Kadang-kadang gue takut salah memberikan penilaian ke makanan ala negara lain. Salah satu alasannya adalah karena mungkin gue belum pernah ke negara itu dan belum merasakan rasa asli dari makanan itu. Mungkin saja rasa yang gue anggap enak di sini sebenarnya adalah masakan asing yang sudah disesuaikan dengan lidah Asia sehingga rasanya bisa lebih berterima di lidah gue. OK, anggaplah begitu ya, mungkin lidah gue terlalu awam terhadap rasa asli makanan asal negara lain, tetapi memang sudah ada standar rasa yang menurut gue bisa dianggap enak.

Malam ini gue menghabiskan malam minggu - atau sabtu malam - bersama dua orang sahabat. Yah beginilah nasib orang yang tinggal berjauhan. Mau malam minggu kek malam senin kek malam apa kek, kalo bukan lagi jatah dia di Jakarta ya gak bisa ketemuan. But hey, look at the bright side. I got to catch up with two besties.

Hari ini pilihan kegiatannya ya gue banget sih; pijet di salon, nonton bioskop dan MAKAN, dan semuanya dilakukan di tiga tempat berbeda. Ndilalah hari ini Jakarta hujan badai persis setelah gue tiba di mal tempat nonton. Sambil nonton memantau berita di Twitter yang mengatakan banjir dan macet total dimana-mana. Nyali untuk mencoba tempat makan baru di Gunawarman ini sempat menciut, tapi akhirnya tetap maju jalan dong.

Kembali ke soal rasa makanan negara lain, restoran kali ini direkomendasikan seorang teman kerja salah satu sahabat gue yang bersuamikan orang Italia. Ketika ditanya restoran Italia mana yang dapat dianggap enak makanannya, dia menganjurkan "Torino" di jalan Gunawarman ini.

Ketika tiba di sana ternyata tempat parkir penuh, dan gue ditawari layanan valet. Gue pikir valet-nya gratis karena di beberapa restoran yang parkirannya cuma secuplik semacam itu biasanya juga gratis, tinggal kasih tips ke petugasnya. Di sini ternyata bayar 15 ribu. Mmmmm... Bete sih. Bukan soal uangnya, tapi lebih ke pelayanan restoran ini yang tidak memudahkan tamu.

 

Ambience restoran ini memang enak sekali untuk kumpul-kumpul bersama keluarga atau teman untuk ngobrol santai plus tertawa ngakak. Tempatnya sangat casual, ditata dengan sentuhan ringan, tapi cenderung "gak banyak dipikirin". Gini ya, gue adalah orang yang perhatian ke hal-hal kecil jadi ketika tata ruang udah cakep tapi TEMPAT LADA DAN GARAM di meja adalah botol yang standar banget, hhhmmm.... ada yang kurang. Nyebelin ya gue? Iya memang. Tapi gak papa dong :))

Seorang waiter menghampiri dengan sigap menyerahkan buku menu yang terbuat dari lembaran-lembaran kertas coklat dijepit ke papan kayu. Semua tulisan berjejer ke bawah, tanpa variasi, tanpa foto. Gue gak suka lihat menu tanpa foto satu pun. Too boring :))

Di setiap restoran Italia baru, gue wajib mencoba satu dari dua pilihan utama gue; Pesto atau Aglio Olio pasta. Kenapa? Pesto dan Aglio Olio adalah makanan yang sangat sederhana dan mudah untuk dibuat, dan hanya harus mengeluarkan rasa asli dari minyak zaitun, atau pesto (zaitun, daun basil, nuts, parmesan cheese). Tetapi saking sederhananya itu makanan, banyak yang gagal entah karena terlalu banyak improvisasi atau justru terlalu lemah bumbunya.

My besties knew exactly I was gonna order Pesto, and so I did. Spaghetti pesto indeed. Dan mereka bilang pasta-nya fresh baru dibuat. Sounds exciting. Yang kemudian terjadi adalah pasta gue tiba di meja dalam waktu 10 menit saja. Langsung otak gue berputar. Dari gumpalan adonan yang harus digiling minimal 4 kali agar menjadi lembaran besar dan kemudian digiling menjadi spaghetti saja itu membutuhkan waktu 7 menit, kemudian memasaknya dalam air mendidih selama 3 menit, dan memasaknya dalam bumbu pesto yang mungkin makan waktu 5 menit lagi. Gak mungkin bisa sampai di meja gue dalam waktu cuma 10 menit. Kecurigaan gue terbukti. Begitu suapan pertama, gue kecewa. Spaghetti-nya mungkin buatan sendiri tapi tidak fresh. Sepertinya sudah diseduh dan dibiarkan dingin selama beberapa jam sebelum dimasukkan ke bumbu pesto sehingga rasanya lengket di gigi. Pesto-nya pun "anyep". Gue bahkan tidak mencium bau daun basil biarpun sudah nyaris menempelkan hidung di atas tumpukan spaghetti. I might not be expert but I HAVE tasted very good pesto here and there. This one I had here was nothing compared to them. Harga 70 ribu rupiah sepertinya sia-sia. I don't mind paying a lot of money as long as the food tastes good.

My besties ordered cheese spinach raviolli and spaghetti bolognaise. As predicted after I had one spoonful of my pesto pasta, both the spinach and bolognaise got a lot of rooms for improvement. Again, this might be the real Italian taste which I never know, so my statement could be really subjective. Bolognaise... I can even produce better tasted bolognaise sauce than that. Some additional cheese could help the ravioli to be more tempting. Dan gilanya lagi, saat teman gue minta parmesan cheese, diberitahu waiter bahwa ada charge 15 ribu Rupiah. That is ridiculous. Mana ada restoran mahal gitu yang mengenakan biaya tambahan cuma buat parmesan cheese yang gak seberapa? Weird.

Oya, sebelum makan kami juga memesan semacam tumisan berbagai campuran sayuran. Enak sih tapi nggak ada yang spesial juga rasanya mengingat gue sering makan masakan ini dan sering menemukan yang jauh lebih enak.


Minuman Iced Lychee pun nggak begitu enak, could use some more ice and thicker tea, and additional lychee.



It might be me who is not used to "selera bule" on Italian food or the absence of first-hand taste on this kinda food. But I swear I can easily tell you where to get better food of this kind, less expensive, and satiates your taste bud.

In this case, gue gak akan merekomendasikan restoran ini tetapi juga gak akan bilang jangan ke sini karena toh makanannya not bad at all. Just not my cup of tea.

I guess I'll have to train my tounge better. Guess I have to go to Italy for that purpose only :))

Wherever there's a will, there's a way. Wherever there's a good food, I will be there

Sebenarnya untuk sebagian orang, makan adalah hal sepele. They eat to live, and nothing else. I eat to live too, but I enjoy good food. My tounge seems to acknowledge good tastes in much higher appreciation.

Yesterday I was oh-so exhausted after three hectic weeks. Seperti sempat gue bilang ke teman-teman, entah kenapa pekerjaan, 3 Little Angels, dan si mas seperti berlomba-lomba meminta perhatian penuh dalam kurun waktu itu. I am grateful for that, nevertheless. Memiliki kesempatan menyeimbangkan ketiganya, walaupun berakhir dengan tubuh remuk redam, memberikan kebahagiaan dan rasa syukur yang gak bisa dinilai dengan kata-kata. Lagipula, tubuh lelah bisa diperbaiki dengan pijat dua jam dan MAKAN ENAK :)

So, what we did was had a creambath, mani-padi treatment, a two-hour long massage, in which I think I fell asleep and snored, then off to dinner. I've been eyeing a corner at Kota Kasablanka's Food Society section as I saw a board depicting "Katja Piring".

Seperti kata para ahli nutrisi, jangan biarkan perut kelaparan karena ketika saatnya bertemu makanan, kita akan kalap. Dan kemarin adalah pembuktiannya. Sejak pagi hari gue cuma makan dua sendok nasi dan ayam tangkap dari Aceh. Pijat yang melancarkan darah dan berakhir di pukul 6 sore cukup membuat otak tidak bisa berpikir karena terlalu lapar. Gue bahkan bertanya tiga kali ke orang yang sama "Kita mau makan di mana??" tanpa sadar sudah mengulanginya.

Soon as we hit Kota Kasablanka, we were like half running to second floor, to Katja Piring. Took a sofa against the wall and sat down. Oooopppsss... It sank!! The sofa was somehow was too short that the dining table was my chest high. Tapi tetep aja mager - males gerak untuk pindah.

Tangan langsung menggeragas membalik-balik menu mencari apa yang akan bisa memuaskan teriakan otak dan perut yang sudah menolak untuk bersinkronisasi berpikir. First thing first, an appetizer. I chose "Roti canai dan kari ayam", which I thought could come out within 10 minutes. Ordered "Tahu Gimbal" for my second, and "Es teh tarik". My friend ordered "Rujak Pengantin" and "Nasi Lemak", and "Teh poci". Pasti pelayannya mikir, "Ini dua orang aja pesanannya banyak amat".

Food on the appetizer list may not come before main course is what I learned next. My "Tahu Gimbal" was served before the appetizer-meant-to-be "Roti Canai". What the heck, I was starving. Disajikan dalam sebuah mangkuk berisikan 6 potongan sedang tahu, beberapa potong gimbal udang (bakwan udang, kalau di Jakarta), sebutir telur rebus dibelah dua, dan kuah yang disajikan terpisah. I digged in without even praying. Sorry, dear God.

Sebenarnya memang ini bukan main course, tapi karena sudah memesan Roti Canai jadi untuk ukuran perut gue ya sudah cukup lah. Tahunya enak sekali, gimbalnya juga, kuahnya asam segar. Kalau ada satu yang kurang buat gue, mungkin rasa pedas. Sedikit saja rasa pedas akan membuat hidangan ini sempurna, apalagi dengan disajikannya semangkuk kerupuk tradisional yang bisa dicelup ke dalam kuah sebelum dimasukkan ke mulut.

 The appetizer a.k.a. Roti Canai tiba setelah gue menghabiskan setengah porsi Tahu Gimbal. I decided to finish it first before moving to the second plate.

Roti canai-nya terus terang tidak nampak menggoda. Cenderung terlalu kering dari luar. I was right. Agak terlalu crispy ternyata, sementara gue lebih suka roti canai yang agak liat agar dapat mengeruk kuah kari yang disajikan bersamanya.

Cocolan pertama ke dalam kuah kari sempat membuat mata berbinar-binar. My friends always say, "You can never lie when a dish brings you to a food orgasm. Your eyes just tell". And that's exactly what happened last night. Kuah karinya sangat kental, cenderung terlalu kental untuk padanan roti canai, tapi rasanya enak banget. Saking enaknya gue gak peduli dengan konsistensi kekentalan yang berlebihan.  Di suapan terakhir gue sempat menggigit sepotong star anise. Apa ya bahasa Indonesianya? Pantas kuah karinya harum banget.

Kedua makanan itu, ditutup dengan es teh tarik, alhamdulillah membuat perut tenang. Mata kembali terbuka, otak kembali bekerja, dunia kembali berwarna :))

My friend's Rujak Pengantin was good although not excellent. It's fresh but the idea of putting apple cuts in it was somehow off to me. She ordered Nasi Lemak, which came with the same chicken curry that I had, a piece of fish, some fried peanuts, ikan teri medan, and sambal. She did not like the curry because she just can't stand something that smells like Indian food. Your lost! :))

Total pembayaran adalah 180 ribu Rupiah karena masih ada promo diskon makanan 15%. Not bad. Will come again for sure, especially if they put additional dishes on the short list.

For some people, food means nothing more than just something they digest to feed the body. Some may have dull taste that they only know delicious and very delicious food, hence, eat everything they see before their eyes. Some others may be really intricate when it comes to currating a delicacy served before them. I'm none of them :)

I do have slightly good taste I can say which food is delicious, which is edible, and which is something you'd better not spend your money on. I choose the taste of the food it won't be just something I have to put down my throat. I can't, however, tell whether an Indonesian dish served for my dinner needs another dash of nutmeg or ginger.

One thing for sure, being a Scorpio, I'm quite emotional on most of the things I've been through. Moving on from a happy and sad event is never easy. I hold on to memories until another of same magnitude comes and replaces the old ones.

I came to Cirebon four years ago, with somebody who used to fill my whole time. He was the future of my past :) We had fun doing this and that, hanging out with friends, and of course, fattening up our already-fat tummies. Batik shopping was not forgotten.

It was a jubilant two-days and I got to satisfy my craving for nasi jamblang. Mang Dul had, and will always, been my favorit nasi jamblang. Common people's food stall where people regardless their wealth, title or fame will come and savor a dish of rice (nasi) wrapped in teak leave (jamblang). Anybody can choose any protein or veggie cuts they like from arrays of tinner plates placed to serve customers. Nothing special about the food, but it's an obligatory for anyone coming to Cirebon. In my case, I would usually take one rice, three or four protein cuts, and three or four spoon of chilis.

Having to deal with broken heart kept me from coming to Cirebon again. I just couldn't, no matter how much I wanted it. But when four years had gone by, I think enough was enough. I needed to prove I've moved on. So, when besties came out with this idea of batik shopping in Cirebon, I said I would go. Not wholeheartedly, but promised I would try.

We left Jakarta at 6 and arrived there at around 10 screaming for breakfast. Mang Dul was our first destination. It was the one located accross from the hotel where I stayed the last time. Right when I laid eyes on the hotel, memories of every second we spent there were like rolling before my eyes. This was, indeed, a trip of memory lane.

I let them dragged me to Mang Dul. I let them chatted loudly around me without being aware what exactly they were talking about. I was oblivious to a man sitting next to me smoking, which in normal situation would turn me rampage. I was still replaying the video of my old stories. Over and over again. Tears were about to fall down. I held back just because the place was packed with people. Every spoonfull of rice, everytime my mouth tasted the chili, I tasted my old tears, fears, and pain pinching my heart.The food tasted exactly the same it did four years ago. My heart was not.

I was sure besties would soon realize that I was not really "there". Luckily,  my YM beeped right on time. It was si Mas asking me where I was :) I was back to now. I was back to reality. I move on.

Anyway, it was good to have a plate of nasi jamblang Mang Dul once again. The taste did not change. The same ol' Mang Dul that I used to know. He surely knows how to maintain quality.

My breakfast: one rice, one fried eff, one chicken liver, one perkedel, one tempe and three spoonfull of chili. Cost me 12,500 only. Grinned ear to ear





When I travel with besties, food will always be our main agenda. From Mang Dul we went to batik shopping. Then, we had empal gentong (meat cooked in clear soup) Mang Darma, which was impeccable too. And of course, the famous tahu gejrot from a street vendor outside a batik boutique. It was so good, and hot.

Unfortunately, I did not get the batik I wanted. It was something very particular and so difficult to find. There were too many beautiful batiks there, though. My eyes were spoiled by the beauty of the bright colors. My skin was pampered by the soft cloth boutiques hang around the shops. If only I had all the money in the world, I'd probably buy them all. Well, I ended up buying three pieces :)


The most important part of the trip is to prove that I had moved on. Happy to know that I am moving on. Happy to know that those memories that had haunted me will soon be replaced by new ones. Happy that I could write about it now without one single tear on my cheeks.