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If being adorable is a crime, Kedai is so guilty as charged. It's every little corner is so delightful, it's criminal! Unbelievable creativity is reflected on its entrance to its back corner, further to its creative menu, friendly crew, and delicious food...I stood in awe, speechless.
The place is pleasantly tinged with bright pastel hues, I felt like I was in a little wonderland.
A karambol table at a corner reminded me that I suck at it and should not make myself feel worse by attempting to play ever again. Haha!
The colanders hung upside down as lamp shades caught my eye. Darn it. Why didn't think of that first :)
The walls were full of old Indonesian posters, and I love the combination of Indonesian and Dutch colonial furniture, the mismatched chairs, and the pop corn machine at the corner! Wow!
Up to this point, I am pretty much speechless. Isn't every corner a surprise?
Busy gushing at the place, I almost forgot something important, the food. The dishes were creatively titled with Indonesian names, such as Nasi Goreng Jumat Kliwon (Jumat Kliwon Fried Rice. Jumat means Friday, kliwon indicates the fifth day in Javanese Calendar. In Indonesia, Jumat Kliwon is believed to have mystic association, so it creeps me out a little bit. I am sure the fried rice should be delicious though ^_^). The whole menu made me giggle.
Baked Rice (Nasi Panggang)
Delicious rice with bits of bacon, topped with cheese and baked. Need I say more?
Unusually delicious.
Lemongrass Chicken (Ayam Serai)
Light and simple, yet fragrant and full of flavors.
and here comes my favorite...
Bakwan Komplit (Indonesian Mixed Balls in Clear Broth)
It has everything I want in a bakwan komplit. A perfect combination of beef balls, fried tofy, fried dumpling, fried fishball, in hot clear broth. It may look light, but it's hearty. Best eaten with lots of chilli. Nothing's more enjoyable than slurping the hot broth with sweat trickling down my face.
I opted for the drink that I crave every time I am back in Indonesia...
Teh Panas/ Es Teh (Hot/Iced Tea)
No lemon, no milk. Just plain ol' tea with a touch of sugar.
Happy trio at Kedai.
To all of my Indonesian friends living overseas, please forgive me for teasing you with this post ^_^
I bet you can't wait to visit this place.
Noticed something on top of the restaurant's entrance? Oh yeah, they have an adorable knick knacks shop, Bikin Barang, which is full of vintage and handmade goodies. Too bad it wasn't open when I was there, I am so gonna visit next time.
Not visiting this place? That's a crime.
Kedai & Bikin Barang
Jl, Benda Raya no 89, Kemang. Phone:021-7815114, Jakarta, Indonesia
Oh my goodness. It's been a while since I've made pasta, I wonder if I could still pull it off. Those who normally read my blog know that I don't do things authentically, nor innovatively. I just do things my lazy way. There were times when I put 2 + 2 = 100, and there were times when I put 2 + 2 = -100, to put it simply, they didn't work. This time, I wanted some Asian flavors on my pasta, so I tried mixing lamb and shrimp paste. Let's see how it goes.
Don't you feel that when you've stopped doing something for too long, when you do it again, it feels kinda weird and you have to start getting a hang of it all over again? (Nooooo I am not talking about THAT. Hehe)
That's how I felt about cooking pasta. Suddenly, I didn't know how to tell if the pasta's cooked just right, I added too much shrimp paste (boy, it's powerful) and had to adjust and adjust. A lot of work, I was glad it ended up great. A tad too tasty, but it worked for me.
Spicy Lamb and Shrimp Paste Fusili
Recipe
(serves 4)
- 1 cup of fusili
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 6 cloves of shallot, thinly sliced
- 3 red chillis, chopped
- a bunch of fresh corriander, chopped
- 0.7 lb lamb, sliced thinly, sukiyaki style
- 2 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 tsp sugar
- pepper, olive oil, water, salt
Cook pasta as directed in the packet, drain. Saute garlic, shallot, chilli and a bit of corriander in olive oil, add sliced lamb, add shrimp paste and sugar, cook through, add pasta, mix well, serve with freshly chopped corriander.
There's something else I haven't done for really really long time...submitting a pasta dish to one of my favorite foodblog events, Presto Pasta Nights. I miss it dearly. This one's for you, guys. This week's it's hosted by lovely Pam from Sidewalk Shoes. Hop over to her blog to check out the roundup.
Now...there's still another thing I haven't done for a very long time...I wonder if I'd still be good at it. Let's see. ;)
Meet Mr. Sushi Man.
Ain't he cute?
Doesn't he just make you wanna tear off his misterious face mask, his sexy plastic gloves, his cotton chef shirt (I'd keep the hat on), and get him to craft unlimited plates of sushi for ya?
I think he's hot. (sous chef isn't behind me reading this, is he?)
Now, on to the food...
Waitttt...isn't that a plate of the oh-so-popular salmon sushi?....aren't they....RAW???!!!! I don't do raw. The first couple of times I tried raw salmon, I was gagging! I was struggling trying to keep down HK$100-a-bite (US$12) raw fatty tuna! What is that salmon doing on my table?!
Let me introduce you the-all-new-and-improved Rita: she DOES enjoy raw fish now.
So, the new me thought the above salmon sushi is super delicious. Now I can't figure out why the heck did I hate that before...it's freaking delicious. It's all silky, satiny, buttery goodness!
My ordering style is pretty much sticking with what I love. I could order the exact same thing every visit, but not sous chef. His principal is "If I don't know what is it, I should probably try it". So he ordered this plate of raw shellfish sushi, and until now I couldn't quite figure out what was that? All I know is...it was sweet freshness on a golden plate, which means it's pricey. Damn.
My all time favorite, the roasted eel sushi. Now that I start to love raw seafood, I get harder when judging roasted eel sushi. This one in particular, wasn't that good. I missed the smoky, charcoaly flavor on this one.
This is one of the stars of Ha-ne sushi. Who doesn't love long legs? Especially if it's on a crab! This long legged crab meat sushi topped with fish roe and mayo...wow. Heaven. The sweetness from the crab, the saltiness from the roe, and the creamy and tangy mayo...simply wow!
Seeing plates after plates of delicious sushi doing the locomotion...I think it's more theurapeutic than seeing fish swimming back and forth in a tank/pond.
Here's where my Indonesian self failed to submerge, it wanted something deep fried! Hehe! I was glad I ordered this Deep Fried Oyster Sushi. Crunchy, creamy...delicious!
Even during the days when I haven't fallen in love with raw fish, I loved sea urchin. The creamy, delicate, fresh sweetness of it reminds me of the sea without all the nasty fishiness. This one is no exception. Super fresh.
By the way, where did Mr. Sushi Man go? He probably got scared of me. Oh, well.
Visit Ha-ne Sushi Mongkok to check him the food out.
Go before 1 pm at lunch time, or before 7 pm at dinner time to avoid Hong Kong's notoriously long sushi queue.
In Hong Kong, we're pretty much spoilt with choices of Indonesian restaurants. OOOOUUUUCHHHHHH! (that's me, shrieking, being hit by sandals thrown by other food bloggers who are staying in countries where Indonesian restaurants are not available, or it is even impossible to find Indomie or Teh Botol. Ooppps. Sorry, folks!)
Once, I made a pact to try all Indonesian restaurants in Hong Kong and do a comparison on how authentic their food is, especially the common dishes such as nasi goreng or sate ayam. After I found out that there are sooooo many Indonesian restaurants in Hong Kong, I quickly licked my spit off the ground (HAHAHA). I decided to just do it slowly, one restaurant at a time.
Last weekend was perfect. I didn't have any mood to cook, I just burnt one of the electrical outlets of my kitchen, which is responsible for the oven and rice cooker (essentials!), and I was and still am up to my eyeballs with tasks. Work, personal, play, you name it! So I went to try this restaurant at the corner of Sugar Street...
Restoran Sedap Gurih
The first picture on this post showed something very dear to my heart, sambal (chilli paste). It's more than just a condiment for me, I can pretty much live off rice and sambal.
The above picture is mie ayam. It is something I crave all the time, something I order daily when I am back to Indonesia and so far, my quest to find the authentic mie ayam in Hong Kong has not been very successful. This one is no exception. The texture of the noodle is nothing like what I find in Indonesia, although everything else were delicious. The chicken topping, the MSG laden soup and meatballs, yummy.
This dish of empek empek palembang (fried fish cake) was even more disappointing. It wasn't light or crispy, it bore the texture of something which had been refried too many times. However...
This dish was the star of the day. The gule kambing's simply delish! It tasted just like what's available back home, if not even better. The meat's tender and the soup has all the right flavors, super rich! It compensated all the other disappointing dishes.
The place is humbly decorated, right under the bridge on Sugar Street, Causeway Bay. On weekends, it's full with Indonesian domestic helpers, I feel right at home. It's kinda fun listening to their conversation, since they thought I wouldn't understand. One of them said "Why the heck is she taking pictures? What is she taking?". Guess their facial expression when they learnt I could understand them completely? Priceless!
They were also winking repeatedly to sous chef when I wasn't looking. Oh my! How fun!
Is it just me, or do you guys have weird dreams too?
When I heard the word nightmare, I only thought of any dreams involving scary ghosts flying around scary places/evil spirits, ala the Ring, Poltergeist, Omen, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.
I never thought that my other weirdo dreams, such as:
- I have a mathematics exam today, but I've been studying biology
- I have an exam today, but I didn't study at all yesterday
- I can't get to the examination building (naturally, I woke up before the scene where I got to the exam room or going through the exam)
- I am so late for work, there is an ultra important meeting, and there are 100001 obstacles to pass through (of cos, I would wake up before the scene where I got to the office)
- Having nothing to eat
- Very hungry, seeing a mountain of delicious food in front of me, yet I can't touch them (Oh nooo...)
...are actually considered nightmares too. Ms. Wiki said that any dreams that make me feel strongly unpleasant = nightmare.
Why do I have so many nightmares? Ehm, does going to bed after eating cause nightmare? I learnt this from my emotionally deep, highly profound literature, Garfield. I was wondering if it was true...and yes, Ms. Wiki said so too. Eating before sleep increases body's metabolism and brain activity, and I do, snack before bed (a lot), thus my very vivid, super intense, never ending exam/work/hunger nightmares.
But what the heck, nothing feels better than sleeping after a delicious and satisfying meal.
This was one of my nightmare cause...
Bistik Daging Nanas Pedas
(Spicy Meat and Pineapple in Sweet & Savoury Sauce)
Back home, bistik is made with sliced beef and homemade fried potato chunks, which I totally love. However, as I repeatedly said, I love minced meat as it makes my weekdays easier (no chopping, no slicing, no nothing), and the pineapple chunks added natural sweetness and acidity to this dish. The chopped chilli added and extra spicy kick for me.
Recipe
- 1 pack (0.7 lb) minced meat
- half a small fresh pineapple, remove core and cut into bite sized chunks (you can use canned pineapple, but fresh is better)
- 3 red chilli, chopped (adjust to suit your taste)
- 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- half an onion, sliced
- light soy sauce, kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), a dash of worcestershire sauce, white pepper, ground/freshly grated nutmeg, olive oil
Saute garlic, onion and chilli in hot oil, add meat, cook until thoroughly cooked, add sauces, add pineapple chunks, cook until everything is done, serve with plain rice, or stir in some pasta.
If you like your pineapple caramelised a little, add them before adding the meat, cook until they are caramelised.
I devoured loads of this with loads of rice and the carb high sent me straight to bed. My nightmare was trying to go to hip hop class, taught by my super hot dance teacher (I guess deep inside I wanted to exercise/drooling over a hot guy, instead of curling under a blanket after a meal), but there were 1,000,000 obstacles which I had to go through, including finding my favorite exercise t-shirt and driving through a crowded Indonesian market. Bah!
But it was so totally worth it, at least it wasn't anything with scary ghosts flying around.
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