HOURS: COFFEE AND MORE - KELAPA GADING - eatandtreats - Indonesian Food and Travel Blogger based in Jakarta

Residing across Mall of Indonesia (MOI) is HOURS: Coffee and More, a new cafe/coffee shop that's a newcomer in Kelapa Gading area and good news today marks their first day of opening, I got the exclusive invitation to check out what they have in store prior 'the day' (special thanks to Ruby from Wanderbites) and simply go with the scroll and enjoy this entry.

Such a joy that HOURS is actually in the Google Maps therefore getting here was super easy! The cafe is located in this building (which by the way is also owned by them as well) and shared a spot at the side of the building where they keep the best light. From the outside HOURS was already so pretty (and oh not to mention THAT CAR located outside the cafe) and I kinda had this feeling that the interior's going to be very homey and boy I was right, only I miss on things like "beautifully designed", "minimalist", design wise, altogether well put, well thought and absolutely chic in the same time! If you pay attention to the details of the design, almost all the supporting elements here are custom made just for HOURS like the handmade craft of traditional Japanese and Chinese kitchen back in the day, the lamps, even to the window where it's adjustable for comfort.

They "dressed" the La Marzocco espresso machine with this chic piece that reminded me of Jo Malone's packaging design

The cafe also occupy VIP rooms for private events

Hot Cappuccino - IDR 35k

This Espresso machine tho!

Ostritch Egg transformed as lamps

Expect to find decent range of mainly Western food with some fusion menus from their Breakfast, Super Food, Light Bites, Soup & Salad, Mains that you can pair with Coffee, Non-Coffee, Cold Press Juices, Smoothies, Teas and Chocolate drinks with price ranges from IDR 30k-120k for food and IDR 15k-48k for drinks! Keep on scrolling to see what I had for lunch that day.

Iced Cappuccino - IDR 40k

I wasn't the biggest fan of their iced cappuccino, I found them a bit watery, unbalanced but the aftertaste didn't bother me.

Prawn Mango Salad - IDR 55k

This was a refreshing kickstart to the lunch, I found the ingredient (mango, bell peppers, cole slaw, peanut, prawn) to be fresh but I was expecting more sour kick as well as that hint of sweet that could really elevate the flavor for me.

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad - IDR 60k
Now this one I really like and would gladly recommend you guys to try this one. The Romaine Lettuce was super fresh and crunchy with basil mayo-anchovy dressing that didn't overpower the flavor! The grilled chicken wasn't dry and the croutons were perfectly crunchy giving in extra texture to the whole dish.

Oven Baked Mussel - IDR 65k

Gotta give it to this one for the sweet (and salty) presentation as the mussels were placed on the salt. This has the potential to taste better for me, maybe we took too long to take the pics on this one, I took the bullet this time.

Fried Chicken Wings - IDR 60k

Another one that you should order here! The chicken wings were beautifully cooked with crispy-crunchy coating and tender-juicy chicken to follow, the sauce was also glazed to the right amount where it didn't overpower the chicken.

Eggs on Cloud - IDR 60k

This one was for me more like an eye candy rather than something that does much for my palate. Can't deny that this one was beautifully presented and the concept was nicely executed, but it's really whipped egg white (to its stiff peak) and together baked with the egg yolk and served on top of brioche with sauteed mushroom, bacon, baby tomatoes, potatoes and greens on the side. The seasoning of the sauteed mushroom was more to the sweeter side (I expected the salty savory kind), but as you see it individually, the elements on this dish was pretty decent it's just that maybe I'm never the biggest fan of egg cloud and I like safer options like eggs benedict more.

Broken Fried Rice - IDR 60k

It's called broken fried rice because the texture of the fried rice here had this Vietnamese broken rice's texture where it's fractured but somehow that's the strength of this dish! I am so not into mushy fried rice hence I never really like Japanese style fried rice and this one was surely something you can't complaint: nasi goreng kampong style with hard-fractured rice texture that's so beautifully seasoned and you even got that smokey aroma that's adding in the overall deliciousness, paired with that perfect sunny side up, fresh prawns and pickles! I think this one was my number one favorite from the lunch! Absolutely simple, comforting and delicious!

Sop Buntut - IDR 90k (with rice)
Their oxtail soup (sop buntut) was to me, above what I expected. I was skeptical on whether they would make good oxtail soup here (just can't seem to get most coffee shops persona where most of them don't really serve heavy food) but this one was really spot on. The broth was rich with tender oxtail meat, the herbs were there to pamper my palate and altogether beautiful. If you fancy something soupy then this!

Seafood Gravy Rice Noodle
Another comforting meal that I would personally opt for dinner, I didn't really try this but one spoonful of this represented the main flavors enough: it was nicely seasoned, savory, seafood yet fresh with rice noodle that's first fried before poured with the gravy goodness.

Pan Fried Chicken Steak - IDR 75k
Their chicken steak was actually another one that falls above my standard, the chicken can be a little more tender (but not bad to be honest) but it was really the gravy that enhance the performance! Thick, creamy, salty and buttery.

Spaghetti Carbonara - IDR 60k

I had a feeling that some of you will find this bland but I feel like they're just trying to make it fresh and I am really liking it. The thing with carbonara pasta is that sometimes they can get too creamy too cheesy and that starts bothering me, this one was creamy but didn't come with that overpowering performance, and those pink bacons tho (sign of a goodness)

Fish and Chips with Salad - IDR 70k

Major love for their fish and chips, they did the beer batter good hence the flaky crunchy coating and beautifully cooked with juicy silky moist fish meat inside, maybe they can make it slightly bigger.

Chia Seed Pudding - IDR 50k

From their 'Super Food' options is their chia seed pudding which I totally fell for! Generous overnight chia seed mix with banana, super seeds, raw chocolate and Agave nectar. I like how overall this doesn't appear too sweet and really how often you find chia seed pudding for IDR 50k per bowl (and not to mention, generous)? I am not kidding, this will be the solo menu that I'll order when I am 'detoxing' and desire something cleaner here.

French Toasts - IDR 35k

Left: Banana Salted Caramel

Right: French Toast Jackfruit Kaya

Sweet closure to my lunch and MUST ORDER! I didn't freaking check the menu among the lunch here and as I am typing this I just realized that the food here is actually pretty affordable! These toasts are only IDR 35k each and look at how smart how simple and generous the portion is (and you see no bullshit here just toasts and some supporting toppings). I equally love both the banana salted caramel and jackfruit kaya but to be fair both are different and delicious in their own way! The toast was seriously the star of the show for me, yes the sauce and toppings were great but it's really the fat fluffy toasts that did most of the talking for me! SO GEWD!

My first visit was a blast, it was a lunch session with friends, good food and more. I just hope they can keep up with the quality and really as I am typing this entry I am honestly super glad that the food here is very affordable for recent cafe's standard and the fact that they open pretty early (in case earlybirds are reading this). Much love for HOURS and I am looking forward for my future visits! Best of luck newcomer <3.