This post is going to be exciting!!!

Why is that??? It's because I am finally sharing you guys a slightly different touch of my culinary experience, I've been used to reviewing western food and I don't want to bore you out so I'm giving you guys something fresh from an-also-fresh-newbie expecting to steal your hearts out.

Last Saturday I was invited for a food tasting and food bloggers gathering by Hawaiian Bistro and I'm very excited about this one because I'm finally going to experience Hawaiian culinary, yet not knowing whether it's going to end up becoming a good or bad experience, but I'm so excited from the very start. Technically, it's Western, but still, it's Hawaii! So there's still a difference.

Hawaiian Bistro is located at Pantai Indah Kapuk and it's one of the newest restaurant opening there. The restaurant itself is giving such Hawaiian pleasure for your eyes as well as strong brief description of how Hawaiian restaurant (yet thank the concept for being very strong and focused) should look like.

If you're looking at the first photo above, that's Hawaiian Bistro, the servants will greet you "ALOHA!" which by the way means "HELLO" in Hawaii.

Let's tour this place, it's a good one.
Editing the pictures to look retro so you'll get Hawaiied (what the heck).












I think the place will fit around 50 people, sometimes a restaurant is just perfect when it's medium, which in this case, the restaurant itself. I personally think that the ambience of the restaurant is so good and I'm fortunate enough to be seated just near the window, it was around 11PM and the sun was very friendly (by meaning not friggin HOT).

You know I recently got an email from my reader asking how was the air-conditioning at a certain restaurant I posted entries before and apparently, she is very strict with the air-conditioning system, I'd say that this place has a cool temperature, it's just perfect for me lah, not overpowering cold and not even hot, so it's cool, I'm guessing in this case, do not sit outside unless it's night (but sometimes PIK tends to get hot during the night) and you're a smoker, FYI they also have a minibar at the outdoor area.

Before we start, let me introduce you to the owners/bosses of this restaurant: Mr. Billy (left with black tees and glasses) and Mr. Michael (right). THANK YOU FOR HAVING US, SUCH AN HONOR! I have high expectations for this restaurant, why? read more and you'll know!

Now prepare yourself from becoming hungry because I'm spoiling the most ultimate foodporns in a moment!
Let's start with what's being served in order:

FYI they have a very nice menu design, they really emphasize the Hawaiiness out of them, and another FYI, Hawaiiness is not a word.
menu photo credit: Yenny Widjaja.


Mango D'Jango
IDR 32k (before tax)

This is my choice of drink, I was craving for something that's either cold, a little sour and blended, and thankfully Hawaiian Bistro came up with this selection of beverage, it's such a perfect drink for the day, it's so fresh, the sweetness is not overpowering and most importantly, you still get the Mango puree so it's not a complete Mango juice. Worth to try!

Coco Lychee
IDR 32k (before tax)

If you're guessing that this drink is the mixture of Nata de Coco and Lychee, then you're right!!! And if you're presuming that this drink is sweet and fresh, then you're right again. However, I still prefer Mango D'Jango to this because I love mango and I think it's just fresher, but this one is certainly not bad too.

First of all, let me tell you upfront that this post is going to be long. Hawaiian Bistro is very generous in presenting the food and they just don't stop coming. However, it's nice because at least I have more things to share to my readers. Let's start with the APPETIZER!


APPETIZERS:

 Lolo Shrimp Wrap
IDR 38k (before tax)

Menu description: Shrimp wrapped in noodles, fried crispy, served with special Lolo mayonaisse.
Well technically the menu's description has told you everything, it's technically a shrimp wrapped in noodles, fried super crispy and crunchy. I think the mayonaisse sauce is the bomb, without this sauce, the food would be just okay and plain.

Still, pretty presentation though.


Ahi Poke
IDR 32k (before tax)

Hands down this is my most favorite appetizer served on that day! It's raw salmon marinated in Hawaiian Bistro special soysauce. I love how they managed to make the salmon smells clean and fresh. I highly recommend this one when you have your visit here. I hate it that I can't emphasize the deliciousness enough you need to try it for yourself.


Musubi Spam (Pork)
IDR 22k

This dish is Hawaiian Bistro's remake of Japanese Onigiri, I call it a Hawaiian style onigiri. This is NOT halal since they use spam (pork) as the filling. However, if you enjoy spam, you should try this and I love the rice here. I wouldn't recommend having them on your own, I think this should be shared since the main carbohydrate used here is rice, I'm afraid that you'll eventually be full already before you even start the main course, except you want to cut the budget, but you're cutting the surprise as well!

I can't state anything about the spam here but it tastes much alike the canned Ma Ling meat for me. It's not a bad thing tho because I'm such a huge fan of Ma Ling and I know you love it too!



Hawaiian Edamame
IDR 20k

I love love love Edamames, no matter how restaurants manage to cook it, I always love the original ones boiled with loads of salt, that's still the best in my opinion. This one is different and however kinda works. They added a little spicy seasoning (sesame sauce) on the skin and the skin somehow absorps the spicyness.

The magic of Edamames actually work when you won't stop having it. I experienced it myself, which means: this one is great!


Mahaka Mochiko Chicken
IDR 32k (before tax)

Last appetizer of the day was this delicious Mahaka Mochiko Chicken. To be honest, this one is also the 'it' appetizer, this one was so friggin delicious, it's indeed spicy but it's so yummy and seasoned very well. The chicken is so tender and it's fried with special Mochiko flour butter until it's golden brown (semi-crispy). The sauce was so painfully delicious.

MAIN COURSE:

Hawaiian Bistro Loco Moco
IDR 65k (before tax)

This contains rice, two beef pattys and topped with two sunny side ups and completed with their signature brown gravy sauce. This one is also one of my most favorite, I think this one is so yummy with a generous portion, guaranteed to make you feel like you just had a large meal and feel full.

Anyway if you're noticing the picture above, there are two Loco Mocos and they actually have a difference: it's on the side dish. Hawaiian Bistro gave you two choices of side dish (salad) you can select: whether you want the green salad or the macaroni salad (-> my preference). You can also select the sauce between Curry Pineapple Salad Dressing and Sesame Soy Yuzu Dressing.

Bistro Bento
IDR 72k (before tax)
The portion of the food served here is very generous, as you can see for yourself, the portion is big and maybe one plate you can share for two. This one is their Bistro Bento, this is also another recommendation menu from the restaurant. Bistro Bento is a Hawaiian style bento with four meats and salad. The four meats mentioned from top to bottom from the picture above are: Dory Fish Katsu, BBQ Beef: thin sliced and marinated with special barbeque sauce (this one is very yummy and my favorite overall!), Spam (pork, see above), BBQ Fried Chicken (this one actually doesn't taste any BBQ at all, more like a seasoned chicken katsu).

If you're looking for a large meal to kill your hunger, this one is probably a good choice.


BBQ Mix
IDR 69k (before tax)

BBQ Mix is another top recommended menu from the restaurant, it's basically three meats cooked barbeque style with salad and rice, one of the meat in BBQ Mix (BBQ Beef) is also included in Bistro Bento. I gotta give my thumbs up to the BBQ sauce it's so damn good and it actually absorps into the meat resulting an incredible foodgasm, okay I'm getting food pornographic but hey I'm just being honest here, Hawaiian Bistro really has great selection of foods and I bet the chef was in a really good mood while cooking them (well I mean, he HAS to be in a good mood always).

Three meats used here are BBQ Beef (thin sliced marinated in BBQ Sauce), BBQ Chicken and BBQ Short Ribs. I gotta give it to the BBQ Chicken for being so friggin good. Man, I'm hungry now!


ANOTHER ADDITIONAL!
Special for my table only. Got presented with additional BBQ Mix meats, without the rice. Thank you Hawaiian Bistro!

DESSERTS!
Let's move on to another round of happiness, the desserts!
Sometimes I am much more excited for the desserts rather than the main courses because I am easily fall in love with pretty looking cakes and whatever related to desserts. They're mostly beautiful and so pretty looking and mostly also taste as sweet as it looks! Let's surf Hawaiian Bistro's top selection of desserts! Prepare to get super mouthwatered!!!

Coffee Jelly Kahlua and Vanilla Ice Cream
IDR 25k (before tax)

Can I just drop it and say that this is just my type of dessert?!

First of all, it's coffee, which is already a good start, and I love how coffee jelly is friends with vanilla ice cream which blends together creating a nice dessert for the day. Not recommending it for non-coffee lovers, it tastes a bit strong but hey you get the vanilla ice cream with you so do try :).



 North Shore Shaved Ice with Ice Cream
IDR 23k

First impression: it's so pretty! but does it taste as sweet as it looks? oh yeah!!!
I was brutally feed by Hawaiian Bistro and I need something to chill everything down, and this just comes in a perfect timing. For your information, the owner told us that the way to eat this dessert is so unique, the glass and the plate below is chosen that way because we have to stir everything and definitely some amount of ice will fall off but that's the nature of it. Result? Nice. I actually like it both ways.


last but definitely not least...
Tempura Matcha Ice Cream with Haupia Sauce
IDR 33k (before tax)

From all the three dessert presented, this one is certainly my most favorite one! I love love love Matcha Ice Cream and since I've never tried a fried matcha ice cream before, this one must came in suprise for me and apperantly, I didn't make a wrong choice ordering this. It looks so pretty OMG why is everything looks so pretty in Hawaiian Bistro.



Special thanks for Yenny Widjaja for this picture of me! I love this candid!
 Another adorable thing about this restaurant is the servant's uniform. It's so colorful and cute but not cheap looking.
OMG I'm so full now!

Thank you Hawaiian Bistro for each and every meal served for us, they were such bliss I heart them all! I honestly think that this restaurant will be the ultimate enviable spot by most restaurants in PIK because I honestly sincerely saying that the food was nice, and the staffs were so well-behaved and well responsed, some old famous restaurants even had very bad service and I hope when this restaurant gets more and more famous, so is their quality.

Good luck!!!

Going to leave you guys with a picture of the happy food bloggers and the owners!

ALOHA!!!
MAHALO FOR YOUR TIME READING THIS BLOG POST.
Do come here guys :)

Hawaiian Bistro || FACEBOOK | TWITTER
Rukan Cluster Garden House Blok A No. 25
Pantai Indah Kapuk
Jakarta Utara
021 - 2903 3185

email: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com
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Last week, I attended a very exciting casual seminar from the invitation that I got from the representatives of this new restaurant called "Cuca", which is planned to be opening in Jimbaran, Bali around the end of July, just in time for a family vacay (so excited for it!!!). I'm definitely going to this restaurant and going beastly feast! Looks like I am super duper excited, but why? What makes me so excited about this restaurant which has not even opened? Okay let me tell you everything about the session and definitely, everything about Cuca.

This seminar...err...I don't even want to call it a seminar because it's a lot more fun and less formal, I will call it Cuca Session instead. The "session" was held at Function Room, One Park Residence Building C, this is the very time that I've ever been to One Park and I rarely drive so I always take cab instead. I'm not a very good Jakarta traffic officer, so it's better to take cabs even though you have to pay more, and plus, it's less tiring.

Cuca is owned by Chef Kevin Cherkas and Virginia Entizne and they both are husband and wife. To be honest, aside from all the personal things in their life that I don't know, I feel like they make a perfect couple for one another. I LOVE THEM!!! At the beginning of the session, Kevin even told us that marrying Virginia was the best decision he's ever made. How romantic. *mirror my lonely self*.

I'm going to tell you a little background about Kevin and Virginia. Kevin is a chef and he has worked with top restaurants around the world and definitely working with the michelin star awarded chefs. I'm acting like I know a lot about him when infact I was reading his biography, isn't it better if I just copy paste the whole thing for you? It's also written much better too HAHAHAHA!

Chef Kevin Cherkas has an enviable track record developed in some of the world’s most outstanding restaurants.
In Spain, he honed his skills at Michelin three-star Arzak Restaurant in San Sebastian, Michelin three-star El Bulli in Roses, and Michelin two-star La Broche in Madrid. He also left his mark in New York City during his tenure with Daniel Boulud at his highly regarded Michelin three-star Daniel.
As testament to his culinary talent, he is the recipient of numerous awards. These include gold and silver medals at the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs national and regional competitions in 2003, a gold medal at the USA Chicago Culinary Salon Team Canada 2001, and three gold medals at the British Columbia Chefs Association Hot Culinary Competition in 2000, to name a few. Most notably, he joined the Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Contest 2001 as an apprentice representative and achieved a fifth place finish.
Most recently, Chef Kevin helmed BLU at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore and prior to that Restaurant Lafite in Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

And here is a little about Virginia
Coming from the beautiful city of Salamanca in northwestern Spain where she obtained her degree at one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in the West, Virginia’s obsession with learning and discovery has taken her on a journey eastwards for the past 12 years. After completing a Master’s degree in Business Administration, she experienced the fast pace of working in several fast-growing companies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and subsequently put it all to the test when she moved to Singapore and found herself driving the exponential growth of Las Lilas School, Singapore’s premier language school.
Her success at managing and enriching customer’s experience has naturally led her to the land of hospitality: Bali. Bringing along the memories of her childhood from a country where gastronomy is a way of life and where dining is an amazing emotional experience, Virginia has fused her vision with the talent of a chef to give Bali and the world a new culinary destination.

 So what is "Cuca" and why is "Cuca"?
First of all, I need to give credit for Kevin for being such a great ice breaker/speaker. He is very fun and has this bubbly personality that lights up the whole "session" so it doesn't end up bore everyone. "Cuca" is actually a nickname given by Virginia's mom and she has been calling her with "Cuca" ever since. "Cuca" itself means "dear", "love", "darling", "honey" or in Indonesia, it's "sayang". Personally I love the name "Cuca", it just sounds so fun but not cheap.

Cuca will offer you a slightly different concept from most restaurant nowadays, it's "A CASUAL SHARING EXPERIENCE: ALL ABOUT TASTE". I think Cuca's concept is almost like "PIK" restaurant types, where you don't have to wear complicated gowns, formal suits, look very well groomed etc. You just need to bring yourself, wear whatever you want and enjoy the food. It's always about the food. I also don't enjoy sitting with full suit on (even though in some occasions I need to), but honestly, everytime I have a free time to stay at home, I always wear my oversized lumpy old clothes with shorts and relax. It's much more me rather the fancier ones you see online (-.-)/"/.

The food itself is the explanation of its concept "Sharing Experience". Kevin explained that the communication occured in a restaurant mostly stop everytime the food arrived, so why not lighten up the cheerfulness and the communication the whole time we're in the restaurant, that's why it's "Sharing Experience", you can share every food served in this restaurants and Cuca focused on the three main forms: Tapas, Cocktails and Desserts.

*love its pen*

some goodies to take home.


What will Cuca look like?
There will be three main areas in Cuca: The Food Bar, The Dining Room, and The Cocktail Bar and Garden Lounge. The Food Bar is the area where there will be around 8 wooden chairs run along the impressive 8-meter-long teak. Fun thing about this area is that you can see the pre-serving action and the whole production process so you can see for yourself how fresh the process is and the materials they're using without worrying that they will spit on your food. Just kidding.

The Dining Room is definitely the one where you will have your meal at, what makes it different is that it will be surrounded by floating curtains to prodive a little casual intimacy and privacy while you're enjoying your choice of food and chilled by the view of the natural landscape.

The Cocktail Bar and Garden Lounge is the outdoor area of the restaurant, where you can sit outside, enjoy the beauty and nature while probably sipping on your favorite cocktails, chatting around, I can surely imagine that and I hope it turns out as pretty as what I've imagined.

The main idea of this "session" is to teach us to understand TASTE and FLAVOR. It's mostly science and nature sense, and something that you've learned back in junior high like the each taste acceptance on your tounge, the base flavor of chili, mint leaves and etc. The second photo is actually a Cuca pen lying on the practice paper, it's filled with fun and well designed questions and actually, on the back of the paper is THE CERTIFICATE to certify my presence in this seminar and it's already signed by Kevin...ehm.. Chef Kevin Cherkas.

The purpose of this "session" is to also teach us how to cook without recipes, sometimes that's also what I do, I feel like I know the flavor of some ingedients and I just try to mix and match everything to create my signature dish which tastes good, hahaha but sadly my signature dish level is somehow on egg omelette the furthest. I know, don't laugh.

Surprisingly, I just know that "perfume" is also a flavor, it doesn't have any taste but it gives you something with scents and you do know what it is, for example: mint leaves. I can't describe the exact flavor of mint leaves, it's just...minty, but minty doesn't exist (yes in my dictionary), but it adds something with scent and you know when you bite it, it's mint leaves.

The "session" took one hour and that's definitely one of the best "one hour" I've ever spent listening to someone talking without any boredom hits. Kevin promised us that this kind of session will occured at the restaurants and it's called: Cuca Sessions: Tasting Classes, so if you're in Bali and you want to join this, you are very much welcome.

 Another fun part is the snack time, I've been interested with the pop-corn since the beginning of the session. It smells so good it almost cheats my concentration from Kevin's presentation. Kevin told us that the popcorn is infused with "Betutu Chicken" flavor, resulting a to-die-for flavor that keeps me wanting for more. I even crave for one right now.

BEST FRIGGIN POPCORNS I'VE EVER HAD! PERIOD!!!


Love the usage of this paper. Save the earth!


To company the Betutu Chicken Popcorn, Kevin also made Sangria cocktail and mocktail beverages, depending on your interest in alcohol, I tried both, not much different but still prefer the cocktail, because it adds something more special and some sparks.

*tried to edit the pictures in real color and vintage*, this time the original color wins, the color is super tempting.



Cuca specials: I think I'd recommend Kevin to serve it in bottles instead of glass, it's just different, especially when they label it this way, it just makes it even more Cuca special.

And let's not forgetting that Cuca is also a company that sells infused salts with various flavors, they already sent me a sample before this "session", but I wasn't sure about what I supposed to do so I guess I'll find a way, they gave me another 4 so I had 5 with me. Anybody wants a free sample?!

No artificial colors added, purely fresh from the ingredients.

They told us that the a day before this "session", they made a booth to sell this salt and it went pretty successful and people's enthusiasm are pretty big for this salt. Good for them :")

Initially keeping you guys from seeing Kevin and Virginia, because they're so special, and since this might be your first time, so say Hi to these two awesome people, the middle is the most awesome already MWAHAHA JUST KIDDING! Virginia has a very beautiful pair of eyes. It's so big O.O

I love this candid shot from my sister.

A little goodies from Cuca. Thank you so much :).


I'm getting more excited about Cuca and I can't wait to see and taste it for myself. They also keep everyone updated with the construction and everything on their Facebook and their website.

CUCA CUCA CUCA!!!
Let's see how far the construction has gone...

This is the newest picture that they posted with the Cuca building at the background. It's located in such a nice area surrounded by tall trees.

Incase you want to see its construction from the very beginning, you can check its album HERE.

But of course, if you want to keep updated, follow its Facebook page and Twitter.

See you in August Cuca!!!

PS: I'm serious about the sample, if you want to try one, feel free to email me, it's for free and it's so nice to share.

Cuca Flavor
Jalan Yoga Perkanthi
Jimbaran, Bali
0821 8999 1977

email me: eatandtreatsindo@gmail.com
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