Busaba PIK Avenue

Busaba is a Thai restaurant specialized in cuisines that are a fusion between traditional Thai and western flavors. Their menu is quite extensive, giving patrons a variety of dishes to choose from starting from appetizers to desserts. The ambience of the restaurant is modern with apparent Thai influence spread around the interior of the space. Busaba is part of Jittlada Group and the PIK Avenue location is the second location they opened early last December.

Crab Meat Fried Rice (100k) | 8.5/10

Fried rice with tender crab meat and egg.

The fried rice was nicely seasoned and pretty savory. They used long grain rice and it was cooked well—soft and fluffy and not mushy.

Clear Seafood Tom Yum (95k) | 8.5/10

A fiery and tangy clear Tom Yum soup with prawns, fish, squid and mushroom.

The clear seafood Tom Yum was also nicely seasoned. The flavor is rich but yet still very light. Really like the balance between the heat and sourness of the soup. Although I have to say, the portion was a bit small and there were definitely more mushrooms than the seafood inside the pot.

Salmon Salad (170k) | 8/10

A delightful Thai salad featuring tender pieces of salmon, fresh vegetables, and a spicy yet refreshing dressing.

The salmon was very fresh and was cut beautifully. The flavor of the dressing is very bold. It’s spicy and sour and everything goes well together. I can’t really handle spicy food so even though I could ate this, it got a little too spicy for me by the time I finished this dish.

Roast Duck Red Curry (130k) | 9.5/10

Tender slices of roast duck with the fiery goodness of red chili paste in a creamy coconut milk broth.

This was my favorite dish out out of all the four dishes we ordered. The red curry was super bold and flavorful with deep curry flavor and heat from the red chili paste. Very umami. The roast duck meat is firm but not dry. Had this with warm white rice and it was heaven. The only thing that I thought was a bit surprising was the peas were a little undercooked compared to everything that was in that bowl. If they were cooked nicely and maybe (if I want to nitpick) the duck skin is crispier, I would’ve given this dish a 10/10.

Mango Sticky Rice (70K) | 8/10

Fresh mango with sticky rice and coconut cream.

Everything on this plate was good and the coconut cream wasn’t too sweet. Would love it if the mango is a bit more chilled but overall a solid mango sticky rice.

Overall Experience

Love the food that I had during my visit. Service was also good. The food came out pretty quickly and the server was quick on their feet during our meal. Noise level in this place is pretty high, especially when the restaurant is full. I sat on one of the table with wide sofa and the height of the table is a bit low so it was a little bit awkward when I was eating cause I had to bent down quite a bit. I would suggest to go for one of the regular table for a more comfortable eating experience. But all and all, will probably go back to try their other menus.

 

Busaba PIK Avenue

Address: PIK Avenue Mall, Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk Boulevard, Jakarta Utara 14470, Indonesia.
Telephone: +62878 6562 9477
Hours: Everyday 10 am -10 pm

Instagram: @busaba_id

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Bistecca PIK Avenue

Bistecca is an Italian-American steakhouse and Martini bar that is inspired by the upscale New York steakhouses of the 1950’s. After establishing themselves as one of the best steakhouses in Jakarta with their SCBD location, Bistecca opened their second location at PIK Avenue Mall in November last year.

Staying true to their SCBD’s location theme, the interior of the PIK Avenue location is also mid-century inspired. Dining tables and plush dining chairs are complimented with black leather sofas, a cocktail bar and shelves of books that are reminiscence of a living room and a private home library of an affluent homeowner from the era where they usually entertain their guests. The space feels elegant, intimate and definitely upscale but without the pressure of having to dress up too much to dine in at the establishment.

The Ambience

The dimly lit space creates a romantic atmosphere that is perfect for a date night or an intimate meal with friends and family. Personally, I do think it is a bit too dimly lit to the point where it almost feels like a blackout (especially with the type of candles provided on each table) and flashlight from your phones might be required to read the menu. But even so, it makes a perfect venue for a candlelight dinner (quite literally). Plus, the noise level at this place is low, which is always preferable for me. The music that’s playing in low volume in the background makes it easier to talk to your dinner companions without having to engage in a shouting match across the table.

The Food

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio (225k) | (9/10)

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio with Hokkaido Scallops.

Al dente spaghetti, nicely cooked scallops and the dish was well-seasoned.

USDA Prime Beef Rib-Eye (300 gr) (655k) | 9/10

The meat was perfectly cooked, juicy and tender with crispy crusts.

Shoestring Truffle Fries (85k) | 8/10

Creamy Parmesan Spinach (95k) | 9/10

Charcoal Grilled Broccolini (110k) | 9/10

Overall Experience

I had a lovely dinner at this place. The service was good. The servers were polite and friendly. The food came out pretty fast after I placed the order. One thing to note is that the air conditioning at the restaurant was pretty cold when I was there so if you get cold easily, you might want to dress accordingly. And the air con did make the food get cold faster. So if you want to have everything while it’s pipping hot, maybe ask the server to bring the dishes in waves instead of serving it all at once.

But overall, definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a great steak house in Jakarta or a nice restaurant for a date night.

 

Bistecca PIK Avenue

Address: PIK Avenue Mall, Ground Floor, Jl. Pantai Indah Kapuk Boulevard, DKI Jakarta 14470, Indonesia
Hours: Everyday 11:00am - 12:00am

Instagram: @bisteccajkt
Menu

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Jakarta Vlog 02 - Milk Tea & Dinner at The Chinese National

A couple of days after our previous hangout, I met up again with Winda for a dinner plan (I didn’t have to wake up super early this time around). We’re going to go to The Chinese National at Swissotel PIK for dinner but decided to leave earlier to beat the afternoon rush hour. We arrived two hours earlier than our reservation and ended up hanging out at PIK Avenue Mall to kill time. Winda had some work she has to do so we decided to go to Onezo to get some drinks so she could do just that.

Although the brand has been around for quite some time, this was actually my first time trying Onezo. I ordered their Four Season Roasted Milk Tea with normal sugar and normal ice (I usually do normal sugar with brands I never tried before just to see their sweetness standard of ‘normal’) and boy, it was really sweet. The milk tea itself wasn’t bad at all. It was fragrant and tasted good. It’s just the sweetness that was too much for me. Probably better off with a 70% or 50% sugar level for next time. I had to wait for the ice to melt for a bit so it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet but afterwards, the milk tea ended up tasting pretty good.

After that, we headed over to The Chinese National for our dinner. We were the first ones there and we both took advantage of the empty restaurant to take some photos and videos of the place before sitting down for our dinner. Dinner was great. The food was excellent, great service, and very nice interior design (see more photos and read my full review about the place here or watch us eat and review the food on the vlog). The only thing that bothered me during our visit was the choice of music and how it was kind of too loud for me. But other than that, everything was great.

After dinner was over, we stopped by H&M because Winda wanted to do a little bit of shopping since they have a sale going on. She did end up finding something that she likes and made a purchase. And that concluded our outing for the day.

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The Chinese National

The Chinese National (TCN) is an elegant Cantonese restaurant located on the 7th floor of the Swissôtel Jakarta PIK Avenue. The menu of the restaurant focuses on highlighting the authentic taste of Cantonese cuisine, created by its executive chef from Malaysia, Kong Fook Sin. From Peking Duck ritual, hand-pulled lamians, freshly made dim sum to tea lounge turns bar by night, The Chinese National offers a wide range of dishes cooked with fresh, high-quality ingredients as well as a wide array of drink selections.

The restaurant also has one of the most impressive interior design in Jakarta. The Chinese National’s interior was commissioned to EDG, a Singapore-based design firm who designed the space around the concept of the ‘Four Great Inventions of Ancient China’, which are the compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing. Each of these inventions was then translated to four different conceptual spaces around the spacious restaurant, creating a unique dining experience for visiting patrons.

Iron Needle

Iron Needle is an interpretation of a dumpling and noodle shop that’s inspired by the iconic stacked apartments in Hong Kong and traditional Chinese tea houses.

Letterpress

Letterpress is a tea lounge by day that transforms into a bar by night which has its own hidden entrance for patrons who wish to visit the bar without walking through the restaurant.

Black Powder Red

Black Powder Red is a Sichuan restaurant inspired by the Art Deco, obvious by the use of aged materials, corrosive details, copper and metal around the space. Sichuan cuisines that use lots of chili and garlic which usually create an explosion in your mouth certainly is fitting for the gun powder concept they’re basing the space off of.

Paperduck

Paperduck is a sophisticated modern Peking duck restaurant inspired by the process of paper making. Elegant paper details, brass and marble materials were used in the design of the place, giving the space the most luxurious feel out of the four sections in the restaurant.

The Ambience

I had a chance to finally visit this place a couple of weeks ago. Prior to my visit, I’ve seen photos of the restaurant posted on social media quite a bit. But after my visit, as much as impressive the place looks on photos, being there in person was a different kind of experience. The restaurant is really well-designed with a solid concept, excellent use of space, and attention to detail. There are a couple of articles out there that talk about the concept, the thinking and design process that went into this project (you can read about them on these articles here, here, and here) and these are a very interesting read. I personally appreciate the space more after I read about the concept of the place. If you’re into interior design and architecture, I would definitely recommend you to check this place out.

The Food

Eating Chinese food has always reminds me of family meals that I had when I was a kid. My parents used to make family dinner mandatory when I was growing up. So everyday, we’d sat down together and went around the table and talked about our day while eating our dinner which usually mainly consists of Chinese cuisines. The food that I had at The Chinese National reminded me of those times. It tasted familiar and comforting yet better and elevated at the same time. There’s a certain level of finesse to the dishes that I tried that certainly made my dining experience a pleasant one.

Salted Egg Shrimp Vaname (138k) | 9/10

Let’s start with my favorite dish of the night, the salted egg shrimp vaname. The light batter coating the shrimp was crispy, giving a nice contrast to the softer texture of the shrimp. The shrimp was fresh and cooked to perfection, hitting that firm texture yet still soft and juicy. The amount of salted egg coating each piece of the shrimp was just the right amount, giving you a nice salted egg flavor while still letting the shrimp shines without being overpowered by the sauce. I ate it with hot steamy rice and they tasted so good.

Roasted Pork Belly (138k) | 8/10

The roasted pork belly came in perfect bite-size pieces. The meat is pretty lean, with layers of fat here and there. The pork skin is nice, thin and crispy. Overall, eating this felt like eating a cleaner (read: not too oily/greasy) version of roasted pork belly.

Deep Fried Chicken with Green Chili (138k) | 7.5/10

The chicken was cooked nicely with crispy skin. The highlight of this dish really is the green chili, which gave it more character to the overall dish. I don’t eat chili very much but I did try eating the chicken with and without the green chili. Eating it with the green chili definitely makes the dish taste more special. (If you just eat the fried chicken itself, it tastes good, but it’s just like any other good deep fried chicken that I’ve tasted before.)

Sautéed Mushroom Chinese Spinach (60k) | 9/10

Another dish that I thoroughly enjoyed was their sautéed mushroom Chinese spinach. The vegetables were cooked perfectly and seasoned well. The garlic gave a nice savory taste combined with the earthy tone from the mushroom. A simple dish, but the execution was really well-done.

Mango Pomelo Sago (58k) | 7/10

For dessert, I tried the Mango Pomelo Sago. The mango was sweet, balanced with the sour note from the strawberry. A nice, refreshing dessert to end you meal.

The Experience

Service was really good. The food came in a timely manner. The waiters were friendly and attentive. Health protocol was also strictly practiced with all the waiters wearing double masks at all times. I sat at the Paperduck area which was really nice and pleasant. (If I were to nitpick) The only thing that seemed to be out of place during my visit was the music that was playing when me and my friend were there. I don’t know if it was for our benefit that they played what seems to be a top 100 viral pop songs playlist (we were the only one there when we got there, so maybe they’re trying to cater to us with the music?), but I personally think that it’d be better if the music matches the ambience of the place. Other than that, I had a really great time during my visit and definitely recommend this place if you’re looking for a good Cantonese restaurant in North Jakarta area.

 

The Chinese National

Address: Pantai Indah Kapuk St, RT.6/RW.2, Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, Jakarta, 14460, Indonesia
Telephone: +62 21 22571188
Hours: Everyday 12.00-15.00 & 18.00-22.00
Menu

Instagram: @thechinesenational

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Jakarta Vlog 01 - Monsieur Spoon PIK & ABC Cooking Studio PIK Avenue Mall

It’s been a while since my last time vlogging in Jakarta. But on this day, I was going to hang out with my friend, Winda, and we had a couple of things we’re going to do so I thought it’d be fun to vlog the day. So this was my first attempt after a long while to vlog/blog again.

The day started kind of early for me. I was suppose to meet her at 10.30 but ended up running about fifteen minutes late because I couldn’t fall asleep and ended up falling asleep at 4.30 am the night before (or I should say early that morning). I’m one of those people who usually get anxious the night before if I have to wake up early the next day (and since I’m a night owl and definitely not a morning person, my definition of early is any time before 10 am). On my bed in the dark, I’d be thinking, if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 8 hours of sleep. And then an hour pass and I’d go if I fall asleep now, I’ll get 7 hours of sleep. And then another hour passed and the cycle would continue for another four to five hours until I finally fall asleep. I wish I could not be like this.

But anyways, I finally made it to her place thirteen minutes late and immediately headed to our brunch. Winda and I have been hanging out quite a bit these past couple of months and we usually carpool together and take turns driving on our outings since we live pretty close from each other. On this day, she’s driving and I was in charge of the playlist. As soon as I connected my phone to her car stereo, she said, “You know I’ve been listening to Joji’s new song a lot these past few days.”

“Yeah? Which one?” I asked since I don’t really follow Joji’s songs.

“Glimpse of Us. It’s such a great song. I’ve been listening to it on repeat these day.” She said enthusiastically.

“Never heard of that song. Want me to play it now?” I offered while typing out the song title on the search bar of my Spotify app.

“Yes please!”

So there I was, starting my day listening to a sad love song on a sunny late morning. Granted the song is great and everything, but it’s the type of song that made me want to crawl back under my covers and go back to sleep instead of jump out off the bed and start my day.

After the song was finished, I commented, “Joji’s songs are a bit sad. I don’t think it’s the type of song that can hype you up to start the day.”

“But his songs are not trashy sad songs though.” Winda argued.

I laughed at her comment. “You mean it’s more like poetic sadness than trashy sadness?”

“Yes! But still elegant at the same time and not one of those stupid sad songs.” She added.

We then get into a little bit of discussion about her favorite Joji’s songs, which are now ‘Glimpse of Us’ and ‘Slow Dancing in the Dark’, which I haven’t heard before either. So we listened to that one and of course it also follows the same poetic sadness theme that we were talking about. Between the two, I personally like ‘Glimpse of Us’ more.

The drive to our brunch place was about 40 minutes so after we finished talking about Joji, we ended up discussing about a couple of different topics surrounding graphic design and Jakarta’s creative industry. Portfolio class, importance of presentation, people’s appreciation and willingness to pay for art and design, growth in Jakarta’s creative industry, curating clients, these are some of the things we talked about during our car ride (watch in on the vlog) to pass the time.

And before we know it, we finally arrived at Urban Farm PIK where the restaurant we want to have brunch at, Monsieur Spoon PIK, is located. A little backstory, Winda actually had vouchers to dine at this place that were going to expire soon so she invited me to lunch to use the said vouchers. And it just happened that I never been to Monsieur Spoon before so she said all the more reason to go.

We arrived at the place, got seated and ate our lunch (see more photos and read about my reviews about this place on this post).

When we got the bill, the total came up to IDR 301.537 ($20.11) and Winda’s vouchers were for IDR 300.000 ($20) so we only had to pay IDR 1.537 ($0.11) for our lunch. That was probably the cheapest lunch ever.

After we’re done with lunch, we drove over to PIK Avenue Mall where Winda’s next schedule is. She invited me to tag along to her trial cooking class but since we’re a little bit early, I stopped by Heycha to get some drinks because we didn’t order any back at the restaurant.

I was going to get milk tea but then I saw new Coconut Shake menu and decided to give it a try. On a side note, I think coconut drink is definitely the next trend in Jakarta’s F&B scene. Been seeing lots of new coconut drink menu being introduced by different restaurants and brands lately.

So while I was waiting, there’s a GoFood order right before mine and since there’s only 1 server manning the store, he had to go down to deliver the order before coming back up to make my order. Before this, I didn’t realize that the servers are the ones who have to deliver the foodto the driver (I thought the driver’s usually the one who goes into the mall and pick-up the order from the counter). But I guess different malls have different protocols for GoFood orders. The only downside about this protocol is he could’ve easily missed prospective customers while he was gone (there were people who came by to order but left because nobody was there).

Anyways, that’s one random new thing I found out about GoFood orders.

Also, update: I just checked Heycha’s Instagram and apparently I visited during their last day of operation at the PIK Avenue Mall location. This location has now closed.

Coconut Shake (33K) | 7.5/10

Not too sweet and has some great texture to it. It’s a little firmer than a slushy texture and not too watery, but still goes up the straw quite smoothly. The texture also held up well in room temperature even after an hour or so. A pretty nice refreshing coconut drink.

After I got my drink, I reunited with Winda at ABC Cooking Studio for her trial class. ABC Cooking Studio is a modern cooking studio originated from Japan that aims to bring joy and happiness through food by teaching people how to make healthy delicious dishes. They essentially offer membership for cooking classes in a high-end cooking studio. The cooking classes also vary from cooking course, bread course, cake course, wagashi course, and even kids course. What made them different compared to other cooking studios is that they apparently use original recipes that were developed in Japan but using ingredients that are available locally to create the same result. The PIK Avenue Mall location is actually their third and newest location in Jakarta (the other two studios are located at Central Park & Senayan City).

Winda was kind enough to arrange a spot for me but since I personally am not really into cooking and more into eating (and washing the dishes usually) because when I cook this is what I do:

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A post shared by FOODY DREAMS (@foodydreamss)

Plus, somebody needed to take photos and videos of the experience (with clean non-greasy hands) so I volunteered to do that instead and be a spectator on the side while watching everybody else doing the cooking.

So how it works for the trial class was every table was assigned a different recipe and our table got the Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak recipe. There was one instructor per table and we got Chef Michelle who guided us through the cooking process. All the cooking tools and ingredients were already prepared and cut per one serving portion. We only needed to follow the cooking instruction on the sheet (although the Chef mostly was guiding us through her explanation during the class so the sheet worked as a secondary guide) and do some cutting, pouring, and stirring throughout the process.

Since I opted out of cooking, the Chef offered to take over my ingredients and cook them for me so I can still try the dish while she can demonstrate the cooking for others as well. Of course I said yes to that. That was really nice of her. In the end, I got a portion to take home and had it for lunch the next day. The Japanese Beef Hamburg Steak was actually really tasty (even after I reheated it on the microwave). The meat was juicy, the Japanese rice was cooked perfectly and the sauce was seasoned really well.

Also, check out Winda’s Instagram reel below that she made about the experience. You can see the end result on her video since I didn’t take any picture of it.

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A post shared by 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑎 | 𝗝𝗞𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗜𝗘 🇮🇩 (@munchandsnap.jkt)

After we’re done with the cooking class, we stopped by Pantjoran PIK because Winda wanted to get Gong Cha before we go home. The sunset was pretty nice that day and there was surprisingly a lot of people around the area for a Monday. Maybe because it’s now school summer holiday that more people are out and about during weekdays? I certainly wasn’t expecting the place (and the mall from earlier for that matter) to be this crowded to be honest.

And that’s pretty much wrapped up the day for us. It was such a fun outing and I feel like we did a lot of things throughout the day. And just like how we started the day, we also ended the day by listening to Joji’s Glimpse of Us.

‘Til the next hangout!

(And if you’ve made it here, thanks for reading!)

Also, Joji’s Glimpse of Us was stuck in my head after this day and I literally listened to it on repeat for the next couple of days.

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