Pasta House AW Kitchen by Akira Watanabe - Plaza Indonesia

Pasta House AWkitchen by Akira Watanabe - Plaza Indonesia

Lately, I'm really obsessed with Japanese cuisine. Everytime I heard about new Japanese restaurant in town, I couldn't hold myself to not try them immediately. There's one new restaurant that made me really curious about their cuisine, Pasta House AWkitchen by Akira Watanabe. Looking at its name, all I thought was this restaurant serves Japanese Cuisine. I also know that AW Kitchen has a flagship store in Tokyo, found by the popular chef Akira Watanabe. This fact supports my opinion about the dishes that they serve. However, when I saw their menu, I realized that they are not serving Japanese cuisine. It's more like Italian cuisine, with pasta as their recommended menu. By doing a research, I just knew that AW Kitchen serves Italian cuisine with Japanese twist. Chef Akira Watanabe himself is the one who introduced this kind of food in Japan. At the first year, it still hard to be accepted for some peoples. But as time passed, Akira Watanabe kept continue to innovate with the food until it was finally accepted by the people in Japan. Even today, he's very famous for his delicious cold pasta.

Bar seating at Pasta House AWkitchen

Warm yet delicious welcome bread

Jakarta is the first city where AW Kitchen opened his branches outside Japan. The first restaurant was opened at 2014, located at Plaza Senayan. Following its success, they opened the second branch at Plaza Indonesia at 2016. This branch was the place where Ivan and I had a dinner, and tried their food for the first time. The restaurant was really spacious with a fancy interior. They also have a bar seating, if you only want to come for a drink. We came at Sunday night, where most peoples had done with dinner. At that time it's not too crowded, so I got a table with a comfy couch. Nice place to enjoy our dinner time. Now, let's talk about the food.

Soft Shell Crab Fritt with Wasabi Tartar Sauce - IDR 95K

Wasabi Tartar Sauce and a slice of lemon

Soft Shell Crab Fritt with Wasabi Tartar Sauce
It's the first dish that they served, which we ordered as an appetizer. I love this food, a lot. The soft shell crab was deep fried very well, which makes it crispy outside, but still has a soft texture at the inside. The soft shell crab itself has been seasoned perfectly, but they also give a cup of wasabi tartar sauce, which also very tasty.

Spaghettini Shrimp and Corn Pepperoncino Style - IDR 95K

Spaghettini Shrimp and Corn Pepperoncino Style 
Pasta is a bestseller dishes at AW Kitchen, which can't be missed when you're visiting. Like I was saying before, they are well known for the cold pasta. But I felt unsure with it and ordered the hot pasta that also very recommended. As you can see on the picture, this pasta is different with a "classic" pasta. Starts from the seasoning, until the topping. It was cooked with "aglio olio" style, but it has a very strong taste of garlic. Unlike the usual taste of aglio olio pasta, this pasta tastes more like an asian noodle dish, and it's very very delicious. With huge shrimps and grilled sweet corn as the topping, this pasta instantly become one of the best pasta I ever had.

Look at that huge shrimp.

Grilled Black Cod with lemon Capers Sauce - around IDR 300K

Grilled Black Cod with Lemon Capers Sauce
The other main course that we ordered was the fish menu. They have several options of fish, and one of them is black cod. I love black cod because the texture is very soft and juicy. So I ordered it and paired it with lemon capers sauce to make it didn't taste fishy. The fish was grilled perfectly, and the sauce also has a balance taste. I could feel the lemon and the cream are balanced, without any more dominant taste.

For the side dish, we chose mashed potato to complete this meal. However the mashed potato tastes just so so, not the best one for me. The other things that I like from this dish was the vegetable chips. First time for me to eat this kind of "chips", but I love it - especially the lotus root chips.

Fresh Au Grey - IDR 50K

Fresh Au Grey
Not forgetting the beverage. Honestly, I barely order a mocktail at the restaurant. But when I read the combination of this drink, I thought this drink gonna be very fresh. Fresh Au Grey is a recommended beverage at AW Kitchen which made from the mixture of apple juice, passion syrup, and mojito syrup, added with slices of fresh strawberry and kiwi. Like I was expecting, it was really fresh and perfect to complete my dinner.

For some people (including me) it might sounds weird to eat fusion cuisine. But all dishes from AW Kitchen was an exception. Even though it has a different taste, but it's really tasty and not bad at all for Italian - Japanese cuisine. Anyway, besides at Plaza Senayan and Plaza Indonesia, AW Kitchen also has a branch at PIK Avenue which just opened last year with different concept.





AW Kitchen by Akira Watanabe
Address : Plaza Indonesia L2 - Jalan M.H. Thamrin No. Kav 28, Menteng, Central Jakarta City, 10350
Phone : +62 21 29924325
Opening hours : Mon - Sun 10AM - 10PM
Instagram : @awkitchenjkt

Ultimo Italian Restaurant, Seminyak - Bali

As I was saying at the previous post, I just had a Bali trip with my family for celebrating Aurelia’s 8^th birthday. I was so glad that she liked our “present” for her, especially when she knew we stayed at the luxury resort, Anantara Uluwatu. Nothing can make me feel happier than see the smile from my children.

Outfit for dinner - White Floral Dress : Topshop , Bag : Longchamp

 A birthday celebration, won’t be complete without a dinner. We’re looking for a good fine dining restaurant to celebrate this special moment. Since we gonna had dinner with children, we’re looking for a restaurant, which serves a child friendly menu. Finally, we decided to have a dinner at our favorite restaurant in Bali, Ultimo.

Ultimo is an Italian restaurant, located at Seminyak area. This is one of our favorite restaurant in Bali. Everytime we go to Bali, Ultimo is a must for us. Not just because of the delicacy of their dishes, but they also have an affordable price for that good quality food. They have a good interior for a fine dining restaurant. However, the ambience is quite not suitable for children. It has a low light, with a small space at indoor area. They do have an outdoor area which more spacious, and have live music too!! But as usual, outdoor area is a smoking area, and it’s not good for children.

Extremely delicious complimentary bread

Despite the ambience, we chose this restaurant because they serve Italian food which is our children’s favorite. They love pasta, a lot!! I’ve tried their pasta before, and I like it. And if I like it, so the children do. Beside the pasta, I also love to eat their seafood dishes. It was so fresh and also taste delicious.

Ravioli di Pollo

Ravioli di Pollo (IDR 65K)

First dish is the pasta. This time I decided to try their ravioli, which is stuffed with chicken. It was so tasty, and the pasta also cooked perfectly.  This ravioli is cooked with creamy sauce and mushroom, which make it taste better.

Grilled Snapper with Sautéed Vegetables& Caponata Sauce

Grilled Snapper with Sauteed Vegetables & Caponata Sauce (IDR 135K)

To be honest, this dish is quite disappointed. Even though the snapper was really fresh, but it was overcooked. The texture was too dry and not juicy at all. Beside that, the sauce also has a very strong taste, and too sour.

Grilled Seafood Platter

Grilled Seafood Platter

At the time we ordered, we didn’t see this menu. But the waitress was telling it’s one of their recommended dishes. Based on what he said, we decided to try it and it’s very very delicious. This platter contains squids, prawns, muscle, and it’s all grilled - my favorite cooking method all the time - and French fries for the side dish. I love grilled food especially for seafood dishes. This seafood was grilled perfectly, and also comes with less spices, so I could taste the flavor of the seafood itself. How tasty it is!!! Suddenly it reminds me with grilled seafood dishes from Cerveseria Catalana which is also very fresh, and delicious.

Not just the foods, we love their bestseller beverages too. I don’t know what does it called, because we didn’t see it on the menu. We just saw every table had this drink, so I asked the waitress to make the same. This beverage is exactly the same with the one that we got at Nervino Dieci Trattoria, Milan. It made with full of sorbet and it’s really fresh. The only difference is the flavor. While in Milan they only have watermelon flavor, UItimo has more options for that. This time I tried the mango flavor and it wasn’t disappointed at all. It was really good and fresh. You really need to try it when have a dinner at Ultimo.

Ultimo is the right place for you who are looking for a fine dining yet affordable restaurant. You can reach this place by short walking from Seminyak Village. Since this restaurant has many tables, reservation is not necessary. Except if you want to celebrate a special occasion, with many peoples on your group.

Ultimo Italian Restaurant

Address : Jalan Kayu Aya No. 104X, Seminyak, Bali 80361

Phone : +62 361 738720

Opening hours : Mon - Sun 4.30PM - 1AM

Website : http://ultimo-bali.business.site

Il Pastaio di Roma, Via dei Coronari - Rome

“When in Italy, eat pasta as much as you can.”

Those are words that i talked to myself and Ivan before we go to Italy. I love pasta, and Aurelia too. We know that pasta was born in Italy. So we didn’t want to miss any day to not eating pasta when in Italy. It was the last day for us. At the next day we must go back to our country. Well, at this day, we must eat another delicious pasta, and we decided to have a lunch at Il Pastaio di Roma.

Il Pastaio is a small restaurant that serves a delicous, fresh pasta in Rome. Located in the middle between Vatican and Piazza Navona, this strategic location make them easy to be reached. Heard about their reputation as one of the best pasta in Rome, we decided to stop here for lunch after visiting Vatican.

They don't have many options for pasta. Instead, they have other food beside pasta such as salad, and rice too. We ordered some pasta with our favorite sauce, pesto (for Aurelia) and Amatriciana. It took for while for them to prepare the pasta. Meanwhile, we ordered other food which ready to eat.

Riso Pollo e Curry €5

Amatriciana €5

Aurelia's Favorite : Pesto €5

Well, how was it??? It was so tasty!!! They cooked this fresh pasta perfectly. The delicious sauce also make a plus point for it. Don’t worry about the price. Eat a delicious food in Europe not always be expensive. They are selling this yummy pasta only €5 for a big portion. Isn’t it a good deal????

(Also read : Quick Bites and Cheap Food Around Duomo di Milano and Budget Friendly Food in Venice)

Il Pastaio di Roma
Address : Via dei Coronari, 102/103, 00186, Roma RM, Italy
Phone : +39 06 6476 0618
Opening hours : Monday - Sunday 11AM - 9PM
Website : http://www.ilpastaiodiroma.it/indexnewengcart.html

[Europe] Piazza Venezia and Trevi Fountain

Source : www.getyourguide.com

Still talking about the first day in Rome. After we visited the famous Colosseum, we continued our day by walking to another popular landmark in Rome, Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). Trevi Fountain is one of the famous fountain in the world. Even there's a legend for this fountain...

"Whoever throw a coin into the fountain, one day they'll come back again to Rome"

From Colosseum, we're walking through Via dei Fori Imperiali. At this street, i saw many historical places such as Roman Forum, Forum of Caesar, Forum of Augustus and many more. However because of the limited time that we have, we just passed it so we could reach our main destination before it's dark.

After 20 minutes walking, finally we arrived at the end of the street, and stopped for a while to relax and enjoy the atmosphere here. This place called Piazza Venezia. Located at the heart of Rome, makes most people whoever visiting Rome will come to this place. This square is facing with another landmark in Rome, Altar of the Fatherland (Altare della Patria). Altar of the Fatherland, or usually known as National Monument to Victor Emanuele II, is a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of Italy. The fabulous design of this building make everyone feel amazed with it. The statue, and the detail, they are beautiful..

Altar of the Fatherland

Santa Maria di Loreto

Enough with the pictures, we started to walk again to Trevi Fountain. It doesn't take a long time to reach Trevi Fountain from Piazza Venezia. After 10 minutes walking, finally we arrived to the largest fountain in Rome.

Well, one word for this visit is, "Dissapointing!" Not because it's not beautiful, but because this fountain is under maintenance. There's no water in it. It's empty. Beside that, the fountain itself also covered by net and scaffolding around it. The only things that i could see is the statue and the building that usually become a "background" of this fountain. Sad, but i also felt grateful. Even though i couldn't see the real look of Trevi Fountain, but at least i've been here.

It's around 9PM, and sunset has come. We're all tired after walk this far in summer. So we decided to sit down at the random cafe around Trevi Fountain, and have a dinner (and gelato) before we went back to our hotel and ended up our day.

Trevi Fountain Picture on Gelato Cup

Aurelia loves Italy, because she can eat gelato everyday :)

Antica Gelateria Trevi

Street around Trevi Fountain

Souvenir Store