So I went to Jakarta last month. Travelling to Jakarta was quite confusing since there's only a few things to look at. I was holding myself to not sightseeing Jakartan fancy mall but at the end of the day I was tempted to go coz I got nothing to do. Well, I was not really good at planning a journey by myself. It was my first time being a solo traveller and I picked the wrong location to vacay. So I strolled the street (which is not a good thing to do in Jakarta) and I was like : 

"That's it! Why would I spent my money here? I will never go here for a vacay anymore. The street food i found is not that special anyway."

BUT THEN. The universe answered my contrition. My uncle (he works there) told me that he knows a place that sells the best kwe tiau in town. or probably the best kwe tiau in the world. I was like "meh. alright then I got nothing to do anyway." and also, he offered me the best food in town. What should I say? no?

Long story short, we arrived and that place is PACKED.

But then I saw the word "Medan". That's such a promising word. Y'know, Medan is also known for the best chinese food. If they said Medan on chinese restaurant, then I'll surely raid this place.

So we were looking for a place to sit then yadda yadda yadda I got myself a bowl of kwe tiau and the other bowl of bakso and sengkel or you may know it as shank. So this thing about kwe tiau ain't hoax. They do have kwe tiau but it's just not the star of the dish. Not the Michael Jackson of Jackson Five. or the Beyonce of Destiny's Child. You get it?
 


I ate the kwe tiau first and it was okay. Nice sauce under the kwe tiau, superb fried shallots on top, everything was pretty okay. Then I tried the broth and my mind went crazy! That was probably the best broth I've ever eat, The shank was really good too! You know that shanks have the though fat going trough, aight? The thing is, it's super tender! I didn't even know that the though fat was there! Go check it out! I wish y'all could try!

French Toast, as you've known, is a simple yet fancy-ass food to start your day with. Basically, you just mixed some eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and dump some bread slices you just bought at Indom*ret or whatsoever in it then put it in a pan. Voila! A french toast. Basic. Do you know that you could do some more thing to put your french toast to a higher level? To give you a punch of energy for the whole day? To rip your laziness away? Work your body goal? Get rid of those unnecessary fat? To be beyond Beyoncé?  

Well, I can't give you that sort of french toast but I know things to put your french toast into a higher level.


1. Fresh Soft Bread is A Huge Taboo

We want a nice breakfast to start our day, right? So if you really really care about your day-starter, you gotta plan your breakfast carefully. I know it sounds too much but I ain't wanna eat soggy french toast. Don't use a fresh bread for a french toast. This trick also works on bread puddings. Fresh bread is not dry enough for a french toast. The bread soaks a lot of liquid in the dipping process. It needs an old/dry bread so you wouldn't over-soak it. If you only have a fresh soft-n-bumpy bread, you can toast it first just until it becomes dry. It'd be called double french toast, perhaps?

2. Fat for Lyf

Okay. this one is not a mandatory trick. But if you want to eat a good-ass french toast, you gotta deal with the fat. Yes hun, fat does a great job. In your food. You'd taste some small differences between the french toast dipped in skimmed milk and fresh milk. But gurrlll, if you mix some heavy cream in it, you're done. So done. It'll burst in your mouth, fill it with joy, then leave you with a slight regret. Not to mention if you add some melted butter as well. You always have a choice though. If you're just not into fat, then carry on. But y'know, those American TV shows are using enormous amount of fat on their food and they look super amazing. why don't you give it a try?

3. The "No Rule" Rule

This last trick is yours to decide. It's your food, your apettite, and your life. Break the rules if it's needed. Actually, There is no rules in cooking. You can make food you love in the way you like. You like curry powder? put it in. Wanna make it italian-ish? put some oregano, basil, or whatsoever. Really into korean dish? mix some gochujang in your mixture. You're a hipster? use soy milk instead of regular milk. The food is yours to design. Let your imagination do the work and you'll realize how great you are as a cook.

I went to Bali and visited Gusto (my favorit gelateria so far) recently.

First of all, Yaourt Maison means homemade yoghurt. This is a review for homemade yoghurt I bought at LIP (Lembaga Indonesia-Prancis) Jogja. I heard that LIP renovate their cafe so I was like "meh. why don't you give it a try, Yos".

Jadi, sebelum aku pergi ke kafe barunya LIP Jogja, I was sceptical. Because the only special food they got were tiny sweet macaroons and some chocolate covered croissants. I guess. Their macaroons were pretty decent though. Tempatnya mereka dulu juga terlalu simple dan gk terlalu well-i-feel-so-fancy-eating-at-a-french-like-cafe. Y'know, it's LIP. Aku pikir harusnya keliatan fancy frenchy and stuff gitu deh ya. or nah. Aku belum pernah makan di cafe Prancis beneran sih. But... yeah. I expected more than grey floor and blue metal chairs.

SO. They renovate their cafe and it's hella tropical. In a good way. Their floor's still grey but they replace that old one with the new classic old floor (which is really nice). I like the new color scheme they have. Quite relaxing in a tropical way with some plants all over the fence and stuff. Sadly, they got no music going on. It'd be nice if they play jazz music or anything jazzy or cafe-ish music to built the vibe.

Although it kinda look like any balinese cafe that sells bintang beer and high priced pizza, suasana Prancisnya masih bisa kerasa di sana. Selain banyak bule prancis (yes, they're good-looking bules), menunya ditulis pake bahasa prancis. For some people, tulisan prancis susah dipahami jadi harus tanya dulu ke waitress satu-satu menunya. Tapi, karena itu cafe di Lembaga Indonesia-Prancis dan sudah pasti banyak bule prancis yang dateng ke kafe itu, jadi gk salah dong klo mereka bikin menu di bahasa prancis. Kita yang harus menyesuaikan di "negeri" orang.

'Kay let's go to the foodity food! So, they have a bunch of new food. Aku lupa ambil foto menu, range harga, atau catet menu makanannya. I know, I'm a terrible food blogger. But hey, it's my first review. so chill out. I remember some food they got like couscous, omelette avec champignon (telur dadar jamur), et cetera. But the only food that caught my attention was this homemade yoghurt. It was written as Yaourt Maison. Ada beberapa pilihan buat dimakan sama yoghurt ini such as honey, granola, etc. Since I never eat granola before (gosh I'm such a terrible foodie) so I gave it a shot.

Kelihatan simple memang tapi simple itu kadang menyenangkan.

Suapan pertama aku makan yaourt maison ini, my mind went crazy. I was like "WHOAAA DAYM YOGHURT WHY R U SO FINE". like literally. You know that misterious cruel food writer Anton Ego from Ratatouille? and that reaction when he ate Remy's ratatouille? I was exactly like him. Oh, and it served inside a jar. I usually got my breakfast (overnight oats with tons of yoghurt) served in a jar. So that homemade yaourt in a jar is pretty homy for me. It's Rp 17.000,00 and worth your money. I like the freshness of the yoghurt with those crunchy granola. Go get it and enjoy your afternoon with it. Believe me this yoghurt worth your time!