Portofino

Dear fellow tasters,

Still from my Hong Kong get away, this post is from the Macau day-trip.  After surviving the ferry ride, bracing through the throngs to get to the Ruínas de São Paulo, a disastrous Macanese lunch, casino-hopping, and more shopping, my friend and I ended at the super spacious Venetian Macao.  Traversing through this massive hotel-slash-casino structure was no easy feat and by the time we reached the main lobby where the Versailles-like dome and ceilings are located, it was past dinner time and our feet were screaming from too much walking.

Cafe Deco

Dear fellow tasters,

Back to my Hong Kong trip, on the evening after intense shopping at Ladies’ market and H&M, my friend and I decided to go up the Victoria Peak or more known as the Peak, one of Hong Kong’s popular tourist attractions.  It involved an hour queuing for the Peak Tram, the iconic 120 years-old tram ride across slanted railways to reach the top.  The ride itself took only less than 10 minutes and upon alighting, the first thing we did was to look for a restaurant because we already felt famished and we needed some place to rest our poor feet from all the walking around.

Signora Pasta

Dear fellow tasters,

Two months ago on Christmas day, several food bloggers and I decided to try an Italian restaurant, recommended by word-of-mouth.  The restaurant, Signora Pasta, is owned and operated by an Italian family and is located in Cirendeu area, at the southern edge of Jakarta – a bit far for my preference but fortunately I was able to tag along a blogger friend.  The place is not really spacious; there are only five or six tables inside and two outside but it has a homey trattoria-like feel with nice Italian-themed decors hanging on the wall.

Sopra

Dear fellow tasters,

It was before the Andrea Bocelli concert at Ritz-Carlton Pacific Place ballroom a couple of months back, that I decided to treat myself to a neapolitan dinner.  Choice of place: Sopra, a recent addition to the Cucina Italiana ristoranti in Jakarta.  The place is apparently snugged in a corner, just near Metro department store, not that spacious but with nicely-designed interior complete with a bar and black leather-clad dining area. 

Luna Negra

Dear fellow tasters,

It is always exciting to write a post about a new hip, fancy restaurant and Luna Negra is one of them.  Because of all the built up excitement, I decided to move this review to the top of my to-write list.  I had heard and read rave reviews about the ‘black moon’ (translated from Spanish… or is it Italian?) restaurant-slash-bar, so I was quite excited when my friends finally agreed to go there.  This was after much rescheduling and long BBM contemplation.  Fortunately, another friend who couldn’t go with us that evening (you were missed) reminded us about making a reservation beforehand. Without this we probably would have ended up on the waiting list!

Pizza Marzano

Dear fellow tasters,

Other than the infamous Pizza Hut, there are many pizzerias around the capital which are definitely worth a try.  One of them is Pizza Marzano, a pizza franchise from the UK which has opened several outlets in Jakartan prominent shopping malls.  I’ve been there several times and when I rummaged through food shots from my mobile phone, I found pictures from two visits.

Pisa Kafe

Dear fellow tasters,

Pisa Kafe is a classic Italian cafe and restaurant in Jakarta and is already in existence from a decade ago when I was in college and I used to get a scoop of gelato or two at their cafe in Lippo Karawaci just across my campus building. It has been ages since I last went there and one late evening my couple friend invited me to come over to Pisa Kafe Menteng for dinner. I was actually already full from canapés I ate at an alumni gathering event but I supposed I still had room for some dessert.

Y&Y

Dear fellow tasters,

It was Thursday noon, lunch time, and a colleague of mine from Malaysia was in town.  He already asked me the day before to join him and another colleague for lunch.  When he called, I suggested that we should go to Grand Indonesia shopping mall which has become a budding good food paradise in the center of the city.  So there we were, faced with so many options of where to grab something to eat.  With no specific destination in mind, after a quick wandering and due to limited lunch time, we decided to raid the first place we laid our eyes on, the Y&Y restaurant.