Kotakkue.com

Being a food blogger, the one thing I don't enjoy doing is posting bad reviews. Sure, it sucks when the food I eat turns out to be sub-par and hell yeah, I'll rant about it; but posting it online for the public to see doesn't sit right with me. It feels like I'm cutting other people's livelihood. (or as the bad cop in Superbad puts it: "Blocking cock" LOL)

But this time, I have to toughen up, not because I'm in a foul bashing mood. I feel the urge to write this review down to remind people the danger of JUMPING IN THE BANDWAGON.

You see, you saw a review of food somewhere, then you build your hopes up about it, but later when you taste it, you only get disappointment.

That's exactly what I feel about Kotakkue's snack.

It is a small home industry established by an Indonesian couple, both very prominent blogger. They build a very stealthy marketing campaign, relying on their vast network, build a very nice website. I've been drooling on their snacks and cakes since golly knows when, and I was later even more fired up by the nice reviews they've gotten. So one day, tasked with providing snacks for the directors' meeting, I ordered their signature savory snacks: lumpur keju and risol kribo.

Fruit platter (bought from a nearby supermarket) and fruit pie & risol

Melon platter and lumpur keju & risol

Actually, it wasn't the first time I ordered their stuffs. When they weren't as big and busy as now, I once ordered their risols and banana-choco mini muffins, and they turned out to be a hit at a meeting! Back then, the risols were bigger, the fillings were abundant, and they managed to fry it just right, leaving it crispy and not too oily.

I seriously dunno what happened to them the second time around.

I ordered 30 pcs of risol, 20 pcs of fruit pie, and 20 pcs of lumpur keju for a meeting of 20+ people. When I opened the box, I sensed that the risol was getting smaller. Dunno for sure, maybe I was just imagining things. I also noticed that they were slightly a bit under-fried, since the color is more opaque-yellow than golden brown. Last time I ordered, one risol was filled with 1/4 piece of egg, one 1x4 cm bacon, and mayo. This time it felt less, like half of it.

I was super excited to try their lumpur keju (touted as their signature piece), and immediately I feel duped. It was more "flour-y" than cheesy. Barely tasted the cheese at all. The filling was some sort of bolognese-y minced meat, and topped with carrot, parsley, and peas. The carrot tasted undercooked, giving the cake an unpleasant carrot-y aroma ("langu"). In a more positive light, I enjoyed their fruit pie.

The bosses didn't like the lumpur keju and risols (there were lots of leftovers), and most of all Superboss S specifically told me that the snacks were fails. T_T

Earlier before the snacks came, I talked to the owner and she said that she has been delegating the tasks to her assistants (maids, I sposed?). Maybe that's the culprit of the rapid decline in quality? I just wished that she would have been more hands on, because once you broke customers' trust, there's really no turning back.

So sorry to say, it was an unpleasant experience, and surely will be my last bandwagon-jumping in ordering food.

Maaf ya Mbak Ida...
Kotakkue - Snacks and Cakes
www.kotakkue.com

Cuisine-Cuisine

Last weekend, me and Si Om lazily followed my mom on and errand to the faraway land of... PLUIT.

Being a smart and attentive daughter, I remembered seeing an ad of a new restaurant in the vicinity, Cuisine-Cuisine. During the period of 21 November - 30 November, they are selling a whole bird of Peking Duck for just IDR 1,000!!! YES! That's less than 10 cent US dollars!!!!! I can't even ride angkot from the bus stop to my house with IDR 1,000!!!! THEY MUST BE JOKING, RIGHT?!

When we got in Pluit Junction, the place was full of screaming tweenies, armed with their camera phone. Turned out, there was some sort of a live-taping of a TRL rip off. The screaming didn't deter us from proving the myth of IDR 1,000 Peking Duck, so we hurried up to the 1st floor.

Well, the myth was partially true. Yes, they were selling Peking Duck for IDR 1,000/bird, but there are some prerequisite. 1). Minimal for 4 customers; 2). You have to spend minimal IDR 200,000. No problem for us because later my step bro came along with his girlfriend so we were preparing our tummies for a duckie FIESTAAA!

Here's what we had:

Hakaw a.k.a steamed shrimp dumpling (IDR 16,800/3 pcs). Yummy, with juicy prawns inside!!

Xiaolongbao (IDR 12,800/3 pcs)- this was slightly disappointing. It was not hot enough, so the broth tasted too savory.


Shrimp in beancurd rolls (IDR 16,800/2 pcs) - extra yummy! We asked for extra mayonnaise to dip in.
My mom carelessly ordered food for us without even looking at the menu. She was too blinded by the sheer power of almost free Peking Duck. This would later spell as A DISASTER.

She ordered these foods:

Vegetables with Three Kinds of Eggs


Fried Rice

We actually ordered Pork Ribs and Honeyed Pork Barbecue, but they run out of it.

See? Doesn't look like our bill will reach IDR 200,000 right?

.
.
.

WRONG! Because the damn fried rice costs IDR 116,000!!!!!!!!!!!
SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!! The egg and veg dish costs IDR 58,000.

We feel like they deliberately upped the fried rice to cover for the almost-free Peking Duck, so in the end we didn't fuss for it too much. BUT STILL! The next time we dine here, we will STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE FRIED RICE!

And here it is... the Peking Duck...
and yes, it only costs us IDR 1,000...



Here's the poor ducks (in the background) ready to be Peking-ed for the dinner crowd.


WE WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK BEFORE THE PROMO's OVER! AND NO WE WILL NOT ORDER FRIED RICE AGAIN.

Cuisine-Cuisine
Pluit Junction, 1st Floor
tel 021 - 66607330

Goemon

Last Tuesday, I got a sudden call from one of the bosses to arrange a farewell dinner for our teammate. I already planned a dinner for him for the next week, but as it turned out, this week is his last week with us. :( You will be missed, N!

This time, we picked Goemon, a Japanese eatery famous for its authenticity and a very loyal Japanese expat following. It was Tuesday, and unexpectedly, it was SO HARD to get confirmed seats for 12! I had to lie convince the waitress that we would be there on 6 PM, while in reality, the meeting that we had to attend prior to the dinner was expected to end on 6.30 PM. Hihihi...

So, we finally got there on 6.45 PM (OOPS! hihi), and the waiters almost gave up our seats. The place was 100% packed, with 60% of the patrons being Japanese, 20% Caucasian (with their Japanese client/work buddy), and the 20% being us; the tardy locals :)

As soon as I stepped in the restaurant, I feel an instant rush of Japanese-y culture shock. First of all, we had to take off our shoes. The interior made me feel like I was stepping inside Oshin's house. Overall, very izakaya-ish!

We were given complimentary hot towels, tea (served cold/hot/warm), and this sweet stew of daikon, chicken (?), and carrot. I loved it.

Here's our orders:

(sigh!) ANOTHER BLOG, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TEPHY?!

Yes, I made another blog. I know, I know!

I usually blogged here, but lately I feel that I need to separate my food blogging and my personal ramblings. It's a pity for those who came looking for restaurant reviews and ended up bearing my rants of the day. So this blog will be 100% food, and maybe I'll throw in some exercise routine to burn it, all immersed in 100% unfiltered Tephyism!

Enjoy!