[Bandung] Boemi Mitoha

Boemi Mitoha serves up Sundanese cuisine (makanan Sunda) in Bandung city center. This restaurant was part of the tour package lunch stop on our arrival in Bandung. First meal, and yes, I was pretty excited to have a taste!

The place was spacious with clean washroom. Within the restaurant, there are taps to wash hands.

prospective son-in-law should buy (treat) food for the prospective in-laws

interior

food on display

variety of foods

As it was a packaged tour, we were served up with a set meal. It consist of soup, meats of grilled chicken and fried whole fish, crackers, salad, fried snacks made of corn, fried egg, rice and a hot tea drink.

lunch time

The cold soup "Sayur Asem ala Mitohas" was sourish and appetizing. Their version of grilled chicken was the most tender (relatively) that I've encountered while in Bandung. The fried fish was enjoyable with some sweet spicy sauce drizzled on it. The bakwan sayur (fried corn snack) was the item that I least liked. Lovely greens and powerful chili to accompany it.

Boemi Mitoha

Address: Jl. Ciliwung No.15, Cihapit, Bandung Wetan, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat 40114, Indonesia
Website: http://boemi-mitoha.com/
Contact: +62 22 7279176
Business Hours: Daily 10am to 10pm

[Media Invite] Curry Times 咖喱食堂 @ Novena Square

Curry Times originated from Old Chang Kee, and as they say, its roots began from a puff. Curry puff that is. This a Singapore brand and one that we are all proud of. How many times have we walked past the white and yellow kiosks, and bought home some snacks like sotong head, fishball or a curry-o? Too many times, at least for me.

Curry Times at Novena Square is one of the popular lunch destinations for people working nearby. Usually, I'd go for the daily set meal as it comes with small side dish (usually vegetable) and a drink. There is usually a queue during peak hours between 12 to 1pm. 

mural in the restaurant

good for groups

Was invited to a recent tasting and got to taste items from Old Chang Kee as well as Curry Times. If you like spicy, then you are in for a treat!

on your mark, get set, go!

From Old Chang Kee, we had Sambal Ikan Bilis Beehoon and Sambal Seafood O Curry Puff. The beehoon is available at the kiosks that sells breakfast. The Sambal Seafood O Curry Puff was rather spicy! Be careful when biting into these spicy packages.

Sambal Ikan Bilis Beehoon @$2.50

Sambal Seafood Curry Puff @$3.50 (for 2)

Next, we sampled the Sambal Sotong Nasi Lemak. A plate of fragrant coconut milk rice, topped with a heart-shaped sunny side-up, and lined with fishcake, peanuts and achar. The sambal sotong is actually similar to sotong heads that's coated with spicy sambal.

Sambal Sotong Nasi Lemak @$10.90 (with free buah longlong drink)

Buah LongLong drink (free with Sambal Sotong Nasi Lemak)

The 'buah long long' drink was too thin a version, unfortunately. Its regular drinks like bandung with basil seeds fared better.

Bandung/Winter Melon with basil seeds @$3 each

If you're dining in groups of 4 to 6, then one could order dishes to share. Let's start with fish maw soup. The soup has fishballs, chicken meat balls and lots of fish maw. Tasty.

Fish Maw Soup @$11.90

For vegetables, we tried the stinky beans (petai). Yes, they have it! Now you know where to go to satisfy that petai cravings. This is one of those that you either love or hate. The rendition at Curry Times was enjoyable.

Sambal Petai @$7.90

Another highly enjoyable dish was the simple steamed tofu with chye poh. The chye poh (菜脯) or preserved turnips' taste was not so pronounced in this dish. Nevertheless, it was sweet savoury and goes well with the tofu.

Steamed tofu with chye poh @$7.50

Now, we seem to have vegetables, tofu and of course, there are meaty dishes on the menu. How about beef rendang? This dish is good for sharing. Chunky beef pieces cooked with rempah that resulted in flavourful meat. Just use the fork to push them into smaller pieces, scoop up some of those aromatic rempah and paired with a spoonful of rice. Yums.

Beef Rendang (rice) @$11.90

Don't take beef? No problem. There's seafood too on the menu. Curry prawn fritter, curry fish or seaweed fish? You choose. The curry prawn fritters would be one of those items that can be enjoyed by the young and old.

Curry prawn firtters (foreground) @$12.90 and Curry Fish Fillet (background) @$9.90

In terms of fish, I liked the seaweed one better. The sauce, while it didn't taste much of the seaweed, it had a somewhat familiar, homecooked taste.

Seaweed Sauce Fish Fillet (rice) @$8.90

Most of the items in Curry Times cater to the individual, yet there's nothing to stop us from sharing. Eating together with family in a round table communal style setting, is what we grew up with. Ok, my home table is not rounded but a square but you get what I mean, right? Hence, for me some of the dishes when eaten communal style, managed to evoke a hint of nostalgia.

Good for a group of 8 pax - let's eat!

And, of course, there are dessert at the end of the meal. Curry Times Coffee Chendol would satisfy both your coffee and chendol cravings, at the same time! Good, order once satisfy both!

Coffee Chendol @$4

If you prefer something warm, there's bubur cha cha. Colourful tapioca jellies, floating in a bowl of off-white coconut milk.

Bubur Cha Cha (warm) @$5

Thank you Jennifer for the invite and Curry Times for hosting the tasting. Local food that gives the feeling of warmth and comfort.

[Media Invite] Beyond Pancakes @ Marina Square Mall

Pannenkoek? Galettes? Now you have can them all at Beyond Pancakes. This halal-certified casual eatery is located at Level 3 of Marina Square Mall, serves a variety of European influenced pancakes, burgers and pastas.

menu

As usual, we went with the Chef's recommendation. For hors d'oeuvre, we had the Nachos Set. Yes, that's French for appetizer. The nachos were actually toasted crispy crepe which was served warm and crispy, then loaded with mozarella cheese, avocado strips, onions, olives, jalapenos and topped with a beautiful sunny side up. For the set, it was served with cheese sauce, spring onion dip and cheesy sundried tomato dip. The spring onion dip was refreshing but my favourite was the cheesy sundried tomato dip.

Nachos Set @$10.90

If you are ordering the Nachos Set, I do urge you to eat it as soon as it arrived. So good to have warm crispy crepe scooping up those yummy dips which quickly made their exit into our stomachs.

Next, we had the Chicken Bolognaise from the pasta section. Served with moderate amount of sauce and it sprinkled with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. The noodles strands were soft. The flavours were mild.

Chicken Bolognaise @$13.90

Saumon Fume Galette @$14.90

Was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of the smoked salmon galette. Thin thin layer of French crepe made of wheat, had edges so crisps that it fell off as soon as our finger tips gave it the tiniest of a nudge, which was lined with pesto sauce and topped with avocado, smoked salmon and a sunny side up.

We ate it the way Europeans would usually have it, which was to break the yolk, smear it around before rolling up the pancake. I liked it! The flavours were balanced and the rolled salmon, avocado and pesto mix with the thin galette skin was a big hit amongst the group.

For most of us, we are more familiar with the American styled pancakes. Round, soft and fluffy, and usually sweet. At Beyond Pancakes, there are savoury pancakes to choose and we had Le Poulet.

Le Poulet @$12.90

Butter in semi-melting state and spring onion mushrooms on my pancakes? Yes, please! The taste of the pancake was mildly sweet and the combination of grilled chicken strips, capsicum, onions and cherry tomatoes on the side would make this dish slightly more substantial.

Having a meal at Beyond Pancake was like taking a pancake journey to around European continent.  Pannenkoek was our next dish, and this is a Dutch-style pancake. Thin crepe, almost like a more hardy popiah-skin and topped with sliced chicken, black pepper sausages, turkey bacon, onions, capsicum, olives, and mozarella cheese.

De Kip @$13.90

No one resists desserts, right? Neither did we. This is for the sweet-toothed ones. The plate that we had was a special order of singular pancakes for tasting. Usual order would be Short (2 pieces), Medium (4 pieces) and Tall (6 pieces). Price ranges from $5.90 to $10.90 for Short.

(front counter clockwise) strawberry cream cheese, plain, chocolate chip and blueberry

Cheesy Nutella Roll @$14.90

The Cheesy Nutella Roll was basically Pannenkoek rolled with cream cheese, nutella, choco biscuit crumbs, served with vanilla ice-cream and peaches. The sweetness level was just right. Most of us were happy with just the original and the chocolate chip pancakes with butter and maple syrup.

My favourites were the Saumon Fume Pannenkoek, Le Poulet and the chocolate chip pancake.

Good halal option for pancakes.

Fix Cafe @ Ah Hood Road

Nestled deep in NS Home Team Clubhouse, this place is actually pretty near my workplace. Met friends for late lunch on a Saturday. Friends had already finished their meal by the time I arrived, so ordered Mexican Fried Chicken and doughnuts as dessert.

But first up, a nice cold drink to quench thirst on a hot humid afternoon. Liked the Earl Grey Lychee Tea!

Lychee Earl Grey Tea @$5++

Fried chicken came in two pieces, so I shared one with a friend. Came with a side serving of salad and a herbed dip. Had mine with leftover chili sauce from friends' earlier fajitas. The chicken was well fried though the seasoning is not that strong. Loved that they gave chicken thigh and drumsticks on that plate.

Mexican Fried Chicken @$14++

Asked the service crew for recommendations on desserts and the answer was donuts. Ok, let's try it.

Donuts with Salted Egg Dip @$6++

Cutesy mini round deep fried balls of dough with some icing sugar. The salted egg dip was rather thick, much more like a custard instead. I liked it especially when the donut was spread with lots of salted egg dip. Yums!

Patrons could choose to sit indoor or outdoors. The indoor seats are much cooler but it was also at the blind spot of the service staff. Perhaps it was because we dined there at odd hours, so the staff did not check on us. Other than that, staff were friendly.

Badoque Cafe @ 298 Bedok Road

We had a mission to accomplish. That particular mission was a quest to sample the Tomahawk at Badoque that's located near Simpang Bedok. Heard many good things about this cafe from Ivan and it sure piqued our interest! Getting to Badoque is not difficult, just that it was really far for a westie. Took the train to Tanah Merah and then head towards the bus stop across the station and take bus #9. Stop at opposite of Bedok Marketplace and walk for about 5 minutes to reach the cafe.

inside the cafe

Badoque has both indoor and outdoor seats. It was kinda windy and hot on our day of visit, so we opted for the cooler but darker (in terms of lighting) indoor dining. Unfortunately for us, the Tomahawk remained elusive as it is only available after 3pm.

For lunch, there are still quite a number of selections to choose from, so we ordered two ribs, a fish & chips and some fiery chicken wings to try. Was warned that the wings are so spicy that the Chef, himself had difficulty in handling. Ok, bring it on!

But, in any case, we still ordered plenty of ice blended drinks in preparation to douse the 'fire' on our tongues when necessary.

(from left to right) ice lemon tea ($5.50+), frangipani ($8.50+), mojito ($8.50+) and salted caramel ($8.50+)

Liked the Frangipani the most. Made of soda, blood orange and lemonade. Such a pretty shade of reddish pink. Sweet and refreshing. The Salted Caramel tasted like milk, mostly.

One could already smell the 'kepak bing bing' before it actually reached the table! The aromatically pungent and enticing smell of belachan, plus look at the amount of chili seeds... No joke.

Kepak Bing Bing @$12.50+

do you dare?

The spices hit fast and lingered for quite a bit. Taking sips of the ice blended frangipani was actually, not a good idea because it felt even spicier after that. Keke! But pretty shioks though.

When the beef ribs arrived, it most certainly elicited some "oohs" and "aahs". A humongous and thick slab of ribs. It was really my first time in seeing such a big portion of any ribs.

Badoque Ribs @$36++

The Badoque Ribs were indeed tender and fall-off-the-bones type and served with BBQ sauce. Tangy and appetising. Liked the green beans and potatoes.

We also tried the Iga Bakar, which was the Indonesian styled beef ribs. More ribs? Yeah! It was as if we were on a meatatarian rampage. Similarly, the serving was huge and meant to be shared amongst two pax. Loved the savoury sweet sauce and the rice was so good. And that achar too. All tasted good. Yummy!

Iga Bakar @$36++

really lovely achar, so it deserved a shot on its own

If you're not into beef, no worries. The Flounder Fish and Chippies is worth ordering. Two large slabs of thinly battered and expertly fried till crisp and golden. The fish flesh was soft and tasty. It was good.

Flounder Fish & Chippies @$24++

Two guys and three ladies shared the above meal and drinks. I think the food could feed another person easily and all of us would still ended up feeling quite full.

Paid about $29 per pax each. Thank you fellow foodies for sharing the calories and Ivan for organizing!

Service staff were friendly, price was reasonable and food portion was generous. Recommended and value for money.

J's Restaurant @ Purvis Street

If you're looking for some halal Mexican food with select few Spanish influenced ones, then J's the right place to be. Limited seating downstairs but I heard that they can fit 20 pax upstairs.

menu

Menu selection is somewhat limited, but it's good that they chose to focus on what they do best. At J's, one could expect nicely presented food, and of good portion size.

Started off the meal with Chef's Salad, which was served in a very elongated plate. Yes, very.

Chef's Salad @$18++

daily servings of greens

Though the long plate enabled easier sharing amongst two tables, it was a pity that the ingredients aren't evenly distributed. One end had all the smoked salmon, mozarella while the other end had some good eggs with soft yolk. Unless you need your greens and your main course doesn't have any, then go for this. Otherwise, skip this and go for other appetiser.

Soup of the day - mushroom @$8++

Mushroom soup was served very hot, and thus be warned. Tasted smooth and liked the enoki mushrooms in it.

For main course, our table had quesadillas, paella and sirloin beef.

Chicken Quesadillas - $22++

The quesadillas looked good, and bet it tasted good too.

yummy

Paella seemed like a perennial favourite amongst the patrons of the restaurant. Almost every table has it. But fajitas might well be the top favourite as I saw plates after hot plates being served.

Paella (single serve) - $28++

Paella (servings for 2) - $39++

The saffron paella looked appetising with its yellow hues but the proteins in it which consist of chicken, salmon and tilapia all tasted somewhat the same. Liked that the paella was done with extra moistness. How about a seafood version soon?

sirloin beef @$32++

grass-fed New Zealand beef - done medium rare

The beef was done up pretty good. Pink center and its sides charred appropriately. Good meaty chew, juicy at center parts and smokey char good at its outer sides. Loved the garlic mash. So yummy. Enoki appeared again and it was so good to be eaten with the garlic mash. Didn't fancy the carrot though.

Didn't have a chance to get desserts though as the churros were sold out by the time we finished our mains.

Expect to spend about $40 to $50 per pax. With the Entertainer App, you could enjoy savings when dining at participating restaurants. J's included as one of the Entertainer Singapore 2015 merchants.