The Thirty Six

One of the coziest cafe in town...The Thirty Six is becoming one of my favourite destination, not only because of the tasty food & desserts they offered, but also because of the spacious reserved parking lots. A lot of cafes in Medan caused mass traffic jam around them because they didn't provide spacious parking spaces like The Thirty Six. This is what I loved the most about this place. I don't have to waste my time looking for parking spots!

That was just me being random taking pictures...but that was the ceiling inside the toilet. I know, who the hell brings their phones into bathroom, right? Like I said, random!

Apology for the blurred pictures...crappy mobile phone camera. The chicken was good. Very crunchy and tasty. Not too dry (which will hurt the throat), the chicken was just perfect. I loved the salad! Cafes in Medan rarely served good side dish, but this place is an exception.

Fish and Chips

I highly doubted that the tartar sauce was homemade (the waiter told me it was) because they tasted average.It it was homemade, the taste should be different from the bottled one in the supermarket, don't you agree? If it was truly homemade, yours truly have a suggestion for you: try Mark&Spencer's tartar sauce. Their tartar sauce is so far the most acceptable bottled tartar sauce in the universe.

Quesadillas

Finally, another good quesadillas in town! Crispy skin + tasty mozzarella sauce = totally loving it! Highly recommended!!!

Lastly, the tea. I've never heard of any tea brand called Pyrmont before. The only thing I knew about Pyrmont is that it is the name of a suburb in Sydney. The tea I had was good, but the smell and the taste is not as strong as T2Tea or TWG.

The Thirty Six

Jln. Multatuli No.:36

Tel.: +62 61 4530970

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Mon to Sun: 10am-10pm

Website: http://www.thethirty-six.com/

Bangi Kopitiam

A few weeks after the grand opening, a friend told me this place was nothing good compared to its original place (Malaysia). I decided not to come here for a few months because 8 out of 10 people that I knew told me this place was bad. I was not skeptical, because typical Medanese--they don't really care about the service they received, they mostly care about the taste of the food. Another typical Medanese, "let's sit/ hangout at wherever as long as we have place to sit" meaning they don't care about the restaurant (food and service), they are just looking for some place to sit down and talk.

Nasi Lemak

I've heard that Malaysian franchised restaurant were usually specialized in Nasi Lemak. I've tried it before at Malaysia, but I think the one served here was nothing compared to Malaysia's. Apparently, my friend was right. Maybe they were trying to suit the taste of the people here, but I personally think the Nasi Lemak tasted strange. The chicken was too oily (yuck!).

Kwetiau Goreng Penang

 Sorry for the blurred picture. Eating kwetiau goreng penang was torturous for me because the dish was too oily! I didn't finish all of my food because I felt disgusted. I think it would be wise for the chef to use lesser oil when cooking.

So far, this is the only acceptable food. I think it is safe to conclude that Bangi Kopitiam is suitable for those who wanted to eat small bites and drink. I wouldn't suggest any of you to have your heavy meal here (based on my tongue). But, I think I would come back and I hoped on my next visit, the taste of the food will improve. It would be such a waste to see another well-known franchised restaurant going far lower than expectation.

Bangi Kopitiam
Jln. Letjen S. Parman No.:217

#GF-G08 Cambridge City Square

Tel.: +62 61 4561715 / 4561716

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Osteria & Pizzeria Mozza by Mario Batali

Will you believe me if I told you that I came to this restaurant thrice and during all of my attempts to get a table in this restaurant, I was told to wait for at least 3 hours? Thankfully, at my third attempt, I only had to wait for 2 hours. From 6 pm to 8 pm. Will you believe me if I told you that after I've finished my dinner (around 11 pm), there was still a long queue in front of the restaurant?

I was telling you the truth. Located at the B1 floor of Marina Bay Sands, this restaurant is always crowded (weekdays and weekends). It was always difficult to get a table during weekend, and you have to reserve at least one week in advance.

As you arrived at this restaurant, you will notice that the restaurant was divided into two parts: Osteria Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza. I was lucky enough to get a table at Pizzeria Mozza after queuing for 2 hours because if I wanted to get a table at Osteria Mozza, I have to queue for about 3 hours. CRAZY!

The thing is that the menu on Pizzeria and Osteria are different. During my visit (crazy weekend), my server told me that we are not allowed to order food from Osteria because we were sitting at Pizzeria (I don't know if the same policy was applied on weekdays or non-busy hours).

Chicken Wings alla Diavolo - SGD 18

One piece of chicken per person, because our stomach is a bottomless pit hole. Chicken Wings alla Diavolo was very good. The skin was thick and tasty, while the meat was juicy. It was well-roasted and every single bite of it will makes you feel like heaven. One piece of chicken per person was not enough.

Bacon, Salami, Fennel Sausage, Pancetta, Tomato & Mozzarella - SGD 37

I loved how every unique ingredients (pardon my French!) can be put together perfectly! All of the food are fresh and good-quality.

Pizza alla Benno: Speck, Pineapple, Jalapeño, Mozzarella & Tomato - SGD 35

Some of the pizzas that we ordered. All of the pizzas have unique flavour, mainly because I was get used to Pizza Hut's pizzas. This is what they called "authentic Italian pizza". The bacon was so soft but tasty. The chefs put generous amount of cheese on the pizzas. Not only cheese, but other ingredients as well. The crust were thick and the meat were thick. Overall, I was very satisfied with what were served.

Calamari al Forno with Fagioli & Oregano - SGD 18

The best calamari I've ever had. We ordered 3 portions because it was too delicious to eat only a small bit. Like I said, every single bite of food will make you feel in cloud nine!

Prosciutto di Parma & Bufala Mozzarella - SGD 32

Prosciutto di Parma & Bufala Mozzarella OR in short: bacon with mozzarella cheese. The cheese was FATTENING but the taste is worth the pain I will have to endure (guilty pleasure). Look at the amount of the bacon and the two big scoops of mozzarella cheese!

Nancy's Chopped Salad - SGD 20

A lot of people told me this place served the best Pizza in Singapore. So far, I've tried only a few pizzeria, but I think I couldn't agree more.

Currently, Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro and Mario Batali's Mozza are the only restaurants in Marina Bay Sands where you can enjoy eating in a celebrity chef restaurant without burning a hole in your pocket. In fact, dining in this restaurant did burned a hole in my pocket if I had to convert each SGD to IDR, but the food themselves were worth every single cent.

After trying this restaurant, a friend told me that there's Jamie's Italian in Vivocity. I was like "okay, I will try Jamie's Italian next time and compared it to Mozza and see, which celebrity chef served the better Italian cuisine." Just in case if any of you wondered, Jamie's Italian belongs to Jamie Oliver (James Trevor Oliver). He is a British celebrity chef, cooking show host (my favourite shows are Oliver's Twist, Jamie's 15-Minutes Meals), restaurateur, and cook book author.

Osteria & Pizzeria Mozza

2 Bayfront Ave

#B1-42/46 The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands

Tel.: +65 66888522
Singapore

Website: http://www.osteriamozza.com/ and  http://pizzeriamozza.com/

Excelso

The truth that this cafe improved so much really amazed me! Previously, this is one of the cafes that I detested the most! Bad services, endless hours of waiting for my drinks to arrive, mixed up orders, and not to mention ignorant servers...those were just a few out of many reasons I hated this restaurant. Once I tweeted about how bad the service was, and I received quite a number of replied from my friends. Apparently, all of them agreed to what I said! This cafe deserved "Worst Cafe of the Year" award.

BUT, all of those happened in the past. Today (and hopefully, till forever) this is one of my most-favourite place to hang-out. I loved all of the food here (except the Nachos. The nachos is good, but I never like nachos.) The service was great and deserved a credit.

Fettuccine with Chicken and Black Pepper Sauce - IDR 59,500

The Chicken and Black Pepper Sauce is very good. Although it is a little bit oily, the chicken tasted good. I think they marinated the chicken with black pepper for a few minutes before cooking it because you could actually felt some pepper in every bite.

Spaghetti Carbonara - IDR 59,500

 I love, love, love, love, love the spaghetti carbonara. I am not a big fan of carbonara (because most of the time, it is too creamy), but Excelso's is an exception.

Fettuccine Carbonara - IDR 59,500

Lemon Butter Dory with Fettucinne - IDR 59,500

This is my MOST FAVOURITE dish. The sauce was a little bit sour but sweet and salty. I don't really know how to describe the taste, but for those who loved lemon, this one is very recommended. They didn't put too much lemon on it so it's not too sour. Some people might complain that the dory fish is too salty, but you can always tell them to reduce the amount of the salt.

Dory en Oats - IDR 59,500

 This dish is rather simple. Fried the dory with oats...but I personally think it is challenging to fry the dory until very, very, crunchy. I would recommend you, dear readers, to try dory en oats with sauteed potatoes. Their sauted potatoes are one of a kind! So far, the best sauteed potatoes I've ever had in Medan.

French Fries with Cheese Sauce

Look at the cheese!

This is by far my must-order dish whenever I eat at Excelso. The french fries is ordinary except they sprinkled minced and chopped parsley (I think) all over the french fries but the sauce itself is why I always ordered this dish. It was sooooo good! 10 out of 10 people, whom I recommend this sauce to, would tell me that this is indeed the best cheese sauce they've ever had! It tastes...unique. I am still trying to figure out the ingredients they used in making this sauce.

Overall, this place is great! Good food, good drink, and good service. A little tip for you, I personally enjoy eating at Excelso in Hermes Place Polonia and Cambridge City Square compared to Sun Plaza and Mall Center Point. Especially Hermes. I think Hermes Place Polonia has the best chef  among all of Excelso outlets in Medan.

De' Excelso

Jln. Haji Zainul Arifin No.:7 

#GF-C18 Sun Plaza

Tel.: +62 61 4501080

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

De'Excelso

Jln. Letjen. S. Parman No.:217 

#GF-P02/P02A Cambridge City Square

Tel.: +62 61 4517720

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Excelso

Jln. Wolter Monginsidi No.:45

#GF-03 Hermes Place Polonia

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Excelso

Jln. Jawa No.:1

#LG-13 Mall Center Point

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Website: http://www.excelso-coffee.com/

Loving Hut

Ala Carte Darnia

District 10 Restaurant & Bar

Howey

Old Town White Coffee

Lady Batiq

Nasi Tak Bosan

Paradise Dynasty

Bakmi Hock Seng

Okaeri Japanese Café and Pastry

I have been eager to blog about this café, but for several reasons, I have to delay until today. Anyways, I had just realised that this blog has reached more than 100 views! YAY! Well, in the beginning, I've always wondered if there is anyone who would actually read this blog---you know crappy mobile-phone camera pictures, review in bad English, and who the hell would read this blog when I told no one that I was blogging?

Okay, enough ranting. It seems that lately, I am ranting more often than usual. Maybe it's the hormone. Back to business now! In this review, I would talk about Okaeri-specialized in Japanese food and patisserie.

Nope, sorry, I've totally forgotten the name. BUT the seaweed smelled so good! God I swear I could go back to this restaurant every week if only all of my companions agreed to do so.

Okay, I promise when I go back, I will ask the waiter/waitress/manager the name of the food posted in this post. They were all soooo good! Really, really good! My most favourite menu here is the sashimi.

Salmon skin - very thick and crunchy! Not too oily (I love!)

This is the champion among all. The freshest salmon belly sashimi I've ever had in Medan! The owner of this place is a GENIUS. Do you see the ice under the sashimi? That is what I called genius! The ice will make the sashimi remained cold and fresh. Have you ever order sashimi and when the sashimi arrived at your table, you did not like because they tasted warm in your mouth and somehow made you wondered if the sashimi were not fresh? That was me! And, the ice will cool the sashimi and hence, when you eat, you will feel that "Oh! The sashimi is so fresh!"

The only picture of the cake I could take. Oh well! This is my most favourite cake among all. The cheesecake was good, but remember, Japanese Cheesecake is not as thick as New York Cheesecake. If you are fond of NY Cheesecake, I doubt that you will enjoy Japanese Cheesecake because the texture is not thick and I think they use less cheese while making Japanese Cheesecake.

The good services that I've experienced were beyond words, and I truly admire the manager for being able to manage every employees. It is not an easy thing to do. All of the servers were friendly, even though some of them might need more training regarding the product knowledge. But since this restaurant was still new when I visited here months ago, I think it is forgivable! Even the chef and the manager were so kind towards me. The chef, himself, personally gave me a plate of fresh salmon salad (out of the blue + free of charge + not in the menu). I don't know if any other customers received the same treatment, but that simple gesture really put a big smile on my face.

Out of my curiosity, I decided to google about this restaurant and stumble upon a bad review with a few nasty comments. People always tell me that I am too picky and hard to please, but it is good to know that there were people out there who were more picky and harder to please other than me :P

Okaeri Japanese Café & Pastry

Jln. Kartini No.:26

Tel.: +62 61 4531598
Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

A Penny for My Thought: Endless Reminisce of the Good Old Days - Back Then and Now

This post was posted due to my boredom (which resulted in lots of thoughts and deep thinking).

I remembered myself as a teenager who enjoyed spending weekends by doing cafe-hopping with friends. You know, if Western people do bar-hopping, we did cafe-hopping because 1) we were under-age, 2) we didn't know any good bars in Medan, and 3) none of us drink. Yes, we were just a bunch of innocent teenagers who were eager to grow up. Now, as a young adult, that habit doesn't really change. I still do cafe-hopping with my friends but not as often as back then when we were still teenagers.

Back then (when I was around 10-18 years old), our most favourite hang-out spots would be Starbucks and Roemah Kopi Wak Noer. Even on weekdays, I would meet up and drink coffee with my friends at Starbucks Coffee. The baristas knew my name and knew that I would always order either Hot Green Tea Latte using Low Fat-Milk with Extra Caramel or Ice Blended Green Tea Latte using Low-Fat Milk with No-Whip Cream and Extra Caramel. During holiday season, I would always order Hot Toffee Nut Latte. Even until today, those were still my most-favourite drinks.

For dinner, we would usually eat at Nasi Goreng Pekantan/ Nasi Goreng Pemuda/ cafes inside Sun Plaza or Cambridge City Square, and then have some drinks afterward at Roemah Kopi Wak Noer. If we had breaksfast together, we would eat at Soto Sinar Pagi/ Nasi Gurih Tenda Biru.

Back then, there were only a few cafes in Medan. The Japanese restaurants we have were Sushi Tei and Itcho Sushi. We watched movies at Sun 21. We ate steaks at Bel Mondo Cafe/ Dome Cafe. We ate spaghetti at Excelso/ Gelato Bar. We ate yogurt at L.A. Betty/ Blu Apple (eventhough both were no longer open). We ate doughnuts at J.CO Donuts. We have BBQ at Seoul Garden (and we always bring our student ID to get discounts). We ate dimsum at Nelayan Shanghai Kitchen. We ate ice-cream at Fountain.

Did you know that back then, QQ Restaurants were not a restaurant but a small stall that sold popcorn and blended drinks? Before the movie started, we would rush to QQ to buy popcorn/ blended drinks and then Hypermart to buy snacks. Girls would bring super big tote bags to sneak in the snacks into the cinema. The security never checked our bags. We used BCA Cards for the "buy one get one" promotion in the cinema, and usually, we would buy six! Buy six get six! The ticket price was only IDR 25,000 (compared to now, IDR50,000-IDR 75,000). We pig out whenever we eat out. We threw flour and eggs to our friends who were having his or her birthday. We played ice skating at Sun Plaza and then ordered drinks from Luciano Cafe. We played Dance Dance Revolution at Amazon Arcade Centre. We always took picture at M-Studio or D-Studio as a souvenir. We used XL (mobile network operators) to text with friends or crush because we would get free 100 SMS per day if we chatted with our friends who were using XL too. Good old days.

As I compared the current situation with the past, I realised how fast time flies and pasts. In a blink of eyes, I am no longer a teenager. I am now a young adult with several responsibilities. I might only be at my early 20s, but as you graduated from high-school, as you entered college and working-world, a lot of things seemed to change. But even so, like the old saying "old habits die hard", we would still spare some time to meet up and catch up with the good old friends...talking about the good old days while hoping for better days upcoming.

Nowadays, a lot of cafes are popping everywhere. It seems there is at least one new cafe opening every month. But my major disappointment is that, only a few of these cafes seemed to have a concept. Most of the cafes served almost everything-from Indonesian to Western food. They don’t have any specialities. Back then, whenever we wanted to eat fried rice, we would go to Fountain Cafe. For Indonesian food, we would go to Sunday Cafe. Each and every of the cafe has its own popular or well-known dish, but now? Whenever we go to a cafe, we don’t have any idea what is its speciality. We kept on questioning the servers: what is your speciality? What is your signature dish? It seemed that people are opening cafes not because it is their passion to cook or they want to serve good food, it is more likely that they are opening cafe because it is currently in trend and it will profitable. I knew that the purpose of every business is to earn profit, but it is not the only purpose, right? There must be other purposes such as: introducing the authentic Italian cuisine to the market, or introducing the right taste to the market, etc. It is such a waste to see several cafe owners who opened up cafe to earn profit, but the owners themselves seemed to have no proper knowledge about how to open a good cafe. Anyone can open a cafe, but not anyone can open a good. A good cafe, I would say Roemah Kopi Wak Noer and Sunday Cafe. We knew they have their specialities, and these specialities are something you cannot get at any other cafe. Say, Roemah Kopi Wak Noer’s nasi perang and tea, or Sunday Cafe’s sop buntut and nasi ayam bakar sunda kelapa. Both cafes also have excellent interior design. It always makes me feel comfortable whenever I go to those two cafes. These are the examples of the cafe I am looking forward in Medan. I hope in the future, there will be more cafes like these two cafes.

I didn't own any cafe. And I do wish to own one, but not now. I knew I am not capable to open. I am not a good cook, I am still learning. I could simply hire someone to cook for my customers, but it doesn't suit my principal. I don’t want to open a cafe with nothing impressive—nothing to remember. I want people to keep coming back to my cafe not because “rather than no place to go” or “rather than we don’t know what to do” or “up to you guys, I had no idea where to go” or “as long as we have some place to sit”. I want people to keep coming back to my cafe because they love what my cafe serves—because they are attracted to my cafe’s signature dish—because the love the atmosphere and ambiance inside my cafe. I want people to keep coming back because they love my place.

I am not saying that other cafes without specialities will not survive. It definitely will survive as long as there are teenagers who enjoyed sitting and chatting with friends (this kind of teenagers will never extinct, so those cafes will definitely survive) but how long will you depend on people who come not because they love your place, but because they have no choice? Sooner or later, when these teenagers have choices, they will stop coming to your place because yours was not even their choice at the first place.

That is all I've got to say. If any of you feel offended or disagree with me, feel free to do so. After all, not one of us is the same. We are all very different, aren't we?

cheers to good food and good life,

yours truly

M Avenue Resto & Café

A not-so-new yet not-so-old café, M-Avenue offered various of food from Western to Indonesian food. The place is good, but I don't have any pictures of the exterior nor the interior.

Honestly, I don't like the potatoes and the sausages. I think something is missing in the ingredient. I knew that it might because they bought it in the supermarket and then fried it in the pan...but doesn't mean you are not allowed to add a little bit of ingredients, right? The sausages were too dry. It must because the person who prepared my food spent too much time in frying the sausages. The fries was standard--like the typical Golden Farm fries you bough from the supermarket. 

For main dish, I asked the waitress what is the most recommended dish and this is what she suggested me. I forgot the name but it was fried rice inside fried wonton skin. It was a unique way to prepare a dish.

I was hesitant to order the spaghetti because before I was seated, I met my friend who had just finished his dinner at this cafe. He told me that he and his friends (around 6-8 people) ordered spaghetti but none of the spaghetti tasted good. He told me that it would be better for a picky person like me not to eat at this cafe because I would be disappointed. But what can I do, I have arrived here and queued for around 5 minutes, and I was lazy to stroll around looking for other places to eat. Besides, I've never been to this place before, so I decided to wait instead of leaving.

Because I was curious with what my friend told me, I decided to order a portion of spaghetti aglio olio. In my mind, aglio olio is the basic of all spaghetti. If you cannot cook good aglio olio, there's no way you would be able to cook other flavours.

The result? Well, according to my companions, the aglio olio was not bad, but not so good that it became something to die for. The taste is acceptable. But that's it.

M-Avenue Resto & Café

Jl.n Haji Misbah/ Jln. Multatuli

Komp. Multatuli Indah Blok:FF No.:18-19

Tel.: +62 61 4156287

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Mon to Fri: 10am-12am

Sat, and Sun: 10am-1am

Tonkokatsu by Ma Maison

I often passed Tonkokatsu by Ma Maison (or simply known as Tonkokatsu Ma Maison) whenever I went to Mandarin Gallery, but I've never tried eating there before. Even when I think of having breakfast/ lunch/ dinner at Mandarin Gallery, I will either go to Wild Honey or Ippudo. Mostly Ippudo (confession). You know typical Medan lang (read: people from Medan), if you visit Mandarin Gallery, you should eat at Ippudo.

But, after several persuasions from my companions, I finally agreed to try this well-known katsu. After I tried, I swear to you all, this is indeed one of the BEST katsu I've ever had! I was in awe...surprised, amazed, wondered...whatever you called it!

If you look closely to the pictures, you could see that the bowl of rice were consist of brown rice and white rice. I was reluctant to order whole brown rice because I was afraid that the rice would be sticky and dry (like what I've experienced before, but not at this restaurant), but this one was good!'

The only two pictures I could took :( there were supposed to be a lot more, but thanks to the hungry mouths, they were all gone as soon as they were served and before I could took the pictures.

There were also cheese inside the katsu. Additional point for this restaurant. This restaurant was usually crowded...I was quite lucky when I visited there. It was around 6:30 pm but I only need to wait for about 2 minutes. But after 7 pm, you have to queue for at least 30 minutes. So, I advised you to come here before 7 pm.

Oh, have I mentioned that you can add as many rice and as many salad as you want for free? Yes, they were free-of-charge!

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison

333A Orchard Road

#02-35/36 Mandarin Gallery

Tel.: +65 67334541

Mon to Fri: 11am–3pm, 5pm–10pm

Sat, Sun, and PH: 11am–10pm

Manna House

One of my favourite cafe for now. From the exterior, this place looked wide and spacious. I have passed this place several times before but not until recently, I finally get to visit there. A cafe with comfortable interior and a barber shop inside!

The barber-shop itself is kind of 1920s American style. It's a regret that I didn't take the picture of the barber shop.

Look at the transparent roof and the glass divider! My first thought when I saw it: one good way to save the electricity bill! Whoever designed this place is genious. The bar inside the cafe didn't make the room became too narrow. In fact, I believe the bar is one of the strongest element of this place.

I really love the interior design of this place. The white wall---the bended steel--the hanging lamp, everything is perfect! Do you see the lady on the right of the picture? I think she is the owner of this place. I saw here teaching the barista how to brew the coffee and she even made some of the drinks. Quite dedicated, don't you agree? Oh, and there was his husband too. Waiting patiently for his wife (sweet!)

This place is really cozy. I could totally sit for hours here (during the day).

Nasi Ayam Rica Rica - IDR 29,000

The chicken was g-r-e-a-t!!! Not too oily, right! And the chilli smelled so good! I was usually skeptical with Chinese-owned cafe which served Indonesian dish, but I guess this place is an exception.

Sayur Asam

This comes with Nasi Ayam Rica Rica. I was quite disappointed because Nasi Ayam Rica-Rica tasted so good but then, the sayur asam was far lower from what I expect. Too much grout on the bottom of the soup. I think it is not wise to serve too much grout to the customers. They are bad for the throat.

Fried Kwtiau Penang - IDR 28,000

Compared to other cafes of the same 'level', this place is quite affordable. I thought the price of the food would be around IDR 40,000 and above but no, they were below that!

Mozarella Stick - IDR 38,000

Totally recommended!!!! My favourite!!!! My kesukaan!!!! My addiction!!!! I could totally eat this everyday!!! 

Fried Mushroom - IDR 22,000

the 'inside' look to the fried mushroom

The fried mushroom is a major disappointment. It tasted strange....I don't feel like eating mushroom at all. The texture is so strange and they put too much salt on it..and flour too. This is not recommended at all.

Overall, this place was great (regardless the taste of the mushroom) even though the servers seems to need a little bit proper training. Their product knowledge is low, but I guess I should not expect too much from a newbie, should I?

Manna House

Jln. Cut Mutia No.:2

Tel.: +62 61 4518620

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Waroeng Kuok Thung

Forgive me for being blunt, but this restaurant has to revise its recipes once more. None of the food (except kwetiau goreng halilintar) tasted good. I am not the only person who complained, 4 of my companions also agreed that this restaurant has to revise its recipes.

Nasi Ayam Hainan - IDR 35,000

This dish is my biggest disappointment among all. The rice were sticky and it seems like the rice were either over-cooked or were yesterday's leftover. The chicken were too cooked, too. The chicken was supposed to have this oily and wet texture, but what I was served was as dry as the desert! The chicken was not tasty at all. I believed it is supposed to be well-cooked with sesame oil, ginger, and soy sauce. Even though the soup tasted perfect, the chicken and rice has ruined the entire taste of the dish.

Nasi Tom Yam - IDR 35,000

Before I ordered Nasi Tom Yam, I asked the waitress if the chef cooked the sauce or he just poured the sauce out of the sachet you bought at the supermarket. She told me that the chef cooked the sauce. As soon as I taste them, I felt cheated!!! The squids were tasteless, the egg was tasteless, the soup was tasteless (only spicy, not sour, doesn't smell nice too), the meatballs were tasteless, nothing in that tom yum taste good! I regret suggesting my companion to order this food.

Cakue - IDR 10,000

Yiu Ca Kwe -- something your Mom asked you to eat with the chicken porridge whenever you are sick. But this one ain't good. This one was too oily and tasted strange. I think they used too much flour on it. Lookeat the white liquid inside the cakwe. I don't think they are not supposed to be there!

Mie Soup Ayam Kuok Thung - IDR 20,000

It seems that our chef has an endless hatred towards chicken. Another too-dry too-cooked chicken again.

Kwetiau Goreng Halilintar - IDR 25,000

The only food that was acceptable, although I believe the chef was not an expert in cooking this particular dish.

I heard that Waroeng Kuok Thung is under the same management with Kok Tong Kopitiam. I've never been to Kok Tong Kopitiam before...but I hope if I get to visit there, whatever they serve will not disappoint me.

Waroeng Kuok Thung
Jln. Imam Bonjol No.:6

#GF Lippo Mall

Tel.: +62 61 80511199
Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Itcho Sushi

Itadakimass!

As a huge lover of Japanese food, I feel more than happy whenever I find out that there is another upcoming Japanese food restaurant in Medan. One of which I would like to review about is Itcho Sushi. Whenever I came here, I would always choose to sit at the sushi bar. It has this "Japan" aura. Japanese sushi bar usually have lower ceiling. It gives you the feeling of secure, safe, and comfortable. Itcho Sushi has this kind of sushi bar.

Oh, from what I heard from a Korean friend, they also served several Korean dishes  because the owner of this restaurant is a Korean. But mainly simple dishes such as: kimchi and gimbap (with various fillings).

Salmon Belly Sashimi

Salmon Sashimi

The sashimis are my favourite. Especially  salmon belly sashimi. The sashimi was fresh and look at the thick fats! Very, very, yummy!

Salmon Mentai Sushi

Tobikko Sushi

Generous amount of eggs all over the sushi.....this kind of generosity is rare!

Salmon Maki

Crazy Chicken Roll

Tamgo Kani Maki

Something I took from the sushi bar....not recommended. The tamago and maki were both tasteless. I regret taking this food away. I should have just left it on the sushi bar.

The dish above...I have totally forgotten the name but the taste was soooooooo good! I am not kidding nor am I lying to you. You should try it!

The service was quick. It took less than 15 minutes for me to wait for all of the food. That's a brownie point for them. Honestly, I believed this restaurant really took recommendations and feedback from their customers seriously. A few months ago, I angrily left this restaurant because one of the servers made me angry. I told the server that the tobikko on the tobikko sushi that I ordered was stale. I expected her to bring my food for the chef to taste. But instead of doing so, she told me (with stubborn face) that there was no way the food would be stale and I was too picky. I was like, "what the hell? How could you know if the food is stale or not when you haven't tried at all? I was too picky?? Fuck you! I am leaving and I will never ever come back here again!" That was exactly what I told myself (I did not angrily blurt out everything, nor did I swear around, okay!) I was so angry but the captain hurriedly apologized and told me that they will be more careful not to serve stale food to customers next time. So, I kind of let it go.

A few weeks later, I came back and that particular servers served me again. This time, she was very differently. She served me nicely + politely. [[ Nope, there is no way she was so nice because she has spit on my food. I saw the cook prepared my food and then the servers directly served me the dish. So, it is safe! (Thank God!) ]] I was surprise! How could she change from stubborn into friendly in less than 3 months?

Not only her, but all of the other servers (new or old) seems to becoming more friendly. Full of smiles and talked softly + quietly. Previously, they talked like girls who were fighting over one branded handbag which price has been reduced about 90%. Loud, rude, and noisy. It must be either they have received a proper training or they have received warning from their boss. Either one, I don't care! I was really satisfied with the changes!

Itcho Sushi

Jln. Haji Zainul Arifin No.:7 

#3F-B31/35 Sun Plaza

Tel.: +62 61 4501112

Medan - North Sumatra - Indonesia

Mon to Sun: 11am-10pm