Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Sabia (Brazilian cuisine)

Without LOVE, days are: sadday, moanday, tearsday, wasteday, thirstday, frightday, shatterday. (quote from my friend's blog, yohanhandoyo.com).

Well.. It's Valentine day in Bandung..

On my way to my best friend's wedding (sounds like a movie huh?), I spot a tiny cafe just behind the Gedung Sate a.k.a Governor Office. This is a small place, a terrace hut that post a black banner bearing the name of SABIA, Brazilian Cuisine. And it caught my eyes fair and square. Brazilian cuisine? Never heard of them.. except maybe.. Portuguese style grilled chicken and a cuppa Brazilian coffee.. Curiosity was the main reason I drop by after congratulate my buddy on her wedding.

Hmm.. My lack of knowledge in Brazilian cuisine was worst than I thought. I didn't recognize a single spot of Brazilian dishes on the menu. Steak or alike is too-not-Brazil for me, so I go for the explanation under the dishes name. I order hot brown bean soup (I think kidney bean is south American, so I order them), and Moqueca. This is "Brazilian fish and shrimp stew with tomato, pepper, coconut milk and onion, serve over hot Brazilian rice". And off-course, hot espresso to finish with. Then, I wait anxiously..

First, the soup of kidney bean. It was thick and bold. The base flavor is beef stock, without too much fat. The cream consistency is rather heavy and the taste is plainly salty with a strong aroma of kidney bean. A splash of Tabasco turn this plain soup into heart warming dishes in this rainy day. I was satisfied, in some way..

Then here comes the Moqueca. I think it was good. The taste is not as strong as I expected. In my head, the default of south American dishes is heavy, strong and bold. I think an extra cilantro is required to bring up the feeling. I believe that SABIA is playing safe. Not many Indonesian love cilantro.. I, personally, am a cilantro lover.

The fish is great. It was fresh and cook to tenderness but still firm to the fork. I don't recall the fish, but I believe it's snapper. The shrimp came in decent size and freshness and proper tenderness. Coconut milk was used in good amount, and made this meal relatively light. Overall, it's a good heart-warming dish. And yes, almost forgot the rice.. It was Brazilian rice. Long grain rice cooked in light oil (olive? I almost suspect butter, but I think it's not proper) and subtle taste of onion and garlic. Basmati rice? maybe. Good..

And the espresso..

It came in a small cup. Not a demitasse, not an espresso cup. OK... That's one thing. And almost no crema. I can see a ring of crema on the rim of the cup.. They need a lots of improvement in brewing. The crema came in dark color, only not enough quantity. Using a proper demitasse, I believe it will made half to 1 mm thick of crema. The coffee, I suspect, is using Excelso as base. Slightly burnt aroma, medium body and low acidity. The leather complexion is nicely build and the finish is sweet but not too crisp. For not too serious coffee sipper.. It's OK, considering the rainy day outside and a beautiful dishes I just had..

Price? Good..

I will come again..

Friday, February 6, 2004

Have a cuppa in Bandung Mate (not!)

Writing from my mailing list, from one of my friend, Adi WT. He's good.. Never mind the language though.. don't understand a bit what he said? no worries mate, u can always mail me.. Here it goes

Ngopi di Bandung

jujur saya sempet sedih dan sebel nyari tempat ngopi yang enak di Bandung. Enak
dalam artian produk wise ya, bukan tempatnya (kalo ini Bandung rajanya, lotsa
great places with terrible food).

Saat ini tempat ngopi yang lagi rame ramenya di Bandung kalau saya perhatikan
adalah Cafe Oh La La di Plaza Dago yang buka 24 jam. Dulu saya lumayan sering ke
sini, ketika owner/managernya masih sadar buat manggil teknisi secara reguler
buat ngebersihin mesin kopinya.... sekarang sayangnya kesadaran itu hilang entah
kemana. Espressonya makin ama makin menyedihkan. Cremanya yang dulu tebal dan
creamy sekarang hilang entah kemana. Kalau ada pun jan tuipis tenan. Karakter
creamy yang mestinya ada di crema dah jauh dari harapan. Oh ya, as far as I
know, Oh La La ini (seperti kebanyakan cafe di Bandung sekarang ini) menggunakan
produk kopi Illy. Karakter Illy asli udah gak nongol sama sekali. Sayang ya....
padahal harga dasar biji kopinya gak murah....

Diseberang Oh La La Plaza dago berdiri Black CoffiBar, chain lokal bandung.
Black Coffibar ini multi bean cafe, dalam artian dia jualan kopi dengan beberapa
variasi biji kopi, dengan karakternya masing masing, yang dapat kita pilih. Biji
yang mereka miliki kalo gak salah ada yang dari costarica dan guatemala
(dicurigai ngambil dari Dakken Coffee), selain strain lokal seperti timtim dan
toraja (yang terakhir ini gak yakin). Biar gampang benchmarkingnya, saya mesen
espresso Illy aja heheheheh...
Dulu kualitas espresso Black Coffibar ini lumayan amburadul..... yang saya inget
banget adalah karakter hangus atau burnt yang ada dalam espresso Illy-nya.
Syukurlah karakter tersebut sekarang sudah tidak ada. Beberapa hari yang lalu,
saya sempet kesana bersama Miyo dan teman saya Echi. Seperti biasa Miyo dan saya
memesan espresso, while Echi memesan Cappucinno Espresso (oh ya.... di sini ada
beberapa versi cappucinno.... jadi mbingungin kalo pengen classic cappucinno).
Espresso kami datang dalam kondisi yang lumayan. Crema 1-2 mm (idealnya 3 mm),
demitassenya cukup hangat, gak ada karakternya hangusnya, tapi masih belum Illy.
Illy yang biasa saya minum ada sedikit hint "manis"nya dibelakang dengan
aftertaste yang "bersih". Illy yang saya minum kemaren masih belom nyampe situ.
Body dan Flavournya sih dah lumayan. Froth (busa susu) Cappucinno Espressonya
Echi on the other hand, mengingatkan saya dengan busa sabun. Busa susu tersebut
secara tampilan terlihat kasar (jauh banget sama frothnya segafredo yang kayak
awan) dan kering. Rasa manis susunya pun telah hilang. Kenapa bisa gitu ya? I
guess ketika sedang di-froth, temperatur susunya sudah terlalu mendekati (atau
malah melewati?) titik didih, that way rasa manisnya susu otomatis akan hilang.

Potluck..... setelah absen beberapa lama saya sempat kesana lagi. Selama masa
absen, saya mendengar beberapa komplain tentang kualitas produk minuman mereka.
Rata rata pada bilang rasa minuman mereka (terutama yang coffee based) cemplang
alias gak jelas mo kemana. Anyway, saya datang kesana seperti biasa memesan
espresso dengan menggunakan biji Arabika Aceh. Makin lama espresso di Potluck
makin menyedihkan. Crema yang dulu udah tipis, sekarang makin menghilang.
Karakter aceh yang buat saya full body, medium acidity, boosting semangat tapi
di lain pihak menenangkan pikiran asli dah bubar jalan. Mending dateng ke
sendiri ke Aroma, beli kopinya, n minum sebagai kopi tubruk aja...... Jauh lebih
nikmat. Iced Cappucinno yang dipesan teman saya sesuai dengan komplain yang saya
dengar selama ini. Cemplang gak jelas mau kemana. Apa karena kebanyakan ngasih
esnya ya?

Tapi pengalaman minum espresso yang paling mengerikan saya dapatkan ketika saya
minum di Embargo. Embargo ini terletak di lantai dasar Bandung Super Mall. Dulu
banget saya pernah kesini ketika mereka baru banget buka, dalam kondisi cape
setelah nyetir jakarta bandung, dan jujur bukan pengalaman yang menyenangkan.
Kemaren, dalam kondisi lumayan segar (setelah nonton Lord of the Ring III)
semangat mencoba saya tumbuh lagi (siapa tahu kemaren itu tulalit karena baru
buka). Setelah duduk di sofa mereka, saya memesan espresso. Gak berapa lama
espressonya datang dalam kondisi nir-crema (not a good sign). Espressonya
sendiri relatif encer, dengan karakter rasa yang mengingatkan saya sama rasa
rumput (grassy) dan kayu (woody). singkat kata......... Yuck! Aftertaste kopinya
pun lumayan lama menempel (lumayan mengganggu karena gak enak) dan entah kenapa
bikin mual. Asli sayang banget. Apalagi mereka menggunakan mesin espresso yang
cukup bagus (La Pavoni bar Series 2 group i think), grinder dengan merek
ternama, dan biji kopi yang katanya dari itali. Mending minum kopi di warung
pinggir jalan deh.

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

Cinoa-Dharmawangsa Square

In the urge to eat fancy food, I stumble upon an idea of trying one of the restaurant recommended by Female Radio reviewer. So I went to this fancy, tiny, red restaurant. Yes, it is red. The terrace has a red hood with big white writing CINOA.

This Chinese food resto is a bit strange. It serves street-food like fried bee-hon but their beverage list also shows "Esprit flavored mineral water". Roast duck (Peking style) is on their menu.. Along with cheesecake! Whatta strange combination. I think the owner is a baker. She/He sure can make good cheesecake, so why don't open a coffee shop? But again, why stops there? Why not a fancy restaurant? OK, so what's cooking? Hmmm... Chinese food is simple and cannot go wrong..

But the dishes is more than just simple Chinese food. It was G-O-O-D, good! I ordered corn and crab soup, sapo tahu with chicken, deep fried squid with salt and pepper, and a cup of hot tea.

The corn and crab soup was amazing. I gulped them in no time. The thickness is perfect and it has no overpowering smell of sesame oil. Just a hint of them. The crab meat was fresh and tasty, and in good quantity too. Too bad they don't have fish sauce and pickled chili on the tables. I can have another portion of this soup actually..

Sapo tahu, the stir-fried egg tofu, in combination with oyster sauce, soy sauce, red Chinese cooking wine, sliced ginger and a hint of sesame oil. Chicken fillet was then added to the mix in good timing. It was still fresh without any crusting on them, indicating that the chicken was added in later time of cooking. The vegie (carrot, baby bokchoy, leeks) was crunchy. I don't mind having two or more baby bokchoy in them... The sauce was warm to the feeling, thanks to the generous amount of sliced ginger. If.. only if.. they use MSG, they must be use it in very small amount.. Which is good.

Deep fried squid with salt and pepper. When this meal arrived in our table, honestly, I thought I choose badly. The appearance is in resemblance of classic Bandung street food of cireng (fried tapioca flour). This finely sliced squid was deep fried in tapioca flour batter. White and uninteresting. On top, there just sauteed sliced spring onion, mixed with a sprinkle of coarse salt and cracked white pepper. But don't be fooled by the looks, this stuff is taste good! The taste still linger in my mouth till today.

For dessert, my lovely companion, Sonia, choose her favorite oreo cheesecake. The slice is quite small actually, but extra whipped cream and a piece of strawberry on top made it look bigger. And nicer too. Small drizzle of strawberry syrup on the plate balanced the thickness of cheesecake and freshen up the entire dish.

The price is good too.. a bit pricey than the average noodle soup restaurant next door, but the quality is proper.. If only they serve it a little bit faster..