Otel Lobby : a revisit, a rendezvous, and a regale

Chic, elegant, and mysterious. A night-time revisit to Otel Lobby has brought enough satisfaction to complete my quick definition of a regale. Unlike my first visit, I was more amused that night as I was both having a great time and having a good meal. It was a very late birthday celebration. My friends and I were just up for it after a month of delay for Febriano and myself, while a year delay for Lid.

They said "it's better late than never" and as much as I was glad that we were having this little rendezvous, I realized that my friends seemed to be lost both literally and in between the meaning of that proverb. Fortunately, Otel Lobby has never been too packed, which what makes this place very intimate and private. Thumbs up for the waiters who managed to stay profusely patient (compared to myself) and instead of hassling me while waiting for the rest of the party, I was left quite alone with enough peace and serenity. In fact, I think I bothered them more with questions of the Hell Hour!

Every Monday - Thursday, from 5-9 p.m, they have a hell hour promotion where you can get 2 selected bar food and cocktails for the price of 1. So here goes the feeding frenzy..

As always, two menus from Otel Lobby

The non-smoking area and Febriano's very late gift on that chair.

I have always loved their mysterious, dark vibe. 

Peach Tea (25k) while waiting for my friends to arrive

BBQ Chicken wings (55k). Included in the selected menu for the Hell Hour promo. So we got two for the price of one. Very fragrant. I love the fact that the BBQ sauce wasn't too sweet and it also has a hint of little bit sourness. My perfect definition of a perfect BBQ sauce.

Bistro Burger (85k). Also included in the Hell Hour promo. It came with a bucket of fries. Look how thick that  patty is! They also said that the buns are homemade. I didn't get to try this one though..

Spaghetti Aglio Olio (55k), with parmagiano, bread crumbs to add some texture, and garlic chips. You can additional meat for the price of 85k. It was al dente. A simple yet satisfying dish for the aglio olio lovers.

Duck Confit (85k) with grilled peach and sweet onion marmalade. Not a fan of the sweet sauce.  The outer of the duck skin is crispy enough to fulfill my expectations for a good duck confit. Not the best, but it was good enough.

Crispy Duck Salad (55k) with romaine, watercress, and crispy duck. Well, they really mean it when they said crispy. I found the additional chili dressing balanced the whole dish. Another simple yet satisfying dish as I was not looking for something heavy that night. It was definitely light and it suited for what I was looking for.

Roasted Chicken (85k) with fried rice and salad on the side. Had a piece of the chicken. Well, aside from the fact that I love that it has crispy skin, I will still choose a Kenny Roger's roasted chicken. I am not saying that it's not delicious, but it was just not my favorite.

Red Velvet and Rainbow cake (40k) with vanilla bean ice cream. Included in the hell hour promo, so we get two plates of these little babies. To be frank, I don't like Otel Lobby's version of rainbow and red velvet cake. They were almost mundane and definitely failed to compete with other's rainbow and red velvet cake. For the record, I have never been a fan to rainbow or red velvet cakes, so my judgement is not bias by a certain preference whatsoever.

Toblerone Puff (40k). It is a choux puff cut into half with vanilla pastry cream and ice cream in the middle, smoldered with melted toblerone chocolate. Yummy. Perfect for a sweet tooth. I really wish I can eat it with my hands instead of using a spoon. This dessert is also included in the Hell Hour promo. Just what I needed..

Back with that proverb, I said "it's better late than never", aside from the fact that this is a late post as well, I am still grateful that we did our little late birthday celebration. I was again reminded that as I get older, I get to be more grateful. My only wish for this year's birthday, well, six wishes since I got six cakes and I am not even bragging (being sarcastic here, lol), is to keep being surrounded by these lovely people. To have them around me, to grow up together, to discover new adventures, to embark on new chapters, and to always remain silly.. Together..

Otel Lobby
The Annex Building of Bakrie Tower Southgate Entrance, 
JL. Epicentrum Tengah, 
Kuningan, Jakarta, 12940  12940
Phone : (021) 29941324
Website : http://www.otellobby.com/

three little pigs

Caught me red handed.. I am guilty as charged.. I have been spending most of my salaries for eating.. Now I am left with almost nothing and probably will rod out of starvation in my room.. Okay. I guess that's too extreme..

Yesterday, Anggi, Ivan and I went out to Otel Lobby and bluegrass out of the blue.. They were fully booked so we went there early and made the reservations at 4p.m.. when we arrived, the place was empty.. This is the thing I hate the most about fancy places, All of the chairs are booked for 6 p.m-late.. You have to make reservations daysssss before the it day.. Anyway, moving on from that issue, it's picture timeeeee 

Yes yes.. I'm getting chubbier each day..

That's my ginger lemon honey tea.. The stupid thing is, they don't dissolve the honey beforehand.. They separated the honey in a small glass, I ordered the iced one, those two won't dissolve.. Genius much?

I love the big clock on the wall

My view

For entres, we have OTL meatballs.. it's good, but the emping makes it look easy

Anggi ordered the aglio olio.. She said it tasted like kwetiao.. Not that great.. 

Beef Wellington.. This one is quite good.. 

If you were there, you can definitely see the smoke coming out from the inside.. It's so fragrant and warm, it made you wanna gobble everything at once..

This is my steak and onion.. Just a 200 gr steak with palenta and onion rings.. I was always curious of how palenta tastes like.. I've tried it yesterday. It's like eating runny mashed with the taste of yogurt.. The waitress had suggested me to change the palenta with mashed but I refused.. 

I gotta say, the place is definitely nice. The food was okay, not bad.. You can still find some menu that will entertain your lips. But to be honest, it wasn't special. It was good, but not special.. Overall, I will give the food a 7/10.. Visit their website by clicking HERE to see their menu and for further info

We were only allowed to stay until 6 p.m at Otel Lobby so after we finished eating, we went across to Bluegrass for dessert.. Yeah, they are famous for their rainbow cake. BUT I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE MAINSTREAMS WHO ARE CRAZY ABOUT RAINBOW CAKES, RED VELVET, BLUE VELVET, BLACK VELVET.. or whatever the next sponge cake with food colourings they are gonna create.. Those cakes are overrated! Kids these days are so hipped by almost everything that is in season..

So anyway.. ehem.. We decided to order just one dessert and share it cause we were so full.. I ordered the lychee bread pudding.. At least that is something worth trying cause it takes more effort that just making layers of sponge cakes with different colours.. *bitch please*

And before we were seated, I went to the restroom. On the way there, I saw the glass kitchen and they piled up these ribs, small, medium and humongous sizes as if they were unused clothes.. I was drooling again forgetting the fact that my tummy was screaming "HELL NO!".. They were pretty famous for their ribs but I realized I just couldn't eat anything anymore.. It was pretty dark outside, I couldn't get clear pics without using flash..

That is Bakrie Tower behind us.. and a bunch of staffs..

Otel Lobby from our table

This is the mocktail Ivan ordered. Watermelon with lemon and grapes.. 

Warm comforting bread pudding.. Nyummy! EAT THAT WITH THE COLD COLD ICE CREAM..  Makes you melt literally.. I should learn how to make this at home..

The place is great, the food looks nice. The menu is way more variable and somehow humbler.. I will definitely go back to eat in here.. But this place has the same issue as any other place. The chairs inside are empty, and yet we were all told to sit outside where the bloody sucking mosquitoes are thirsty for your blood. Beneath my table, they put an anti-mosquitoes repellent which stink quite funky.. That ruined the whole ambiance.. And I still got bitten.. 

Just remember to make reservations daysssss before you want to go there for more comfortable seats. Click HERE to go to their facebook page.. They also have breakfast on Sundays.. I recommend this place and for those of you who are a rainbow cake junkie, you might find this place as heaven.. 

After that, we just went to PI and met up with a bunch of Anggi's friends.. Then the day after, I was kidnapped, brought to chilis.. and I ate.. a.. lot...

Beautiful Skillet Queso.. only at Chili's

 I can still feel my tummy bloated.. but I regret not even a single bit.. MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA..