Travelogue around Asia Pacific Part II

Jakarta - I was curious with Lesley's comment about the origin of the authentic Duck King and whether the Duck King restaurant in Malaysia was a branch.   I did some on-line research and found out that there are both different companies and in fact the original Duck King was from Indonesia.  This can be revealed from their logo.   Indonesian Duck King Malaysia Duck King The Malaysian restaurant Duck King is spelt 'Ducking' of course cannot copy right the Indonesian restaurant chain of about 29 branches throughout Indonesia.   The Duck King Group is the largest Chinese restaurant in Indonesia. Different species of live Groupers Half a roasted duck The roasted duck skin was crispy and the meat very succulent and juicy.  It tasted really good. Kai Lan with garlic The Kai Lan was stir fried and sprinkled with fried garlic; there was a nice crunchy taste to the vegetable - very good style. Teo Cheow style Tiger Grouper A perfect...

Jakarta - We arrived near our customer location and was hankering for some light meal as our breakfast was quite heavy.  I decided to eat at a Singapore familiar cafe - Kopi Tiam.   The menu serves Singapore dishes but it turn out to be a disaster.  The menu Teh O I ordered Teh C and it came like this...what a joke! Tea bag with condensed milk.  I was taken a back when served with this tea. Poh piah My light dish of poh piah was horrible, it was so bland and overcooked.  They prepare prior and steam it up when ordered - that was what it tasted like.   Never again at any Kopi Tiam in Jakarta...

Jakarta - I browsed around for the best Indonesian restaurants and this was one that is a must to go.   Harun Manis restaurant is located at Pavilion Apartment (next to City Walk Mall).  It was a short 10 mins taxi ride from our Hotel.  This restaurant have a wide selection of Indonesian and Javanese cuisine. Gado Gado Indonesian authentic salad with generous douse of peanut sauce and covered with prawn crackers.  The Gado Gado was already mixed well with the rich taste of peanut sauce and it's one of the best tasting Gado Gado I have eaten. Soup Butut  My all time favourite Indonesian dish - Soup Butut.  The Ox tail was very tender and full of delicious flavour.   The soup is also tasty but a bit salty. Chicken Sate Mutton Sate The sate was very well marinated and tasted superb.  Each satay dish has their own sauce. Grill large prawns Very fresh and well grilled with rich Indonesian seasoning.  I think the...

Jakarta - Dinner was at an Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan restaurant, so named Salt Grill .  Unfortunately he was not there to cook our meal and most of them these Chef just lend their names nor ever visit their name sake restaurant again.  This restaurant is located on the 46th floor of Plaza Tower office with a breath taking view of Jakarta.   A short walk from Ascott Jakarta. The bread was good while the food was being cooked and prepared for us. Hot toasty bread 3 style of Pork As Indonesia is a tolerant muslim country, the menu does indicate whenever Pork is being served. This dish had the pork skin deep fried which tasted really good though unhealthy.  The pork sausage was too dry as it was cut up and grill.  I think sausages should be grill, fried or steam whole and only cut up when eaten.   Lastly was the ribs which tasted really good with the sauces blended nicely into the meat. Sea Bass This sea bass dish was ordered ...

Jakarta - A noon travel to Jakarta is always smooth with little traffic.  I changed my money @ Grand Indonesia level 3 - a good and recommended rate and then next door purchase a 2Gb top up for my Telkomsel SIM card. I had a late lunch @ Itacho Sushi on level 4. Green tea in a bag This is sacrilegious for a Japanese restaurant to have a green tea served with a tea bag. Miso soup Their Miso soup is rich and very tasty with lots of ingredients and generous douse of seaweed.  The Miso comes as part of the sushi set below. Good sushi Cold soba I like cold Soba and so far none of the restaurants outside Japan prepare as good as them.   This cold Soba does not taste fresh and very dry. Winter dish of mackerel This was the best dish and it was so fresh and cost SGD 13 which would been thrice the price in Singapore.   It took a while of the chef to prepare this dish as you can see how elaborate it was prepared. another nice view Next...

Singapore - After the 3 day of CommunicAsia 2016, we went to Suntec City mall for some good Japanese food.    Edward gave some rave reviews he read about this restaurant and we decided to eat at Sumiya . They are famous for their char grill specially air-flown from Japan.  The prices are market prices and depends on the catch of the day. I ordered a sashimi special. sashimi special The sashimi comes with the whole fish, 2 slices of salmon, 2 slices of tuna, 2 scallops with roe, 2 slices of yellow tail and 4 pieces of raw shrimps. sashimi special plate white soba  Yakitori deep fried fish bones This deep fried fish bones is from the sashimi special.   It was so crunchy and everything can be eaten whole.   It was an experience with really good fresh fish.