"What to eat in Jakarta???" - Part 2

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like" - Mark Twain (Source: Google.com)

Continuing on what to eat in Jakarta. Read the part 1 here :)

5. Bakmi Ayam or chicken noodle at any wet market. Below was the chicken noodle that my Mom and I ate at Pasar Muara Karang or Muara Karang wet market.

Bakmi Ayam at Pasar Muara Karang - Jakarta, Indonesia 

After buying what we needed that morning, suddenly Mom had another craving for Bakmi Ayam or chicken noodle. It was very common for locals to eat Bakmi or noodle for breakfast. In fact, we could eat it at anytime of the day, be it breakfast, lunch, even dinner. The one I ate above was with chicken meat. The noodle was thin in size that it felt more like Mee Sua although tasted just like noodles. In some stall sold by Chinese Indonesian, they even provided fried pork fat or zhu you zha upon request. It's fragrant and crunchy although not healthy for our body :D You could also add wonton (or dumpling) and bakso sapi (beef balls) to complete your meal. One bowl of this noodle cost us IDR 21,000 or SGD $2.20.

Address: Muara Karang wet market, Jakarta Utara

6. Kafe Betawi at Emporium Pluit Mall. My sis asked me what would I want to eat that afternoon for lunch. I had been to Kedai Bu Djoko. But I was still craving for local Indonesian food. So I told her that I wanted to eat at Kafe Betawi.

Here, you could find so many varieties of local food and jajanan or snacks, also dessert. Those food offered were specialty from some parts of towns in Indonesia, and many were usually sold on the street using the wheeled carts. I had a hard time choosing on what I wanted to eat as I missed and loved them all, but only had one stomach hahaha.... :P

Kafe Betawi at Emporium Pluit Mall - Jakarta, Indonesia 

After some time, finally I decided to order Mie Soto IDR 49,000 or SGD $5.20 (mixture of yellow noodle and rice vermicelli soup with beef, cabbage, potato, tomato, fried onion, Emping or belinjo crackers, and the cut spring roll filled with rice vermicelli), shared Batagor - Baso tahu goreng IDR 38,000 or SGD $4 (kind of deep fried fish meat paste mixed with flour and fried tofu, served with peanut sauce and lime) with my sister, and Es Teler IDR 32,000 or SGD $3.40 (translated as Drunken Ice - not real meaning though) - the mixture of avocado, coconut, jackfruits worry crushed ice, sugar syrup, and condensed milk. My sis ordered Beef Rawon soup with rice IDR 60,000 or SGD $6.40 - the black beef soup that originally came from East Java. I used to have it when traveling to that area during my childhood time with my parents.

I'd tasted almost all the food listed there in menu which most of them were sold on the street by the street peddlers. Too bad we could not get them all from the area nearby my house and that's why the only resort to satisfy our craving was to visit the restaurant like this, which sold at a much higher price than what the street peddlers offered. However, they had many branches all around the Jakarta city and you could enjoy eating under the comfortable air-conditioned space with warm service offered by the staffs :)

Address: Emporium Pluit Mall Level 4, Jl. Pluit Selatan Raya, Penjaringan, Jakarta Utara

7. D'Crepes. As I went to the upper floor, I saw a D'Crepes outlet at the same shopping mall. Hmmm..... I missed it so much!!! There used to be few outlets opened in Singapore back in year 2001 and tell you what, I even worked there before. From normal staff to leader, then trainer to admin. It went on for 3 years until they closed it down forever due to the high rental cost of the premier locations that they chose.

D'Crepes at Emporium Pluit Mall :)

I was still full from the heavy lunch above but I could not resist the temptation to have my favourite crepes or pancake - Nutella cheese!!! :) At IDR 29,000 or SGD $3, it's still worth it!!! You could taste sweetness and saltiness which balanced very well in a hot crisp pancake skin!!! And if you wanted something cold, they also sold crepes with ice cream, chocolate, cream, and fruits based on your choice. Or even if you wanted something savory, they also sold few varieties of fillings, equally delicious!!! :)

8. Soto Tangkar and Sate Kuah Aneka Sari Pak H. Diding at Pasar Pagi Lama. Oh my!! It's been so long since I had this!!! Jakarta offered many varieties of soup from chicken, beef, mutton, all offered different taste and each of them tasted delicious.

Soto Tangkar Aneka Sari at Pasar Pagi

This one (the broth) was made of beef ribs. And you could request certain parts of the beef to be added into your soup - consist of coconut milk. I think mine was meat parts (price per bowl at IDR 24,000 or SGD $2.60). Mom ordered few sticks of satay (beef meat skewers) to complete our meal. Sometimes you could even drop the satay meat into your soup and have it with rice. They provided pickles made of cucumber, carrot, red onion, and chili as side dish and it was free of charge. You could add Emping or belinjo crackers into your soup to add the flavour of your soup as well. Drooling now eh?? :)

I still remembered my dad used to bring me to eat this (at roadside - different stalls), riding motorcycle after fetching me back from school, during my primary school time ^^ He fetched me almost everyday and I always excited on where he would bring me after school for lunch. So when having this, it felt very nostalgic and missed my childhood times so much!!! :)

Address: Jl. Pasar Pagi Lama Los T No. 28B-28C, Kota, Jakarta

Read the part 3 here!!! ;)