Moroccan Jewel

I was craving for Middle Eastern food, so I decided to try this Middle Eastern restaurant called Maroush..

They serve Indian food as well, which is a plus point for me.. Being in Mahatma Gandhi School since I was a kid made me LOVE Indian food..

When I entered the place, I couldn't get anymore excited! Well, for a Moroccan Restaurant, Maroush really puts the real deal even into the tiniest detail of the restaurant.. My friends and I were amazed at the gorgeous interior, the ambiance is just amazing, the hospitality is super, and the food is delicious indeed.. Okay without further ado, let me just show you the pictures.. 

Disclaimer : Some photos are taken from Michael Anggi's SLR. You'll be able to tell the difference which one is whose..

Starting from the place...

Welcome to Maroush.. Even the main door excites me with what's within..

They're also offer you with shisha

The table we sat in

Basically, the place is quite big. They have separated rooms.. I love this room the best! So magical,  reminds me a lot like I'm in some sort of an exotic castle..

I guess this room is perfect for meetings.. See how spacious and how perfect this room is for a private party..

Still in the same room..  It's the continuation of the right side of the picture above

The red light gives the room its mystical middle eastern touch

Told you they really put in the real deal even to the tiniest detail

Another semi private room, they can cover this place with a curtain.. Perfect for a small family gathering.. I love how elegant the arrangement is

Wine cellar.. BOOZE!

 Let's move on to the food, shall we..?

The Menu

Look at the cutlery, they're so unique!

Complimentary appetizers.. The left one is raisins with peanuts and the right one is herby olives. I don't usually like olives, but I love their olives! It doesn't smell like one anymore.. The herbs had been absorbed so well..

Mango Lassi(35k).. It's basically mango juice with what I'm guessing, milk

Saourary Lassy(35k).. This drink is unique indeed. It's yogurt with salt. Not only it is sour, it's also has a salty kick. Maybe not all people will be a fan of this drink but I personally thinks it's refreshing 

Ayran(45k). This is basically also yogurt. But I just don't get this drink. When you stir it with the straw, it'll look runny, but once you sip it to your mouth, somehow it feels so dense.. Not a fan.. 

This is the Moroccan Tea Pot(25k).. I LOVE IT.. It's basically just tea with sugar but the mint leaf changes everything.. With the warm tea, it really enhances the smell of the mint.. 

4 Favorite Dips in one Plate (98k). For starters, the waiter recommended us with this dish. Starting from the one on the top left . It is hummus (Mashed chic peas), beside it is some kind like chili but it's not that spicy, on the right below is a salsa-like sauce, with diced tomatoes.. very fresh.. I personally love the hummus dipping, hell, I love them all

The dipping comes with the bread.. It's definitely different from the ones in Italian restaurants (well, duhhh.. -_-")

Yey the food is here! There were only the four of us, so we didn't order that much

The tagine.. I love how bold the colour is

VOILAAAAAA..

Chicken Tagine with Almonds(115k). I love this dish so much! It's fragrant and the almonds just add another texture to the plate.. Yummy! The top is a mashed potato fritter

The vegetable couscous..  It's just not complete without couscous.. Perfect rice substitution.. They also have a clear broth as the sauce to put on top of your couscous if you want it.. I like to eat it plain just like that..  

Royal Grill Plate(200k).. Basically this is various meat cooked in shish kebab style.. On top is the lamb kebab which looks like sausages, then they have shrimp, fish, vegetables, and chicken as well.. 

 Of course, we also took narcissistic pictures

In conclusion, I love this place. I love the atmosphere and I definitely love the food.. Well, if you like Indian food, I think you will love this place.. That night when I went there, there was a bunch of Indians who were having a private party in the main room, so they moved out all the chairs. It's a bummer I didn't get to see its normal arrangements ..

The waiter is very patient in explaining you the details of the dishes.. So if you are new at this, don't be scared, ask them about what's inside the dish that you feel like ordering. I definitely loveeee this place. It's good to have a different meal once in a while.. A different place, a different atmosphere.. 

Maroush
Crown Plaza Hotel 2nd Floor
Jl. Jend Gatot Subroto Kav 2-3
Jakarta Selatan
Phone : 021-52892431

The Duck goes Quack Quack.. I went wek wek

We were at Bebek Tepi Sawah, Ubud, Bali last year

We took corny pictures as well

They really have a rice field behind the restaurant.. 

Bebek Tepi Sawah in Ubud, Bali serves the best crispy duck I've ever eaten so far.. I have missed it so bad that it hurts.. Okay, I am over reacting, but yes I do miss it.. So, when I saw they have a branch in Living World Mall, I was super excited to get my hands on some of their crispy ducks!

After a long time of waiting, both to be seated and to have the food on our table..

The metropolitan version of Bebek Tepi Sawah is finally here

They tried to put the Bali essence in the design as much as possible

Cozy

Fancy drinks

Famous Bali Sambal. My favorite is the one on the left. It's basically sliced shallots and chili, not too spicy. The middle one is so spicy! I can't bare it.. The one on the right is like the medium level

Kangkung Plecing.. I think my family is accustomed to at least order a dish of greens.. I don't like it that much cause it's basically just plain steamed kangkung topped off with sambal plecing (Balinese sambal) and some peanuts. I think another factor why I am not a fan because it's spicy..

This dish is off the menu. Not sure what it's called. My Mom asked the waitress whether they have something spicy and she recommended us this dish. Even though it's spicy as hell, I LOVE IT. It's diced chicken cooked with sliced tomatoes, chili, shallots, lemon grass. The lemon grass really gives a nice kick in the smell. I kept eating and sweating at the same time.. Not pretty.. lol

As everybody else on the table has ordered the fried crispy duck, I volunteered to order the grilled duck.. It's sweet in a good way! They always serve half a duck with rice and some green beans cooked in Bali herbs..  

Famous crispy duck. Actually I was quite disappointed. It's not as yummy as the original one in Bali. It's still crispy though.. You can even bite some of the bones..

Plecing Satay.. NOT A FAN OF THIS.. It's so bland.. and expensive (40k for 5 sticks). It looked good but I couldn't give any credit for this dish

I love the Bebek Tepi Sawah in Bali, but I just couldn't say the same for the branch in Living World. This restaurant is just a franchise and they definitely fail to resemble the authenticity of the original crispy duck.. The one who opened this branched venue is the owner of Ace Hardware and the Living World Mall itself (they are the same person). How do I know it? Well, the owner kept walking here and there supervising the whole staff and my eldest sister happened to know the son of the owner of the restaurant..

Another bad thing about this place was that it took so freakin longgggg for our food to get into our table.. And when our ducks had arrived, suddenly I can see loads of already fried crispy ducks piling idly in the kitchen.. If they had so many ducks, then how come my duck took that long to get in our table. And talking about piled ducks, now I know the fact that all the ducks have been fried before hand and I don't like that fact..

I think the one in Bali has fried the ducks before hand as well cause it took a very short amount of time for them to serve the ducks to the customers, but my problem with the branch in L.W was the friggin long amount of time.. And the ones in Bali were sooo damn crispy, I remember eating the bones off the duck, but the ones in Alam Sutera weren't that crispy

And once again, they fail to resemble the flavor of the ducks as the original one.. If you have tasted Nuri's pork ribs in Bali (which is heavenly delicious), you will be disappointed to taste the Nuri's pork ribs in Jakarta's branches.. I don't know what is the deal, but they're just not the same. This goes to Bebek Tepi Sawah as well..

For half a duck and the rice, it will cost you 98k before tax. It was worth it when I ate it in Bali, but it's not worth it when I ate it here.. I'd rather eat Bebek Kaleyo in Sunter, which only will cost you a lot less than 50k with fancy drinks on the side, which also have better taste compared to the ducks in the branched venue of Bebek Tepi Sawah..

The place was so packed. But I think people go here because of the prestige of the original Bebek Tepi Sawah in Bali.. Again, the review is based on my personal opinion and also my family member's.. We all agree that the ducks here are just ordinary..

We spent approximately 500k for the dishes.. It is expensive.. But it's so worth it when you eat the one in Bali, just not this one..

Bebek Tepi Sawah
Mal Living World Ground Floor
Alam Sutera Boulevard Kav 21
Serpong, Banten
Telepon: 021-29211919

a Treat from Macaroni House! (Food Endorsement)

This week, I got endorsed by Macaroni House..
Twitter      : @Macaroni_House
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/macaroni.house
Phone       : 021-5825863 | 081282324272

I love how cute the packaging is! They sent me five baked macaronis with different flavors.  

They offer you a delivery service for freshly baked macaroni with high quality ingredients.. Let's get straight to the point, I LOVE IT! and it's NOT because I got endorsed by them. I shared it with my family and a bunch of friends, all of them said it was very delicious.. Even my mom, who hates cheese, said that the baked macaroni was delicious! Aha! I found a way to make my mom fell in love with cheese just the way that I have been loving it my whole life!

Reasons why I love the baked macaronis from Macaroni House :
1) The taste. They are very generous with the fillings and the amount of cheese. And if you taste it, you'll know they don't use cheap cheese.. There are chunks of mozzarella in the midst of those yummy macaroni..

2) It's very practical. Look how the boxes in the picture above. I've been bringing them to work, to my friend's house, etc without a hassle. I don't have to put it in another plastic bag, I just grab it like a small extra bag filled with deliciousness.. Order extras, just put em in the fridge, if you wanna eat them, pop them in the microwave for 3 minutes, and VOILA.. You'll have a sizzling baked macaroni with soon to be tons of awesomeness in your mouth!

P.R.A.C.T.I.C.A.L

3) It's convenient.. If you are a Jakarta citizen, you will hate that feeling of being stuck in traffic for hours till your tummy stop grumbling cause you've been stuck for too long.. Yeah.. But not with these babies! They are specially delivered to your house! Just pick up your phone, do the payment via transfer, then BAM, these babies are delivered to your very doorstep.. Don't have to go out and face all that retched roads of Jakarta.. Just call 021-5825863 | 081282324272

4) Innovative choices! They have 8 different choices in total!

- Smoked Beef (Best Seller) - with smoked beef filling & Macaroni House original white sauce.. 

 I shared this with my friends in Starbucks.. We know the manager in that particular spot, so we told him to reheat the macaroni for us while enjoying our teas and coffees.. All of my friends were literally fighting for the spoon.. They kept scooping for more.. No words should be added to that event.. You know for yourself what it meant.. 

- Ham (for non-halal pork loversssss) : they have cubed ham with original white sauce

- Bolognaise - with sausage filling & red tomato-like sauce 

- Chicken Carbonara - chicken, mushroom, & white carbonara sauce

 I think this one is my favorite. They put generous amounts of cheese. The chicken, they put chunks! You can actually bite it and taste the mushroom.. There's also a hint of oregano which made it more flavorful.. Unlike other baked pastas which used the tiniest amount of meat and called their baked pastas are filled with meat.. -__-

I brought it to my sister's store for breakfast. Since I didn't have the time to eat at home.. PRACTICALLLL! again

Mind my 'it's artistic to take a picture like this' attitude

First scoop and BAM! Look at the amount of chicken and mushroom I got.. Pure bliss

See the middle part of the sliced macaroni on the left. That's a chunk of cheese and it's mozzarella! Not cheap cheddar.. And I found loads of it in every portion..

- Three Cheese - beef bacon in special three cheese sauce. 

Oh My God! If you are a cheese lover, you should definitely order this! This was actually the first macaroni that I tasted and I got greedy. I didn't even left some for my siblings to try. It's so yummy! They really use three types of cheese and you can definitely taste it!

Maybe you can't see it in the picture but it looks very tempting.. Especially when you microwaved it, the top part will be sizzling and you all are going to be drooling

Look how creamy and moist that beautiful spoonful of delicious macaroni!

I just cut this one for a beauty shot..  Which later I ate in less than 5 minutes

- Chicken Pesto (temporary - limited edition only) - chicken, mushroom, & green pesto sauce. 

The owner really brought the pine nuts straight from Australia.. She refused to substitute the pine nuts with other kinds to keep the authentic taste of pesto sauce. They have been considering to make this flavor as a permanent flavor, let's just hope they'll do! I love the smell of pesto! And I love how they combined it with the macaroni! 

Again.. Look at the middle part of the sliced macaroni.. Another big chunk of semi melting cheese.. my precioussssssss *golumn voice*

- Vegan - mushroom, horenzo spinach, n special fetta cheese sauce. 

I thought this will be my least favorite, but baby, I was wronggggg... Since I am a huge fan of mushroom, this flavor satisfied me oh so very well! Even though there's no meat inside it, I still think it's very fragrant. It's really suitable for those who hate eating vegetables, cause you can barely taste the spinach. It's there, you can definitely see the greens, but you just don't taste it that much.. 

See the greens and mushrooms? They are far much more when you cut them in spoonfuls..

- Soya Based - custom made for those who have lactose intolerant. They made it from soy milk with chicken fillings.. 

They also made special request macaroni for babies and pregnant women. Also lovely chicken bitterballen with cheese fillings.. 

About the price.. 

-Square Large 20x20x4.5cm - Rp. 210.000,-

- Oval Medium 10x19x4.5cm - Rp. 80.000,-

- Airplane Rectangular Small 9x15x3cm - Rp. 37.500.

 It looks like an airplane meal --> This was the size that they sent me. For me, it's enough for my personal meal. I ate one on my own and I was full.. 

- Cup personal size - Rp.15.000 (according to the cups)

- Bitterballen - 1 pack (12 pcs) Rp. 30.000,-.

I am really grateful for Macaroni House for sending me their baked macaroni! It's really delicious. I really recommend it for you to try it on your own! It's really good *again*

I ran out of baked macaroni! I NEED MORE!