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

Second Visit to Sushi Hiro - Neo Soho

Sushi bar at Sushi Hiro, Neo Soho

Sushi Hiro - you might be familiar with this name. Known as one of the best sushi restaurant in town, Sushi Hiro has stole my heart for Japanese cuisine in Jakarta. Once we had a dinner at their first branch at Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK), and we were satisfied with the taste. This time we decided to have a lunch at another branch at Neo Soho, after had a great day with kids at Jakarta Aquarium.

The interior is decorated beautifully, just like their first branch. But I like this branch more than the first one. Not just because of the place which is more spacious, but they also open for the whole day, without split the opening hours like the first branch does. However, due to the rules from Neo Soho management, at this branch you can't grill your food (special for the grill menu) on the table. Instead, they will grill it for you at the kitchen, and serve it well done on the table. Don't worry, this rules doesn't apply to gyukatsu. You still can enjoy grilling your own meat on the table, which is a great way to eat this food.

As a starter, we ordered some recommended appetizer such as Salmon Carpaccio, Salmon Skin Fried, and also Beef Enoki Roll . OMG! They're all tasted heavenly good. It was the first time for me to eat carpaccio. The salmon was thinly sliced and dipped with simple tasty sauce. This carpaccio was really amazing.

Salmon Carpaccio - IDR 50K

My next favorite dish is Salmon Skin Fried with Mentai and Floss. This food might look messy and not appetizing. But it's super delicious. Unlike other Japanese restaurant which just simply deep fried thin slices of salmon skin, Sushi Hiro makes new innovation by adding floss and mentai. This combination make it more yummm than the original version.

Salmon Skin Fried with Mentai and Floss - IDR 55K

Gyu Enoki Roll - IDR 50K

Done with the starter, it's time for the main course. This time we didn't order gyukatsu anymore. Instead, we ordered dishes which make them so popular, sushi! First time we had a dinner at Sushi Hiro, we just ordered some simple sushi such as tamago sushi, a set of nigiri sushi, inari tuna sushi, and we liked it. We like the sushi rice that they served. It has a perfect flavor and texture. So this time we ordered more sushi to satisfy our crave for them.

Ebi - IDR 25K

Kani Mentai Maki - IDR 50K

Like I was expecting, their sushi was really tasty. But among all, there's one menu that I like the most,  Salmon Mentai Roll. No wonder it becomes a recommended dishes at Sushi Hiro. Must try!!

Salmon Mentai Roll - IDR 100K

Not just sushi, we also ordered Garlic Fried Rice as our main course. We love to eat garlic fried rice since our trip to Kobe, Japan. In Kobe, we were having a dinner at Kobe beef restaurant, and they served the best garlic fried rice, ever! It was the first time for us to eat garlic fried rice, and we fell in love with it since the first bite. However, it's really hard to find a delicious garlic fried rice in town, which comes with a fragrant of garlic. Usually it comes with plain flavor and tasteless. But this one is different. I would said that it has a very strong garlic flavor, and also a lot of blackpepper. Too strong for kids, but tasty for me.

Garlic Fried Rice - IDR 40K

Those fried garlic are yum!!

Before we ended our lunch time, we ordered the last dish to complete my meal, Hiro's Ice Cream. It's a dessert plate which consists of red bean, mochi, jelly, and of course - vanilla ice cream. I also like this dessert very much because it's not too sweet and so delicious.

Hiro's Ice Cream - IDR 30K

At the end I just want to say that our second visit of Sushi Hiro doesn't change my mind about them. For me, Sushi Hiro still the best Japanese restaurant in town, especially for sushi. And as an information, Sushi Hiro has opened their newest and biggest branch at Senayan City. I can't wait to go there because they have several special menu which only can be found at that branch.






Sushi Hiro
Address : Neo Soho mall UG floor - 105. Jalan Letjen S. Parman Kav. 28, Grogol, Jakarta 11470
Instagram : @sushihiro_id
Phone : +62 21 27893438
Opening hours : Mon - Sun 10AM - 10PM

Visiting Jakarta Aquarium at NEO Soho

The entrance of Jakarta Aquarium - Neo Soho

Hi guys, how are you?? Well, I hope you're doing great, cause I am too :)
Well, lately I'm feeling that I wrote too much on my blog about beauty, and it's kinda not fair cause this blog should be also posts about food and travel. So for the next few weeks, I'll write about other content such as restaurant reviews, and also travel report (includes the itinerary) for winter holiday in Hokkaido. But before that, I'll write about our experience when visiting the first aquarium in Jakarta, which located inside the shopping mall.

Jakarta Aquarium is a new destination for family in Jakarta. It was opened at 2017, by cooperation between Taman Safari Indonesia and Aquaria KLCC, Malaysia. When they're just opened, Aurelia asked me to go there because they also have penguin which is her favorite animals. However at that time Winston still too young and we decided it to postpone it, until he ready and understand about animals. Last months, we were visiting Jakarta Aquarium for the first time. At that moment Winston already understand about animal, especially fishes! He loves fishes and know it so well from the popular Youtube Videos : Baby Shark by PinkFong. Looking at his excitement and Aurelia's desire, we visited Jakarta Aquarium at the weekday to avoid the crowd.

At the touch pool

Stingray and Star Fish at the touch pool

At the ECO Skywalk which connected Neo SOHO and Central Park

Ticket's price to Jakarta Aquarium

Jakarta Aquarium located at Neo SOHO which connected with Central Park Mall. It was the first time for us to go to Neo SOHO as well, but the direction to the aquarium was very clear, so we could find it easily. There are 2 types of ticket : Premium and Regular. The difference is with Premium ticket, you can watch "SEA PERFORMANCE" at 5D theatre, where you can feels like under the sea, surrounded by beautiful corals and fishes. The Premium Ticket only can be bought on the spot, while the Regular one also can be bought by online here.

SEA Performance at 5D theatre - Jakarta Aquarium

This aquarium filled with many species of fishes and other sea creatures. But not just that, you also can see other animals that live on land such as reptiles, otter, and many more. Even though the place is quite small, but it was clean and the ambience also perfect for young kids (read : toddler) as their first experience.

Otter Tunnel

If you want to see the penguins closely, you need to go to PINGOO restaurant which also the part of Jakarta Aquarium. You can get a discount at this restaurant which comes with the entrance ticket of Jakarta Aquarium (you can ask at their staff when buy the ticket for this package). However, we have other plan for lunch so we didn't go to that restaurant.

Jakarta Aquarium
Address : NEO Soho Floor LG 101 - LGM 101. Jl. Letjen S. Parman Kav. 28. Jakarta Barat 11470.
Opening hours : Mon - Sun 10AM - 10PM
Phone : (+62)21 1500212
Website : http://jakarta-aquarium.com/id
:Neo SOHO Floor LG 101 - LGM 101, Jl. Letjen S. Parman Kav. 28.
Jakarta Barat, 11470

5 Simple Ways to Get a Healthy Skin

Having a healthy skin is a dream for everyone. Not just women, men also want to have a healthy skin to become a good looking person. Some peoples think that the only way to get a healthy skin is by applying layers of skin care. The fact is, skin care is just one of many ways to get a healthy skin. A healthy lifestyle also needed to have a healthy skin. Below are some simple ways that you can do to get a healthy skin.

1. Use the right skin care that suitable for your skin
Choosing the right skin care is kinda hard to do. A popular and luxury skin care brand not always giving a good result for your skin. To choose the right skin care, first you need to find out what's your skin type. Then you'll now what does you skin need. Once you found the right skin care which suitable for you skin, stick with it and don't change it with other skin care only because of its popularity.

2. Clean your face properly
Cleansing is the most important step on your skin care routine. Never skip it for any reasons. If you applying skin care on a "dirty" skin, it will make your skin getting worse. Instead of  get a healthy skin, you'll have tons of blackheads, whiteheads, even pimples on your face. To get a perfect - clean skin, you need to do a few steps of cleansing process called double cleansing. You can read more about double cleansing here.

3. Drink a lot of water
These words might be sounds cliche, but it's so true. 60% of our body contains water, and so we know that water is really important for our life. Not just for healthiness, but also for our skin. Lack of water will make our skin become dehydrated and that conditions will make your skin have premature aging.

4. Reduce consumptions of unhealthy food
Unhealthy food not just make your body become unhealthy, but it also give some bad effects for skin. Try to reduce any food which contains too much oil, such as fried food, meat that contains lots of fat. In some cases, these foods will make your body produce too much oil, which can make your skin become oily and causes acne. It also happened if you eat too peanuts. So, try to change you daily meal into something healthier. Consuming a lot of vegetables and fruits are much better than a junk food. Besides, it also make your skin become healthier and looks beautiful.

5. Have enough sleeping time
You must be missed it as an important things to do to make your skin become healthy. Although, this way also very important. No matter how good and expensive the eye cream that you use, if you don't get enough time to sleep, dark circle and puffy eyes will "stay" on your eyes. That's why, having enough sleep time is a must things to do. 7- 8 hours (for adults) in 1 night is the perfect amount of sleep. Not just the eye problems, have enough sleeping time also will make your skin looks fresh, glowing, and healthy.

The bestt time for sleep is from 10PM - 5AM

Those 5 things are very simple ways to get a healthy skin. You can do it everywhere, and it also doesn't take too much time. It might be hard to do it at the first time. But with great desire, you must be can do it.