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/

We are at UNION!

Weekend night out with my besties.. U all know Union in Plaza Senayan, right? Famous for its red velvet.. Famous for 'if you don't book a table, u won't get a table on weekends'. I never had the chance to go here cause I hate to get involved with all the fuss just to get a table in this place..Well, it turned out that one of my best friends's mother is friends with the owner's mother. So we made a request to her to book us a table..

VOILA, a table we got on a Saturday night with two complimentary red velvets.. Wuiii.. The place is packed as usual. I got there at 12 p.m, it was also completely packed.. Then I took care of my business and BAM, dinner time 7 p.m still packed as well..

My friends came late, but I got in first since I was there since daylight.. So.. first thing first..

Vintage Menu

Established since '11

First thing you see when you walk inside the restaurant.. Many people bought the pastry for take outs.. 

Narcissistic picture as usual.

Me and Riyan.. His mother made this all happened.. Thanks tante..

Somehow I think the interior of the place has the same theme as LOEWY.. But it has its own twist, more like a semi outdoor black vintage design..

Complimentary bread for u to munch around while waiting for your food so u will have something to do, at least munching around, instead of doing nothing and start staring at people.. *No I didn't do that*

Garlic Escargot.. YUMMY! It has quite a crunch.. I burnt my tongue for putting it straight to my mouth, but it was worth it

It's very soft on the inside.. U can literally smell the butter in your mouth

Spaghetti with crispy pork bacon. I forgot the name of the dish.. They put some fancy name for this dish.. Well, pork bacon is the deal.. I like how crispy it is.. It's just okay..

Duck Leg confit with crispy potatoes. They should just write potato wedges instead of crispy potatoes.. -__-" It's kind of disappointing. I didn't like the sauce. It's like they made an effortless runnier version of sweet soy sauce.. The duck was perfectly cooked though.. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.. 

This is the Union burger with cheese and foie gras.. I love how the combine a little bit of French with a butch dish as a burger.. The combination works.. 

Creamy Ravioli with salmon spinach.. I like this.. It has the perfect amount of feelings and I think for a ravioli dish, it's balanced between the spinach and salmon

The choices of cakes.. By daylight, they still have a lot.. I took this picture when we were done eating.. The green one is pandan cake.. The cake is 50k a slice

Mocca cake. I think this is very ordinary and I think it's overpriced. It really is just a mocca cake..

The famous red velvet.. With cashew crushed together with sugar and poured all over it. They use cream cheese but somehow, I also think that the red velvet is ordinary. The ones in Disini Bakery in Bandung are far much fragrant. The slices of the cakes in here are quite big. We couldn't finish the whole thing so we took one home for Riyan's mom..

According to me, the food in here is okay.. But it's not great. I gave 7/10. I think it's overrated and I don't get what the fuss is all about. Maybe some of you will think that this place serves awesome food, but not for me. I'd rather go to Tin Pan Alley for dinner rather than having to queue or making reservations weeks before the due date..

It's not bad! Once again, I highlight it. But it's just not the place suitable for me and my friends.. It's another typical hip restaurant and cafe in Jakarta.. The place is packed for a reason, but I just don't get that reason..
Once in a while, the place is nice to hang out and spend good times with your friends, maybe for a light meal and a drink or two.. I love the atmosphere 

Union
Plaza Senayan, 1st floor Unit Sogo
Jln. Asia Afrika no 8
Phone : 021-5790 5861

The Alley with a Tin Pan~

I'm sure you guys have heard Tin Pan Alley before.. It's located in the UOB building next to Grand Indonesia Shopping Mall. Click HERE to go to their facebook page.. I have visited this place for several times and yet I never write a review about it.. Actually, there are a lot of places that I occasionally visit but haven't had the chance to review it. Anyway, my eldest sister is a fan of this place and a month ago approximately, she bought a disdus voucher so we're getting a three course meal at Tin Pan Alley with a special prize.. So I decided to do a review since I'm going to go there a lot and yes, I really do think it's a very decent place to spend your time at..

As usual, narcissistic pictures come first..

This time we got a table across the bar.. Usually I just sit at the tables not too far from the entrance..

My biggest and youngest sisters.. The reflection behind them is the reflection of the bar..

Mom was definitely not in the mood for pictures..

I love the leather big old sofa and the dim lights. It just matches  perfectly. At first we thought it's going to be hard to eat in this big chairs, we preferred the usual wooden seats, but it turned out, it is very comfortable and the height of the sofa is very proportional to the table..

The decor right next to our table.. Vintage

Potato skin. This wasn't the best potato skin I've ever had. In fact, this is just another whole potato cut in half and topped with melted cheese. 

Nachos was yummy.. Really, we were like scooping all the stuffs till there was literally not a single dip left..

This is the Mushroom-stuffed Chicken Breast with White Butter Sauce. If you are a mushroom lover, you will like this dish. You can smell the mushrooms, they are just so fragrant..

My big sis is crazy bout this salmon. This is the Grilled Orange Glazed Salmon. You can taste a bit of sweetness and a hint of that charcoal-y smell.. Of course topped with their mashed and vegies. I personally don't like the sweetness, but this dish is okay..

Now, my all time favorite dish in this place is.. THE  PORK CHOP WITH HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUCE.. I love the pork chop in this place! First I thought, cranberry sauce will make everything sweet. No it won't! How to explain how good and scrumptious and yummy this pork chop.. Hmm.. Okay, let me just tell you that I literally sucked the bones.. There, I admitted it and I am definitely not ashamed! HAH!

Another chicken dish..  This is the Grandma's Fried Chicken.  The mashed potato was below the chicken and the size of the chicken itself is quite big. The thing that I love about this dish is how crispy the batter is. Seriously, it's not just another fried chicken.. I'm not sure why they put the word Grandma there. I think it's because this dish is a classic and it got that homy comforting feeling..

Sis ordered this caramel something something.. I forgot what it was since it's been a week. Somehow it tasted like one of Starbucks drinks, in a good way.. 

The star of the show, according to me, is the Pork Chop. I have ordered it more than once. It's the best pork chop I've ever eaten. It's savory, scrumptious and the sauce made it perfectly balanced.

For appetizers, I once ordered the chicken wings but forgot to take a picture of it. I was too hungry. They have a lot of sauce choices, and it's not messy. They separate the sauce and the wings so you can dip it yourself without getting your fingers sticky..

I got a few more pictures but it's not me who took it. Andreas used his galaxy tab to take the pictures cause I forgot to bring my galaxy note..

Sizzling Chicken Quesadilla. If you lift one of it, you can see the melted cheese, just like in a pizza. It's pretty good actually. They got some peppers inside and I just love the smell of pepper in this dish..

See.. it's drooping!

This is the pork chop burger. Teng ordered it..  I am not sure if it tastes like the ordinary Pork Chop. The sauce is the same though..

This is the mushroom soup with truffle oil.. Yummiehhhh and comforting...

This is the seared Baramundi with papaya mango salsa.. I personally think this is yummy!! Teng and Andreas refused to taste it because they hate papaya. The sauce is very fresh and spicy. I think it's a creative yummy combination!

This one is the creamy seafood pasta.. Andreas said it was too creamy... But it's good anyway..

What I love about this place is their menu choices. They are many variation but somehow all of the dishes have a niche but all of them are integrated in a similar concept which really suits the ambiance of the place. I love love love this place. They also have a list of alcoholic drinks, so you can enjoy an appetizer or two, with your drink along side..

I rated the food an 8.7/10, the place an 8.5/10, the service an 8.5/10. Some of my friends complained about the service, but so far I haven't encountered with bad service at all.

I personally recommend you this place. I know it's not a new place. But for those of you who haven't tried out the food in here, should definitely check it out... love love love..