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/

iCreamy~

Their menu and logo

I have a very hard time in choosing what I want.. The price is very friendly indeed

I want it all!

Last week, my friends and I visited Island Creamery first branch in Indonesia! They're originally from Singapore and now we have it in here! Anyway, they're famous for their ice cream. It's more affordable if you compare it to famous brands such as Baskin Robbins, or Haagen Dazs..

Click HERE to visit their facebook page.. They're located in Flavor Bliss in Alam Sutera

They have interesting choices of flavors.. The place is so adorable and they have outdoor and indoor sections. Let me just show you the picturesss

I love their interior

The indoor arena is filled with photos of customers..There are tons of these kind of pictures on the wall

Frozen Desserts

They have the children seats. But here's the deal, look at the toys on top of the table, I wouldn't trust my kids with that high level of sugar after over consuming any dessert in this place. They're going wildddd

They have so many selection of desserts, from pies to cupcakes!

They have different types of icec cream choices, from red velvet ice cream to mangga harum manis... The ones on the left are the mudpie and mini baked alaska. Mini baked Alaska is basically raspberry ice cream fully covered with meringue 

Ready to be taken home..

I think this is the cutest ice cream cake ever!

They have many more choices to pick

Your toppings

Selection of yummy sinful cakes.. The red velvet and rainbow cake had been sold out so we didn't get the chance to try some.. huhuhuhu

They were having a promotion. If we tweet about this place, we will get three of these.. They're basically cakes with different flavors covered with chocolate.. They have the rainbow cake flavor also the red velvet ones

Since we didn't get the chance to try the red velvet, so this is as far as how we go on their red velvet. Quite moist.. 

Lidia with her prize

We haven't had any dinner that night, so we grabbed some in Island Creamery. If you scroll back up, the menu said, Ice Cream - Burgers - Coffee and Cakes - Obviously, it means they specialize on it.. Then you stick with it! We were branching out in ordering different kinds of food and I'm quite disappointed by most of the meal we got..

Islander Burger. This, I am not disappointed. It's pretty good actually

It doesn't only looks good, but it also tastes very good

Now, the disappointing part.. The other meals that we had weren't satisfying. 

A smoked beef spaghetti.. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's also nothing special about it. The Indonesian version of pasta..

This is the flame-grilled 1/2 chicken. Obviously it's not a 1/2 of a chicken, they should rename it. And the term "flame-grilled" is obviously, literally true. It was burnt and bitter. I remember laughing at the chicken when I first saw it..

Beef bolognese pasta, again Indonesian version of pasta, nothing special

This is the Beef Island fried rice. Well, it's supposed to be okay. What possibly can mess up a simple fried rice? But danggg! Ir smells like raw eggs. Maybe it's because of the sunny side up, but it really did smell like a raw egg. I took a bit of this and quickly drank to rinse off that smell..

Now back to the yummy stuffs! For desserts! Everybody's on diet so Ivan and I ordered only two slices of cakes

Childhood Chocolate Slice. For chocolate lovers, you need to go for this one! The choco ball on top  is Maltesers..

The Rum Raisin. I love the hint of rum smell on this cake. It's just the right amount. I am not a fan of raisins, and apparently I encountered none on this slice. Top notch!

One slice of cake is worth of 23k, which I think is very decent. With the qualities of the desserts that they offered, the cakes are worth it. The food isn't that expensive as well.. If you're going for a light meal, this is the place to go. 

Even though I am disappointed in the food, I will still go back to this place for the desserts and appetizers.. Maybe even for the burgers and coffee. They really have a nice environment and ambiance. Really cozy! The staffs are amazingly friendly.. This place is worth a try!

Halo.. Halo, Bandung.. Part 2

Okay, let's pick up where I have let things off.. After going to Disini Bakery, my mother heard about this other bakery that her friend once mentioned. It turns out that the owner is a pastry teacher, so she opens classes.. She's the famous Ny.Liem..

This is the proof why I think rainbow cake and red velvet is overrated! Just see the pics below..

It's the ad they have.. Overrateddddddd

I admit it looks cute. But it doesn't taste good. They don't use cream cheese.. They use butter frosting which made them dry and not as moist as a good red velvet should be.. For the rainbow cake, it's definitely just an ordinary sponge cake with food colourings

Even the cheap cakes has been turned into a rainbow cake

 As I went inside the store, which is not too spacious, I was first attracted by the colourful pastries. But then I realised most of them all are just "rainbow cakes". I don't recommend this place cause I think they're just one of those people who exploit the trend of having a rainbow cake. It has nothing special, they only add food colourings. My mom also bought the supposed to be famous kue lapis from this place. It's not good. It's too dry. It just looks good cause they made it very pretty with a square-like pattern, unlike the ordinary kue lapis. But, it's not good. and it's expensive..

Sorry, Ny.Liem, your fake rainbow cake and red velvet is an embarrassment.. And I think you are exploiting  and ruining the cake itself..

Next stop, of course, the famous Primarasa.. I have done a review on this place in my other Bandung trip review.. Click HERE to see that post.. The thing that I love about going to Primarasa is that there are lots of food hawkers outside.. One of them isssss... TAHU JELETOT.. lol.. I can't say the name without letting out at least a smirk..

Hunted because Of the Taste.. it's H.O.T... lol

So yummiehhh

I don't have the natural talent of eating spicy food. This fried tofu is spicy, but I don't know where the spiciness came from. There's no chili in the filling. I just ate one and couldn't stand the spiciness. Unline my Mom, who is a spicy food lover, this means nothing to her.. 

 You can't leave Bandung without buying snacks! This is my favorite place to buy Bandung Snack. Snack Corner is located at Jalan Riau no 51. They have variety of snack choices as you can see on the pictures down below. They also have testers so you will know which one you like..

Yes, that red basket is full. We bought two baskets of snacks.. and we are not ashamed!

Choicessss

Choicessssssss.. I'm so confused which one to pick

The gigantic wok which they use to fry the snacks.. Too bad they were not frying anything that time

Last but not least, the last destination has been a compulsory place to visit when we are at Bandung.. I have been going to this place since I have a memory of my life.

Say hello to my most favorite Sundanese Restaurant in Bandung... Asli Laksana.. It is located at Jl. Soekarno Hatta no 395 and no, they don't sell laksana. Across this restaurant is another Laksana restaurant. So the owner has two wives and of course, they don't want to share things.. So the two of them opened the restaurant separately. I never visited the other one though. My dad said Asli Laksana is better than Laksana (which is just across the street). I trust my old man. Oh, there's also Ampera, another famous Sundanese restaurant with lots of branches scattered all over Bandung.

It is always this packed. They even have a special parking space inside the alley next to the restaurant cause they don't have enough parking space anymore

This is the karedok stall. I don't really like karedok. They are basically raw vegetables mixed with peanut sauce. BUT, whenever my parents ordered them, I couldn't help getting some on my plate cause they are so damn fragrant!

They have lots of long tables. The place is quite big so don't worry of not getting any tables. The plates of foods are just put on top of it. You can just take  whatever you want. They have the same system as Padang restaurants. So if you wanna lie about what you've eaten, you surely can do it. My brother once stole a fish when he was just a kid. He was so hungry, he couldn't wait to be seated. But it turned out he took a salted fish, which after a bite, he spat it out and threw it to the floor.. -__-"

Oh and that big pot and the big bowls next to it are some of the dishes that have to be ordered. They have sayur asem, many types of gulai, etc.. They also have sop iga and it's also tasty

This is the most spicy but delicious chili I have ever had. At first you will feel it's somehow sweet but it will give you a spicy feeling lingering your whole mouth and lips. I know I can't eat spicy food, but I can't help eating my meal with this chili cause it is SO DAMN GOOD AND YUMMY! It's so spicy that they started making the 'not too spicy' version.. 

This is VINA'S COMBO. I will always have these on my plate of rice. Okay starting from the top left, otak goreng.. Yes, it's brain, but it's so yummy I don't feel gross out at all. Next to it is pepes tahu. I usually open the pepes jamur. But this time, they ran out of it and I happened to open the wrong pepes.. So I gotta eat it since I've opened it. It's yummy but I like the pepes jamur more. Next to it is jarit and babat goreng. I love their jarit babat goreng. They are sweet and savory. Lastly, it's the fried kalasan chicken. The fried spices is delishhhh that I could only eat that with the rice.

 You can tell the waiter to heat up the dishes that you picked before you eat them. But my Dad usually only tell the waiter to heat up the otak goreng (I won't say fried brain cause it's just so weird), Kalasan chicken, and babat jarit goreng.. I love love love this place and I recommend it to you Sundanese food lovers.. They have so many varieties of Sundanese food which is PURE MAD LOVE. Plus, the yummy spicy chili that can only be found in here. I have never seen or taste anything like that in other places..

So yeah, we have come to an end of another Bandung review.. Hope you enjoy it and I also hope you can try the food for yourself..

These were only half of the things that we bought. We ended up buying carrots and avocados worthy of 5kg each..
 -___-"