Jani Journey Journal

Knew this place from an influencer’s instagram and I’ve been coming to this place a lot of times with my friends. Ciknic is a small restaurant located across Dharmawangsa Square mall. The restaurant accommodate around 20 people inside and around 4 people on the outside (smoking area). Don’t be fooled by the restaurant appearance, because believe me their food is awesome.

I love almost every single menu in Ciknic but I always order their Ciknic Platter (IDR 58.000) every time I came here. The platter consist of nori seasoned chips, calamari, chicken pops and herbs fries with homemade dipping sauce. I love how crispy the chips was. The calamari and chicken pops was super nice and perfectly seasoned. I always order this platter since the portion is quite huge, which was good for sharing. And also because I fell in love too deep with their dipping sauce, which I always forgot to ask what was that amazing thing. Remind me to ask them next time will ya?

We also ordered their Ciknic Spring Roll for IDR 22.000 per portion, where you get 4 pieces of spring roll. The spring roll came in two choice of sauce, Padang or BBQ. Since my friends and I were pretty hungry, we decided to order both. I don’t really like the spring roll cause it was a bit too oily for me. However the sauce was too awesome to be missed.

For the mains, we pick two meals to share. The first one was their Quarter Classic Roast Chicken which cost us about IDR 42.000. The meals come with one free side dish and we chose their Truffle Potato Puree. The chicken was amazing as usual. It was really fragrant, very juicy and you can taste the sauce even into the thickest part of the chicken meat. I know how tricky it could be to marinate and cook a chicken so this is definitely a plus point that keep me coming back for more. As for the potato puree, it was silky smooth but sadly just has a little hint of truffle. I would love if they pour just a little bit more of truffle on to it. But I still love this though.

The other mains that we ordered was Garlic & Cheese Roast Chicken (IDR 58.000). The meals consist of roast chicken covered in two cheese sauce, potato wedges and some sautéed green beans. Since I’m not a big fan of cheese, I didn’t really enjoy this one. The cheese was way too strong and it made the chicken doesn’t taste like a chicken at all. But still I love the potato wedges and sautéed green beans which was nicely cooked and seasoned.

My friends and I also ordered our favorite, the Creamy Spinach for IDR 12.000 per portion. Like seriously this is the bomb! This is what made me fell in love with Ciknic in the first place. I love how the spinach was cooked perfectly with the cream. The cream sauce was smooth and seasoned nicely.

Everything which cooked with cream usually can end up being too thick, dense and disgusting easily. But Ciknic has succeed made this Creamy Spinach one of the best thing that happen in this world. Don't believe me? Next time if you see me eating at Ciknic, just ask me to buy one cause I won't share mine. 

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Ciknic

Ruko Dharmawangsa Square

Jl. Dharmawangsa VI No 46

Dharmawangsa, Jakarta Selatan

DKI Jakarta, Indonesia

(+62) 21 727 80 645

Opening hours: 11AM – 10PM (everyday)

Food: 4/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Price: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Been planning to go out after work with my coworker and finally a couple of days ago we did it. Was planning to just get some coffee near Cikajang area, but turns out the coffee shop that we were planning to visit was closed early. So we walk across the street and dine here instead, which turns out not a bad choice after all.

Ling Ling is a restaurant that specialize in chines food, particularly dimsum. The restaurant was designed with minimalist industrial feeling with a unique roofing. Where as you walk closer to the inside part of the restaurant, the roof become shorter. I don’t have any pictures of the roofing but will probably come again soon to take pictures of it, just because I really like it.

We ordered a few dimsum menu to share that night. One of the dimsum was called Shanghai Chicken Bun (IDR 25.000). It was a simple bun filled with chopped chicken inside. I quite like the bun since it was fluffy and the chicken inside was pretty tasty.

We also ordered the Prawn Cheung Fan dimsum for about IDR 30.000. In case some of you didn’t know, Cheung fan is Cantonese dish that made from a wide strip of thin roll rice noodle that filled with shrimp, beef, prawn, vegetables and other ingredients. Cheung Fan usually seasoned with soy sauce poured over the dish. This one was my personal favorite! I love how they filled the rice noodle with prawns generously and the soy sauce was bringing the dish into a perfect combo.

We add one more round of dimsum with Chinese Chive and Prawn Dumpling that cost about IDR 30.000. It was a green colored dumpling that got it’s color from spinach puree. So I consider it as a healthy option. However I don’t fancy this one. The dumpling filling came out a little bit smelly and the skin was a little bit hard to chew. We end up didn’t eat the rest of it.

Since one of coworker wanted some veggies, we add Roasted Broccoli (IDR 35.000) to our meal that night. When it came out, I was confused. The roasted broccoli turn out looks just like another sautéed broccoli. We were hoping it would more roasted rather than sautéed. However it still taste quite good.

My other coworker ordered Chacha Matcha (IDR 35.000) for her drinks. Stated it was made from green tea, fresh milk and homemade gingerbread cream. I tried her drinks and it was yumm even though it was a little bit too sweet for me and also a little bit strange. Probably because of the gingerbread cream.

My visit to Ling Ling was considerably okay. Even though the food wasn’t something over the top, I would like to be back just to hang out there because the restaurant seems so cozy. Another kudos for the great service from the waiter/waitress. They keep checking back whether if we need anything else and even sometimes they jokes with us.

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Ling Ling Dimsum & Tea House

Jl. Cikajang n0 72

Senopati, Jakarta Selatan

DKI Jakarta, Indonesia

(+62) 21 279 39 069

Opening hours: 11AM – 12AM (everyday)

Food: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Price: 3.5/5

Service: 5/5

This is going to be a short food review because my visit to this place was a quick one and I didn’t took much pictures. However I fell in love with the food a little bit too much, so it definitely worth to be written here.

The restaurant was called Bu Ageng, a place that provide local taste which specialized in homemade Indonesian dishes. The restaurant itself has this Javanese home feeling all around which I really love. When I came in, I honestly didn't expect anything cause I thought it would be just another homemade restaurant.

I ordered their Nasi Campur Lidah which cost me about IDR 32.000. The dish consisted of rice, terong balado (sautéed eggplant in chili sauce), semur lidah sapi (cow’s tongue cooked in sweet stew), kering kentang (crispy thinly sliced potato), ikan asin (fried salty fish), serundeng (dry coconut crumbs), and kerupuk (crackers).

I really really really really really (yeah I really mean it) like, no, LOVE the food. The cow’s tongue was tender and seasoned perfectly. The crispy potato and coconut crumbs make the dish complete. I honestly don’t know how to describe the food, but let me tell you something. When I scoop the dish to my mouth, it felt like a perfect harmony in your mouth. You get all that sweet from the stew, the salty from the fish, the crispy from potato, the spicy from eggplant. Like, seriously, heaven. Period.

I swear you need to try it by yourself. If you already try it, let me know what you think on the comment box down below.

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Bu Ageng

Jl. Tirtodipuran No 13

Mantrirejon, Kota Yogyakarta

D.I. Yogyakarta, Indonesia

(+62) 274  387 191

Opening hours: 11AM – 11PM (everyday; closed on Monday)

Food: 5/5

Ambiance: 5/5

Price: 5/5

Service: 5/5

*seriously guys. If you been following this blog for a long time, this is the first time I rated all 5 for ANY restaurant

Okay. I never review a hotel before but since I really love this place so much, it is definitely worth a shout out on my blog. So mind me if this is going to sound very weird. I’ve heard about LOKAL a few years ago when ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2’ movie came out. Well in the movie, they didn’t show up all of the hotel but somehow it successfully made me curious about it. So when I got the chance to go to Yogyakarta, I instantly planning to stay at this hotel.

When I came, it was almost midnight so I didn’t really explore much. But the next day, I walk around the hotel and took a lot of pictures since it seems like nobody was around even though it was weekend. From what I saw, the concept of this hotel was minimalist yet edgy and eco-friendly. The hotel was painted in grey color and some part of the wall is painted with their signature graffiti. The hotel was divided into two buildings, the restaurant-office and concierge building and the rooms building.

I love the fact that the hotel was so small yet somehow feel so spacious and really homey. I also love how they put lots of plants around the buildings. It was a sight for a tired eyes to see such greens everywhere you’re looking. They also have swimming pool in the hotel. Even though it is not big, I think it is enough for small families that staying at the hotel or maybe a group of adults who are looking for a great place to take pictures for instagram. Yeah, in the end it is all about taking an instagramable pictures.

My bedroom for the night was their Deluxe King that I booked through Traveloka and the rate was IDR 550.000-ish. It was a 24 m2 room with a king sized bed and shower bathroom. You can find a tv, refrigerator, electric kettle, minibar, toiletries and hair dryer inside. Even though it looks like the room is very small, I surprisingly find it very comfortable and relaxing.

My room was included with breakfast for two. The breakfast was served at the restaurant that located in front of the hotel area. I really really love the restaurant! The whole ambiance was quiet, serene and very cozy. I feel like I could spend the rest of the day there. They also put some plants inside which kinda make it feel more alive and refreshing. Even though the food served for breakfast doesn’t have lots of variety, the food taste super good. Maybe the restaurant is the main reason why I want to give this hotel shoutout.

Even though I only stay at this hotel for one night, I think my stay at LOKAL was amazing. Not only that they have a great hotel design and great food at the restaurant, LOKAL has this homey feeling in every corner of their hotel. And when I’m travelling away from home, I always want a piece of home with me.

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LOKAL Hotel & Restaurant

Gang Jembatan Merah No 104C

Soropandan, Condongcatur

D.I. Yogyakarta, Indonesia

(+62) 274 524 334

Went for work-birthday trip to Yogyakarta over the weekend and clearly this city has changed a lot. I almost forgot when was the last time I came here. When I looked through the pictures on my laptop, turns out it was 2 years ago.

I have always love Yogyakarta for all their traditional side yet peacefulness. Somehow just by being there, I got easily lost in thoughts which turns out finding my true self again. Still don’t know why, but there will always a part of me that I accidentally left here. Then I will always have a reason to come back again and again.