FESTIVAL KULINER SERPONG 2015

Another culinary festival in Tangerang area held by Summarecon Mal Serpong to introduce the local culinary to the people in this area since this place is the nearest town from Indonesian Capital, Jakarta and one of the biggest mall in Serpong.

The name of the event is Festival Kuliner Serpong or Serpong Culinary Festive in English with the tagline "Horas.... Beta Mangan Hita". The venue at South Wing of Summarecon Mall Serpong on the near the playground area.

The theme of this festival is the heritage of Batak culture from Northern Sumatera. So, they made replica of traditional Batak houses as the food stands to servimg the hungry customers.
They have enough tables and chairs for those foodcravers whose want to try some of local foods here.
I went there around 3 PM and it quite hot around the area maybe it's because of the people are quite packed today since today is Independence Day of Indonesia and it is a public holiday so most of people took their family to having their time together.

To buy foods and beverages on the stands here, We must have a special card as the exchange tool. The card is always ready in the counters. They prepared 3 counters, as I knew and all of them are having snaky line of people. Need more than 20 minutes to get the card, they also have sponsorship program with a bank that will get some extra top up whenever we use the credit card from the sponsored bank. The fund inside the card is refundable if you top up the card with cash but it will not if we toped up with credit cards.

The foods here mostly local foods and they served with one time use materials such as sterofoam, paper or plastic as plates, bowl and utensils. So, we can just throw them all to the garbage bags around the venue. We can found plenty of famous local brands like Lapo Ni Tondongta, Atek, Surabi Notosuman, Nasi Goreng Kambing Kebon Sirih, Sate Ayam Blok S, Angkringan Nasi Kucing Koboi, Bihun Bebek 75, etc. Most of the food here dominated by Medan or Batak culinaries since the theme is culinary of nothern Sumatera.

They also have a big stage for the performers to entertain the visitors here during their dining time, but when I arrived there there only an empty stage, after i looking around for the information of the performers who will have the stage, their only perform in the evening everyday. I've came in the wrong time then but that's okay, I still enjoy the food and the atmosphere of this culinary event.

For foodcravers around Tangerang or Jakarta. Don't miss this event, from 14th August to 6th of September 2015. They also have a spectacular fireworks on 28th August 2015, tag to your calendar. For further information, you can visit their website www.malserpong.com. See you there!!

WAROENG SS - SPESIAL SAMBAL

I know this bistro on Semarang several years ago when I'm still a single man because wife is lived in that city. The bistro is originated from middle Java but the public responses are not the same there, maybe because they have several bistros in Semarang only so the people can choose between them but in Jakarta, they just opened one here at Tanjung Duren, no wonder they always full with culinary hunters.

The bistro is placed in culinary heaven on Tanjung Duren area, the position is one blok with Bebek Goreng Haji Slamet and Warung Kito, not quite far from the intersection of Greenville. The address is Tanjung Duren Barat 1 no. 29. From the street you can see their logo with light box that hard to missed in the night. Tens of motorcycles parked on their front yard and cars have to park on other area, better if you came here by public transport or motorcycle. Actually it was a house that they swapped into a bistro.

The bistro have 2 floors to served their customers. The first floor have several separated areas, some with table sets and on other area only short tables like Japanese style for they who want to sit on the floor but don't worry the floor is quite clean in this area because the floor is higher on this area and we have to take off our foot wears then put them on the provided rack before enter this area.

The second floor only have 2 table sets and the other ones are short tables but on this floor they provided it with Air Conditioners to make the room cooler. They also provided with a musholla and praying apparels for those who want to pray in this bistro since majority of Indonesian are moslem. The tables and chairs are made of wood with standard style and the lamp cover is the middle java traditional style.

First I got here, I have to registering my name to the receptionist who will put my name on the queuing line then he will call my name when the table is ready and while I'm waiting in the line, the receiptionist gave me the menu so I can fill the menu.

They already prepared a menu board and a pen then I have to kept the menu with me till they called my name to enter the bistro. Don't worry, the menu is quite long with details so you won't miss anything. The food and beverages are in different paper so make sure you fill both of them.

After I read all menu, actually it quit long menu with various dishes and most are Sambal with various mixed ingredients. The Sambal itself has many level from the mild to the hottest one. Please check on the middle section of the menu that inform the level of the Sambal, if you don't understand with the terms they use, you can ask the waiters. They also have GARANSI KEKECEWAAN (disappointment warranty) that hung on the wall to warranty any Sambal menu that we are ordered are fits with our level of endurance to eat that dishes, that means we can replace the Sambal whenever it is too peppery for our tongue.

Back to the menu. No wonder why this bistro always packed everyday. The dishes are very cheap, it started from IDR 3000, this is very affordable for everyone but to enjoy their dishes, I have to waited for one hour and 25 minutes to get my table in this bistro.

After get myself on the table, I waited for another 30 minutes till all my dishes came to my table then the waiter read the menu one more time to make sure everything are on the table and nothing left behind.

They are serving their foods not on ceramic or glass plates but small plates made from hard clay. The clay plates are very traditional cutlery before men using metal, glass or other material plates and woven stick plates with banana leaf will be your dish to put rice and all food you want to eat. You can directly use your hand to eat in traditional style but they also prepared spoon and fork on the table.

I ordered sambal mixed with shrimps, mushroom and chicken livers, sunny side up egg, fried tempeh and my favourite, plecing jawa, it's made from boiled water spinach with tamarind dressing, the dish is originated from middle java area as the traditional dish for people who live in the country and they usualy eat it with warm rice. It tasted so fresh with a bit sourness from the tamarind. The other foods are good since Indonesian people like to fry everything but the sambal is the star of all, I tried the mild, hot and one level hotter till I can feel it burnt my tongue and the feeling sticked on it and I have to cooling it down with 3 glasses of ice tea and sweat over my body. fiuh...

The experience today is unforgettable since I never got burnt on my tongue with hot sambal and make me can't taste anything for sometime but it very tempting to make me come again to this bistro and try their all sambal dishes to measure my endurance to fight the hottest sambal. There are something I've noticed today, if you want to dine at Spesial Sambal, First, don't ever come with starving mode because you will colapse after waiting more than one hour outside. Second, visit this bistro not in the busy hour like lunch or dinner time because the waiting time will be crazy. Third, make sure you first order is the last order, do not ever order for additional food in the middle of the dining time, it's not worth the wait except for drinks and rice. And the last, bring some friends or snacks to make the queuing time blink like flash. (jimz)