Elgin Avenue - Tantalise your taste bud with all day brunch menu

Touching down on Paradise Island of Bali once again with a long list on my hand, a long list of new restaurants I am itching to try. These up and coming Australian influenced cafes and restaurants are spreading like wildfire and I feel the standard for breakfasts and brunches are escalating at rapid speed and I for one is trying to catch up.

The first few on the top of my list is Elgin Avenue, checking out their instagram as per recommendation from #balifood; the industrial décor and the photogenic dishes are inviting. Located in the Seminyak area (Gusto Ice cream is just few doors down) the café in black and white themed is simple and cozy, very straightforward which I like. The place is petite and in my estimation will most likely accommodate around 15 people max. There are outdoor seating’s if you request it, hot when is noon and maybe would be nice in the afternoon.

The menu is simple and to the point and I already know what I want to order, let us proceed to the real deal why I come to the first place.

Rich and creamy scramble – IDR 55k

I think I had mentioned before in this blog, egg is the reigning king of breakfast and I know my egg; it can make or break a brunch place (at least for me) and this place nailed it. I ordered the simple breakfast menu, the scrambled egg, and it came out a perfect ten score from me; it was fluffy, creamy that melts in your mouth with the right amount of salt. The fresh crispy sourdough toast and sautéed mushroom that comes with the dish balanced perfectly with the eggs and cherry tomatoes end the dish in a clean and fresh note. Delicious.

Elgin Big Breakfast – IDR 75k

Second dish was the Big Brunch, the all time classic breakfast people come to love (what not to love, it has a little bit of everything on the dish!). The egg was a good sunny side up with the perfect ooze when you cut through it, the bacon was crispy and I would want to call it my happy pills (bacon in the morning, finger licking good). My other favorite from the dish is the hash brown and oh how delightful it was, it was juicy and crunchy. The plate cost 75K and it was all worth every penny.

Elgin Crispy Egg Benedict – IDR 70k

Another breakfast favorite is the Egg Benedict that consists of two halves of an English muffin of which is topped with ham and hollandaise sauce; legend to be told that it was conceived when a Wall Street stock broker came in to Waldorf Hotel looking for a cure to his hangover. It was enticingly presented at my table and it was a delicious dish; poached egg was at the right texture and a generous amount of smashed avocado was placed right in between the egg and the bread along with the ham and cherry tomatoes is quite a breath a fresh air from the classic Egg Benedict. Kudos.

Hot Cappucino – IDR 28k

The fantastic brunch would not be complete without a cup of Coffee so I ordered to satisfy the caffeine craving in me. It came with a nice art latte but the taste is not as satisfying as the brunch. I do prefer the bold flavor than a soft one due to the concentration of the milk just like I was having.

 

This place very easily had climbed up to the very top of my list of favorite brunch. I hope they maintain their quality (and price) until I get back to Bali!

Elgin Avenue

Jalan Mertanadi, Kerobokan Kelod

Kuta Utara

Bali

Ph    :+62 877 6131 4449

Hrs   :Sun- Mon 8am to 5pm

           Tue- Sat  8am to 9pm

IG     : @elginavenue

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New A la Carte menu by Publik Markette

Hey Ya’ll!

Without the need of much introduction, I am quite sure many of you or all of you are aware of the well-known hip restaurant in town, Publik Markette at Grand Indonesia Mall. 

The restaurant is known for its impressive food gallery right when you walk in to the restaurant and you can pick and choose what you see. If you were the few who did not like the excitement of picking as you see and all those walking of back and forth for getting back for seconds or thirds, well Publik Markette does not neglect you. The new concept is the introduction of A la Carte menu that allows you to order from the menu book In the convenience of your seat. 

Fret not, the food gallery is here to stay and it will display arrays of specialties with different menus every day. One of my fave which I thankful that will still be available is their Pork Belly on Monday and Saturday! A must try!

Let me elaborate more on their A la Carte Menu, which is about 10 new menus offered, and let you be the judge whether you want to try (I tried about 70% of this new menu!)

1.Bacon Cheddar Fries

Let me repeat that title, Bacon (which is actually beef), Cheddar, Fries, a combination only heaven can make! This is definitely in the appetizer category and I simply cannot skip my aficionado with these three simple basic needs; bacon, cheddar cheese, fries and the mayo on the side is like love in its simplest form. I am not exaggerating. 

Fries are individually seasoned generously so you have that full dimension of flavor when you taste it, a simple menu but boldly executed. Two thumbs up!

 

2. Homemade Pasta Beef Ragout

The pasta is homemade with the right texture and a lot of love into it yet it was not really up to par for me. Tomato based sauce is rich and toppings are generously distributed over the pasta. I personally had seasoned it with parmesan cheese as apart from the right textured pasta and the generous toppings, the sauce was on the dry side, if only they put on more sauce on the pasta it would’ve been perfect. Maybe next time I should voice out the need of more sauce when I dine.

3. Super Lord of the Bacon Burger

The name is Super Lord is not for nothing, it is to name a humongous sized burger loaded with goodness! Ample beef patty, sunny side up egg, two layers of bacon, cheddar sauce, fresh tomatoes, lettuces, onions with crispy potato chips on the side. Forget all food table manners as it gets super messy and it worth every dripping sauce all over mouth and dirty hands! A must-try!

4. Salted egg yolk pork belly 

It would be very selfish of me if I did not mention dish as this is the ultimate must try and on the very top of my list dining at Publik Markette. The deep fried crispy pork belly goes extremely well with the thick and generously portioned salted egg yolk sauce and the runny poached egg elevated the whole overall taste. What a monster-licious dish! . 

 

5. Char Grilled Bone in Pork Chop

The roasted baby potatoes are nice with the perfect crispy skin, the baby tomatoes are fresh and yet the rocket leaves have just right seasoning. The pork chop has super less fat and yet the pork is still tender and moist. This dish is definitely not for the faint of heart. 

6. Nasi Campur Bali and Jimbaran Tiger Prawns 

 

Jimbaran Tiger Prawns

Nasi Campur Bali

I had put these two dishes together because for me they have similar or more likely the same taste with the difference thatt one is Halal and the other is not. If you been to Bali and you miss Bali food, I do think that this Balinese dish in Publik is just the right choice to have a little taste of bali all over again, with the  menu created by a Bali origin chef makes it authentic. On the nasi bali menu, it consisted of sate lilit, urap, babi guling meat and crispy pork skin while on jimbaran tiger prawns it consisted of three big prawns with Urap and both of the menu are served with potent sambal matah and rice. Be warned that the sambal is scorching hot!

7. Crispy Salmon Skin

Crispy Salmon skin with baby potatoes, baby tomatoes and rocket leaves has all the right combination of crispiness, freshness and perfectly seasoned. A delightful dish!

8. Nasi Goreng Buntut 

  

On this one, I would let you to tell me how the taste is in the comment box below :)

After all the feasting I came into conclusion that the new menus are delectable and exquisitely executed. Kudos to the heads that has been put together to create an outstanding menu. Do also try the breaded chicken fries, Tokyo aglio olio, and the Quattro formaggi Pizza as they are also notable to be mentioned. Publik Markette is coming back in full swing, folks, so brace for impact!

 

Publik Markette

Grand Indonesia East Mall

Jl. Moh Thamrin No 1

Menteng, Jakarta Pusat

+6221 2358 1281

IG : @publikmarkette

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Arts Cafe by Raffles Hotel Jakarta - Part 2

Continuing my Sunday brunch experience at Arts café by Raffles hotel; as you are well aware, the second part of this blog is Dessert! I call this a love letter for Arts café desserts.

I am a big fan of chocolate and what excited me more than anything from this Sunday brunch is the Chocolate Gallery by Pipiltin Cocoa and they do take their chocolate seriously.

A little bit about Pipiltin Cocoa itself, it is a local micro producer that loves to process chocolate right from the bean that are sourced from arrays of cities of Indonesia such as Pidie Jaya, Aceh, Tabanan-Bali, and Glenmore- East Java.

This exciting collaboration is named Chocolate Gallery and located inside the ARTS café on level 1 of Raffles Jakarta and it is chocolate haven!

So what are you waiting for, let’s start!

Thai Young Coconut Ice Cream

This one is a must write dessert I find for the dessert section. This is by far has the most interesting look in presentation and taste; using white chocolate shell as a bowl; you can put coconut ice cream for the sweetness, then passion fruit for sourness with chocolate crumble to add texture inside.  Everything combined has what people called it “amusingness”

Besides those chocolate desserts that you can find on the section, arts also have these five outstanding menus prepared by the dessert chef. You can order it separately during your lunch or dine in there as an a la carte.

Chocolate Soup (IDR 90k)

By hearing the name, I expected to see a bowl of hot chocolate that as creamy as clam chowder soup but I was wrong. It turned out to be a ball of dark chocolate with a hole on top and inside there seems to be nothing as it was deep and dark with a side serving of a hot jar of milk-chocolate that looked like a sauce (that is hot). To feast on it you have to pour the hot “milk chocolate fruit paradise” into the hole on top and let it break the chocolate shell which began to melt and when stirred it blended together to become a chocolate soup!

Not only that the soup itself was fascinating there are more surprises; the inside of the chocolate ball was chocolate ganache, milk chocolate mousse, white chocolate soil and almond chocolate cake, YUM!

Feasting with the big spoon, the chocolate soup was so rich, thick and fruity. The chocolate itself is not as sweet as I imagined it would be, perhaps because the shells of the chocolate ball was made with high percentage of dark chocolate.

Chocolate flower Pot (IDR 80K)

The appearance may just look as the usual Chocolate Flower pot but what make it different is the twist of 58 percent dark chocolate layers that consists of blueberry sponge. It does taste incredibly different from other flower pot I have tasted before. Aesthetic wise the chocolate flower pot dessert looked better than others I have seen as they added on raspberries as the flower and edible leaves on top of the dessert. Do keep in mind that the size might be just too much or big for one person to finish up even though it is just so engaging.

Signature “Crushing Hat Box”

They called it Signature but I think it Is spectacular. First time this dessert served on my table, I thought it was a chocolate cake (kue bolu chocolate) but indeed it was a chocolate box that made by pure chocolate. It is similar to the chocolate soup on how you eat it which is by pouring the hot thick salted caramel fudge on the side to the top of the chocolate box. Then you wait until it melted and there you can see the surprise inside the box. It is vanilla ice cream!

So far this dessert is one of my unforgettable moment during my Sunday brunch, not because I was fooled at first by the appearance but also the combination of the texture and the right balance taste of the saltiness and sweetness from the salted caramel fudge, the smoothness from the vanilla ice cream and the sourness from the raspberry makes the dish complete. Such a clever dish!
 

Raffles Green Choco (IDR 75K) and Raffles choco Nut (IDR 75K)

The last two reviews would be the chocolate drinks. Both drinks look like milk shakes as the texture is smooth and thick and have the combinations of fresh milk and chocolate.

The Raffles Green Choco, there is green tea and white chocolate then blended together with added spices such as chili powder, salt and honey.  It has a very interesting taste but I personally would rather have my matcha milk shake plain and straight forward.

Raffles choco nut has a very interesting combination. Besides chocolate and fresh milk, the do add cocoa powder, peanut butter cream, cashew nut and more interestingly CHEDDAR! My expectation was just not too high on this one but turned out that this drink was surprisingly tasy. It does have a very unique taste in a good way BUT I guess the Nutty flavor was a little bit too much otherwise it could have blown my mind.

I am pleased with what I experienced over here; such good food and awesome desserts. The only problem that I was really annoyed was how am I going to lose weight if what they serve here is blatantly delicious. Arts café by Raffles hotel Jakarta is my favorite buffet brunch by far.

Arts Cafe

Raffles Hotel Jakarta
Ciputra World 1
Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio
Jakarta

+6221 2988 8080

IG : @raffleshoteljakarta

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