Resto Review : Enjoy the summer with Summer Beverages @ EXCELSO

EXCELSO ..... 

     As a part of the Kapal Api Group, EXCELSO has emerged as a well-known local coffee brand in Indonesia. In September 1991, the first EXCELSO Cafe was opened in Plaza Indonesia. EXCELSO has grown to become one of  the strongest and recognized coffee shop brands in Indonesia ever since. And now there are currently more than 100 outlets across Indonesia. EXCELSO Cafe is a place for coffee lovers to enjoy coffee with the best quality. Yes ... you'll get a cup of coffee from freshly ground coffee beans and brewed just after you ordered. 

THE GATHERING....

On June 29, 2013, EXCELSO was kindly invited some Indonesian Food Blogger (idfb) members to taste EXCELSO's Summer Beverages. The gathering was held at EXCELSO Cafe, Kota Kasablanka. For coffee lover, of course this the right place for you. But if you don't like coffee or you prefer a beverage with mild flavor of coffee, no biggie. EXCELSO is still the right place to hang out with your dearest ones as well because EXCELSO provides other menu items beside coffee. Assorted freeze, frappio and other beverages such as tea, chocolate, milk shakes and much more. EXCELSO also offers pastas, soups, salads, sandwiches in case you get hungry. 

The gathering was officially opened with a warm welcome speech from Monivia P as EXCELSO Public & Media Relation. Followed by an explanation of their products Summer Beverages and Summer Holiday promo by Hanny A Elvind, the Marketing Communications Manager. One best thing about summer is the season to enjoy fruits. Now, let me show you how to stay cool in the summer with EXCELSO. 

SUMMER BEVERAGES AND THE FOODS.....

Every each of us (the invited food bloggers) was given a chance to choose one out of five Summer Beverages variant to be reviewed. And Banana Split Frappio was the one I chose. Banana Split Frappio is a mixture of ice, cold coffee, banana, chocolate syrup and strawberry sauce, garnished with whipped cream peanuts and cherry. I think I made the right choice, I liked it till the last drop :D

Want to try Fruit Punch with coffee ? No, you didn't misread it. This is the creation from EXCELSO, tropical fruit punch with coffee flavor. You will find a unique sensation from the freshness of fruits and coffee in a glass of Maharani.

Banana Split Freeze is almost similar to Banana Split Frappio but this one without the using of coffee. Blended mixture of banana, chocolate syrup and strawberry sauce topped with whipped cream and cherry. Let say you have banana split in a glass :) .

What do you see in the photo above ? I see sexiness inside the glass and in love with its color and texture. Summer Splash Freeze is combination of mixed berries and ice that creates thick texture. Perfectly match for a hot summer day.

For Decorating and Photo Competition, yet again, another full glasses of Maui Fruit Punch for everyone. Mixture of blended banana, pineapple chunks, cherry, lychees, pineapple juice and orange juice and strawberry syrup to make it more interesting.

Thanks to Anne for the ribbon and doily. :)

  
Crispy Cass is fried spring rolls with softened fermented cassava filling. Serve on a plate and drizzle with sweetened condensed milk. The dessert look fancy with chocolate shaved and grated cheese sprinkled on top. Crispy Cass has subtle flavor of fermented cassava perfectly combined with fried crispy thin wrapper. My word for Crispy Cass is "it fits my taste !"

EXCELSO Club Sandwich, you will not get only sandwich but also french fries. Layers of bread, grilled chicken slices, smoked beef, sliced egg, onion, tomato, sliced cucumber and lettuce served with tomato and chili sauce. What a perfect meal to end up the gathering that day.

PROMOTION..... "Summer Holiday @ EXCELSO"

     To make your holidays even complete and merrier, let's join the fun and celebrate the summer holiday at EXCELSO. Get FREE FREEZE (Melba Freeze or Blossom Freeze) by purchasing one of EXCELSO's summer beverages with minimum purchase IDR 100K in every EXCELSO Cafe outlets. This promo ends on July 31, 2013

See you there ....

Deal with Travelicious !

Jika anda tinggal di Indonesia, manfaatkan berbagai promo yang ada di Travelicious. Tapi...apa sih Travelicious ?

Travelicious.co.id adalah situs daily deals yang memberikan pilihan deal terbaik setiap harinya mulai dari Travel, Hotel, Kuliner, Entertainment Activities, sampai Massage dan Spa dengan discount sampai dengan 80%. Cara membeli voucher di website Travelicious sangat mudah hanya dengan mendaftar sebagai member secara gratis kemudian beli deal yang diminati dan print vouchernya untuk ditukarkan ke merchants.

Salah satu promo yang masih masih ditawarkan sampai 28 Juli 2013 adalah Discount 50% untuk paket menu All U Can Eat free flow makanan, sayuran dan ice cream di Suka Suki. Harga normal untuk paket tersebut di atas adalah Rp. 89.000/orang. Tapi, bila anda memanfaatkan promo dari Travelicious, maka anda dapat menikmati kelezatan paket All U Can Eat dan free ice cream di Suka Suki bersama orang terdekat anda dengan harga Rp. 89.000 untuk 2 orang.

Untuk anda ketahui bahwa Suka Suki adalah restoran yang mengusung konsep All U Can Eat dengan cita rasa makanan Asia (Chinese Thailand). Disini Suka Suki memberikan beragam pilihan rebusan makanan dengan tanpa menggunakan MSG atau bahan-bahan pengawet lainnya. Semua disajikan dengan Fresh dan Higienis. Dilengkapi dengan berbagai pilihan saus yang beragam dan dapat diracik sendiri.

Untuk keterangan lebih lengkap silakan klik Promo Suka Suki di Travelicious.

Freshen up your day with Honey Mint Lime Water

What do you want to drink in a hot summer day ? Personally, I do prefer something fresh icy cold drink with twist of fruits. Though so many artificial juice drinks out there, a homemade summer drink is much better and healthier. Because it doesn't consist artificial flavor, artificial color, artificial sweetener nor preservatives. So, it's safer for our body.

When I was a kid, my mom used lime juice and soybean ketchup for cough remedy. And, I use that method too to my son whenever he has cough. Like any other mother, I choose natural remedies for my family. I always keep in my mind to be more aware to the signs given by my body. Tired or achy, just go to bed early and take a nap. It's probably my body need a rest. Then I will feel fresh and better when I wake up.

If you're a hot spicy food lover, this drink will sooth your throat. Just like Sundanese foods I ate last week, sayur asem, deep fried salted fish, bean sprout stir fry and spicy shrimp paste sambal with squeezed lime. I ordered iced lime water for my drink, my son and I liked it. So, I made the healthier version by replacing sugar with honey. I checked some lime water recipes before finally making this one. I love how people combined lime water with ginger, lemon grass, soda, cucumber and fruit slices. Since this was my first attempt, I tried with only honey, mint leaves and no soda. It came out nice and I plan to make it again with a twist.

Enjoy......

Pickled water rose apples

Long time ago, pickling was used to preserve food for winter or to be carried on a long journey. Pickles have so many style depend on the country. Fruit pickles, vegetable pickles or a mix of fruits and vegetables. My version of pickle is one of the easiest, because I only toss everything and add chilies to make it hot.

I stepped my feet into the traditional market and I saw thousands of fruit in the carts. Rambutans, mangoes, water rose apples, pomelos and snake fruits have flooded the market. I absolutely wouldn't miss something rare like this.

I decided to make pickle with one of those fruits. I consider pickle is another way to enjoy fruit. Just simply raw and fresh, it also perfect for sunny day. In my family, my mum is amous with her cucumber pickle or we called it acar. I should tell you, she made the best cucumber pickle. The sour from the vinegar, the  flavor and the crunchiness from the cucumber,. Mum usually serve it with boiled noodles or fried bee hoon.

Enjoy.....

Resto Review : Tempura Cooking Class with Ten Ten Restaurant and my homemade Shrimp Tempura

It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning in Jakarta. My camera bag was fully loaded with camera, lenses and other stuffs. Felt so much ready to meet my friends from idfb (Indonesian Food Blogger) at Ten Ten Restaurant, Plaza Indonesia. Boga Group once again sponsored food bloggers gathering with an event called Tempura Cooking Class by Ten Ten Restaurant.

It wasn't hard to find the Japanese tempura restaurant on Basement Level over there. A stylish, casual and warm place with Japanese style and ornaments. Before you move your step further into the restaurant, feast your eyes on some fake foods/drinks on the display near the entrance.

Ten Ten Restaurant comes with a concept, Tempura House, offer you more than 164 choices of menu. Salad, small bites, ala carte, main course, drink and dessert. Customers can choose one from 5 variant flavors of tempura (original, spicy, black pepper, curry and seaweed). The tempura is cooked with special technique in a special fryer machine. As a Tempura House, Ten Ten also has signature menu, Tendon - a bowl of dish with ebi tempura, kisu fish tempura, green bean tempura, sweet potato tempura, pumpkin tempura and oba leaf tempura on top and served with miso soup -

Find 2 outlets of Ten Ten Restaurant - Tempura House at Plaza Indonesia and Pondok Indah Mall 1.

When a group of people who loves to cook and eat meet in a good place with good foods, then nothing matter anymore. Together me and my foodie friends (Vania, Sefa and Elsye) cooked Tempura Omurice. Chef Dian let us impovised our Omurice in Omurice cooking competition. We didn't win, but we sure had so much fun together. Imagine this, four of us love to cook, we have food blog, but that time was our first time ever cook together in one place. :) As a bonus, we can eat our Omurice together. Yum...I love the Demiglace Sauce.

My natural lunch time alarm was ringing when Ebi Yose Katsu served on our tables. Continued with lunch and drinks orders. As the dessert, I was fortunate enough to try Cookies and Cheese Cup. Not too sweet, cheesy and creamy. Love, love, love it !

 Tendon Sauce (left) - Rika Fardani from BOGA Group (right)

 

Chef Dian Kusyanto shared tips and trick how to make good tempura and Tempura Omurice

Our team cooked Tempura Omurice on a Cooking Class

The appetizer, Ebi Yose Katsu (right)

I ordered Spicy Beef Kinoko Don (left) - Cold Green Tea (right)

 The other two main course, Tendon (left) - Tenbara (right)

Desserts, Foret Noire cup (left) - Cookies & Cheese cup (right)

That gathering is memorable, therefor I thank Ten Ten Restaurant for the good food, nice place and warm people. The knowledge I learned from there is a lifetime souvenir. That's why I challenged myself to make Shrimp Tempura at home. It's pretty easy ! The only bad thing is cooking shrimp tempura (preparation time included) take longer time than eating it !! :P

Please check the recipe below.