a hot day like these days.

After tired playing all day... time to go to sleep kids... And don't forget to drink your 'Mimi Cucu' But Stop Mom... This Mimi Cucu is FORBIDDEN for you kiddos. Since it consist baileys in it. Served in 2 different variant, Vanilla and Chocolate. Both have a good taste, but I think the Baileys is too strong. To make it more similar like kids milk bottle, this drink has pacifier made from candy. Kids can eat this candy. The taste a bit sour and sweet.

Mimi Cucu - IDR 105.000++

Overall, we have so much fun playing in The Playground. Served with great food, Greet with a warm greeting. About the price, I think the price is pretty reasonable, considering the decent portion.

Thanks a bunch Ms Hani & Ms Georgetta for inviting us, thanks also for the great Goodie Bag.

The Playground's Students

The Playground
Pondok Indah Mall Extension, Ground Floor
Street Gallery, Unit G11 - G12
Jl. Metro Pondok Indah
(021) 29529729

follow them: @_theplayground_