Ibu Entik: Revisited

After a long hard driving from Jakarta (thanks to Kampanye!), I arrived to the town where I was born. Sukabumi.

Late lunch at Ibu Entik's resto always give me sense of acceptance and welcome. Feels like home allright. Maybe it's the old house used for the restaurant, with the high ceiling and everything. Reminds me of my grandpa's house just two blocks away.

The food display at the counter shows various menu. That day, they have fried fish, fried chicken, fried tofu and tempe, beef stew, beef rendang, kering tempe (sweet dry-fried tempe), beefskin and bittermelon, salted squid in light curry and lots of pepes. Mushroom, fish or chicken covered in various herb and spices (mainly turmeric, basil, ginger, galangal and lemongrass) wrapped in banana leaves, tied and steamed for hours.

All meal come with plenty of various greenies (lettuce and eggplant to name a few) and a small portion of sour and red-hot sambal. Free flowing hot jasmine tea is ready at my table.

I choose the beefskin and bittermelon, salted squid and mushroom pepes to accompany my steamed rice. And a glass of hot sweetened jasmine tea. Big meal, indeed. All for 8 thousand rupiah only!

The beefskin and bittermelon is perfect. The skin is fried before cooked further and feel very soft. The bittermelon was sliced very thin thus the gravy can penetrate deeply and masking the bitter taste of it. Good.

Salted squid is always good in Sukabumi. Finger-sized squid, dried, salted, with purplish color was cooked in light red curry. The subtle taste of salt in the squid mixed perfectly with the herb and chili used in the light curry. Yummy!

Mushroom used in the pepes is the white mushroom grown on the damp soil. Plump pieces of mushroom mixed with various herb, what more can I tell?

I also take away one of Ibu Entik's specialties.. Deep fried quail. This tiny bird was cooked to perfect tenderness, and surely the taste is much bigger than it looks. It was crisp and crunchy on the outside but moist on the inside. I plan to have the meat seared and re-cooked with fried rice or noodle bowl. Humm.. I must do it immediately.. I can't keep my hand's off of it.

Each bird was sold for 3.5 K rupiah only. The best take away from Sukabumi, I think.

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..

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.