Tofu & Cake Restaurant

This new Indonesian restaurant, open since 1st of May 2012, sells all tofu-related cuisines. 

Though tofu (= Tahu in Indonesian) is not originated from Indonesia, this side dish is one of the most important dishes due to its price and versatility. No wonder tofu comes in unlimited variety of cuisines. Indonesian must have been familiar with Batagor (BAkso TAhu GOreng = fried meat ball and tofu),  Siomay (steamed tofu dumpling with vegetables served with peanut sauces),  Tahu Gejrot (slightly fermented fried tofu snack with slices of shallots, chilli, and garlic in spicy-sweet sauce), Kupat Tahu (ketupat/packed rice or dumpling, tofu, rice vermicelli and beansprouts in peanut sauce), Bakso Tahu (meatball, fried/steamed tofu served with a bowl of beef broth, noodles, crisp wonton and sprinkled with fried shallot and celery) and many others.

The restaurant is founded by an Indonesian couple, long time Qatar residents since 2002, born from his tofu maker father back in West Java, Indonesia. The couple started making tofu since 2005 in very small scale for their neighbors or Indonesian friends. It was in 2010 that they started putting a brand and making it a serious business. They now supply many Indonesian groceries, restaurants and one of the hotels in Qatar.

The restaurant is, you may say that, their business expansion.  

We visited the restaurant during its promotion/opening period when price was slashed in 25% discount from its normal price of QR12 per portion. Located in The Center area (behind Ramada Hotel), it is easily accessible with lots of parking spaces. If you know Great Wall Restaurant, the restaurant is located just beside it, housed within a green glass window building, on the ground floor. 

Tofu & Cake Restaurant housed within that a green glass window building beside Great Wall Chinese Restaurant

The actual restaurant can only accommodate a small kitchen, a cashier and order desk, and two tables barely enough to fit 6 persons possibly. All other visitors have to be willing seated outside in six 4/6 seater table arrangements. A bit hot during summer period. A fan just doesnt help much.

An outdoor seating area – can be challenging during summer

We ordered many, for a reason. To know which one is their cerry of the cake. Our order arrived pretty quick. I finished my Bakso Tahu Goreng Kering (meatball served with a bowl of beef broth and fried tofu) very quickly. So mouthwatering that I just couldn’t stop. Their meatball seems produced without preserver or MSG-like ingredient. Unfortunately it’s not that hot enough to enjoy. Bakso wouldn’t be complete without sambal (chili sauce). The best is for you to use real bakso sambal which unfortunately not available in every table. Search around.

Bakso Tahu Basah (meatball with steamed tofu)

Bakso Tahu Kering (meatball with fried tofu)

Batagor came next. It was poured with peanut sauce. The hot fresh from the fry pan made it enjoyable. Ketupat tahu came with lontong (packed rice/dumpling), and tofu served with peanut sauce and crackers. I found it pretty standard. The sauce is different than used for batagor, and apparently made fresh.

Batagor

 

 

Ketupat Tahu and Iced Tea

The restaurant also sells ready-to-cook tofu for take-away, many varieties of crackers and few other Indonesian food.

If I were to be back, I would definitely be back for Bakso in its many forms, just making hot please, and Batagor. Heard of Tahu Gejrot is also good, haven’t tried it yet. For all money spent it may be worthed to pay a visit. In the end, they are the best tofu maker in Qatar any way!

Coordinate: 25°16’25.4″N   51°30’55.2″E. Open from: 10am to 21pm.

View Larger Map

 

Bumbu Bali Restaurant

Visited Bumbu Bali (Ind. literally means Balinese spices) restaurant this weekend. This newly opened restaurant adds to a longer list of already established Indonesian restaurants in Doha* (see below).

Bumbu Bali is located at B-Ring Road, on the ground floor of Mannai accommodation building (along with Toyota spare parts store, an optical store and Akbar Travels of India), just one block after Handasa Building and before Teyser Petrol Station, if you are driving from Jaidah Flyover towards Airport Road.

Bumbu Bali Restaurant

The restaurant itself is not that big, but nicely decorated. On the ground floor are two 4-seat tables, a cashier desk and kitchen, while upstairs are six 6-seater tables, three 3-seater tables, and a toilet/washing facility. The 6-seater tables area is designed with Arabic bedouin style sofa. The only reminder that this is an Indonesian restaurant is its big gold-brown open umbrella just near stair top landing.

Bumbu Bali Restaurant - upstairs

Though it bears Bali’s names, two Balinese dining menu out of 10(?) ones were not available, at the time of our visit. We ended up ordered standard Indonesian cuisines: Gado-gado (Indonesian’s vegetables salad served with a peanut sauce dressing), Sate Ayam (chicken skewer), Baso (meatball soup), and Iga Bakar (grilled ribs). All are prized at QR15.

Our orders do not take long to come, less than 10 minutes. Gado-gado come first followed by Baso. Bumbu Bali gado-gado come with looked-fresh vegetables and sweet peanut sauce dressing plus traditional crackers. Peanut sauce tastes good if not too sweet. Portion is sized enough. Baso is to me quite average, but its sambal (chili-based sauce used as condiment) makes it better.

Bumbu Bali's Gado-gado

Nothing special with Sate Ayam. Iga Bakar come last. With three ribs cuts, a bowl of Thai rice, slices of cucumer and tomato, and, yes, sambal. This sambal is what differentiate Iga Bakar to Western grilled ribs. Two ribs cuts have enough meat I can enjoy with. Chili-soy sauce seems penetrated well into the meat. Dab the rib into sambal, put it on top of sticky Thai rice, and you’ll understand why I can’t describe this. Again, I feel sweeter taste in this menu, perhaps because I’m East Javanese (used to salty-chili)? I’ll need to mention that arriving restaurant with the right hungry level, taking such a good dinner only to find my last rib cuts were end, that’s really gastronomy contentment interruption (to exaggerate ) at max. Two are not enough. The third rib cut is unfortunately bone only

Bumbu Bali's Iga Bakar

Overall, Bumbu Bali has some prime menu to be proud of. Coupled with excellent and attentive waitress service and fast serving, it iseasily  recommended. If Bumbu Bali can just downsize its sweet level, that would be much better!

Bumbu Bali, 25°16’29″N   51°32’14″E (phone: 4432 6080, open 10.30-14.30, 5.30-21.00)

*Other Indonesian restaurants in Doha:

1. Central Restaurant, Umm Ghuwailina, 25°16’46″N   51°32’50″E

2. Minang Restaurant, Al Asmakh St., 25°16’52″N   51°31’55″E

3. Restaurant Jakarta, Ibn Mahmoud St., 25°16’56″N   51°30’53″E

4. Griyo Solo, Al Wakrah, 25°10’16″N   51°35’52″E

 

Bandung

As I’ve said in the previous post, Bandung is a city called home though it’s not where I was born. A capital of West Java, Bandung offers what other cities in Indonesia commonly don’t have: creative industries! Cuisines, tourist attractions, fashions and arts are among elements where Bandung is more advanced than any other city in Indonesia. Every time I’m back to Bandung, new tourist attractions sprouted, and new creative cuisines invented. Added with Sundanese cultures and pleasant weather Bandung is lovely.

Tasting the hottest casava crisp - Level 10. The latest addition to Bandung creative cuisine

It’s still 3 am in the morning when we arrived in Bandung after 3 hours driving from Jakarta. Street vendors have started their stall preparation in this wee hours. Hungry from the trip we stopped by at one of the street vendor stall selling ‘bubur ayam’ (chicken porridge). Along with Tofu Dumpling (Kupat Tahu), chicken porridge is the most favorite breakfast menu in Bandung. A journey of cuisine sensor calibration has started

Unfortunately, vacation is not always about leisure. Priority still to be assigned. The week ahead I was busy with completing all administrative things: obtaining Overseas Worker Identity Card, renewing Resident Identity Card and Family Card, renewing Education Savings, printing bank statements, updating Manulife Pension Plan (while at the same time withdrawing Jamsostek’s Old Days Insurance) and working with an architect for house renovation plan. Fiuh…and all of these took almost half of my vacation!

Now the fun part. Every Indonesian vacationers must do this: culinary traveling. Hunting for the best cuisine in town. And Bandung is never sort of cuisines. So let me mention some we’ve tried: Kupat Tahu (tofu dumpling), Bubur Ayam (chicken porridge), Batagor (fried tofu meatballs), Siomay (steamed meat with or without tofu), Lotek (a mixed boiled vegetables, served with peanut paste and some chillies, similar to gado gado), Mie Kocok (a noodle soup, served with beef foot, beef skin and tauge or mung bean sprout), Martabak (The savory martabak is a thin fried pancake stuffed with eggs, some vegetables, mushrooms, chicken/beef and one filled with sweet corn and cheese), and Nasi Timbel (the famous Sundanese dish. It is a tube-shaped rice that has a distinguish flavour, because it is cooked inside a banana leaf. It is usually served with lalapan (raw vegetables), fried tofu & tempe, fried chicken and chili paste).

Did I mention I had a durian party?

Apart from culinary traveling, we also spent some time to enjoy the latest addition to Bandung’s attraction. We visited Trans Studio (one of the largest theme parks in the world) and spent almost a day inside. I recommend that you visit Trans studio whenever you have a chance to Bandung. Just a precaution, as it is popular among tourist, Trans Studio may become crowded and regular visitor may experience a very long queue that they may need to consider buying VIP access. To me I’m proud that Indonesia can make their own Universal Studio.

Trans Studio Bandung

 

Transcar of Trans Studio Bandung

 

Flying the hot air balloon at Science Center of Trans Studio Bandung

 

Ouch! ...laying down over the nail bed at Science Center of Trans Studio Bandung

Special Effects Actions! at Trans Studio Bandung

 

 

We also visited Rumah Sosis (sausage house) in Jalan Setiabudi. Apart from its delicious sausage, games and activities inside are not so attractive (except for its rickshaw!). Better heading to Kampung Gajah (another outdoor theme park on the slope of mountain), I guess. The nearby Kampung Baso, across and down the street from Rumah Sosis, however, gave us a pleasant lunch with its traditional menu. Head for inner yard where traditional gazebo amidst shady and green environment can only make our stomach even hungrier.

Rumah Sosis

 

Becoming a rickshaw driver in Rumah Sosis

Kampung Baso

Not to be missed in Bandung is shopping. Mention Factory Outlets or Distro (independent Distribution Outlet) then Bandung will pop up as the lead. We did FO hopping: from Rumah Mode in Jalan Setiabudi, to Happening in Jalan Dago, to Heritage and Cascade in Jalan Riau (RE Martadinata). Don’t miss street vendor selling original Crocs for 40-60% less around western part of Jalan Riau. though Setiabudi, Riau and Dago are where the most FOs and Distros are located, nowadays they spread out to its old location wings: to Jalan Supratman, to Sultan Agung and Trunojoyo and so forth.

Pasar baru (New Market) is my wife’s shopping heaven for moslem attires, where on the other side I was heading to BEC (Bandung Electronic Center) for gadget and electronic. Ny. Liem in Jalan Naripan, and Kijang Mas in Jalan Haria Banga were my wife’s other destination for her passion in baking and cake making. These two old stores are the os you need for the baking and cake ingredients and tools supplies.

Nowadays, Bandung however suffers from what  typical major cities in Indonesia have: traffic jams, and lack of convenient public transportation. This is where motorcycle comes handy. If Bandung is not blessed with rain that day, I’d prefer to use motorcycle: navigating traffic jam, zig-zag among cars, cutting the queue and arriving in lesser time. Super! What makes Bandung different to traffic jam-suffering cities is its resident are more tolerant and respect among road users. I’m not sure if it’s because the cold weather or culture. The former is unfortunately changing. It is hard to encounter the day when temperature can reach below 20 C. temperature now hovers around 22 – 28 C throughout the year, unlike 18 years ago when I first arrived in Bandung, mercury could go down to 17-18 C. Climate change?

Whatever, Bandung is Bandung as it was Parijs van Java (Paris of the Java).

A section of Cipaganti Road. Many areas in Bandung are still well kept for its 'lungs'

 

Bandung as seen from IBCC Plaza

 

Once Upon a Time: “Indonesian Transformers”

Just want to share an awesome animation video by Lakon Animasi. Titled “Pada Suatu Ketika” (means Once Upon a Time), the video features Transformer ala Indonesia. This is when Bajaj (rickshaw) and motorcycle transform into Transformers. Happy watching! Can’t wait the second edition.

 

 

We’ve made it red!

We’ve made Al Sadd Stadium red on the World Cup 2014 Qualifiers Qatar versus Indonesia, 11 Nov 2011. Though Qatar finally trashed Indonesia 4:0 (and it means Indonesian does not qualify), we had a good time: singing, yelling, mexican-waving, applauding and jeering. It’s not about the result but about nationalism (ahh that’s probably too much), or may be about the atmosphere.

13,500-capacity Al Sadd Stadium was filled with full of Indonesians in the whole section behind one goal, a half section behind another goal, and a half section on the VIP areas. Meanwhile Qataris (and its supporters including those labors I saw herded to the stadium prior to the match) occupied one whole long sections of the stadium. Though tension was quite warm, the match and the supporters watched very peacefully.

Qatar wanted to become a good host but again it was under a test with a smaller scale of similar Asian Cup consternation on ticketing  repeated. A lot of ticket holders couldn’t enter the stadium for a classic reason: stadium is full. Again this was because non-ticket holders were allowed to enter, or two tickets or less for the whole family, while those ticket holders who were coming late rejected. Many were also back home dissappointingly after queueing from 3pm for ticket booth closed earlier. Anyway it’s another lesson learned for Qatar before 11 years to come to host World Cup 2022.

From a credible source I learned that there is a maximum number of spectators from the guest team (8%? means about 1000 out of 13,000) but the organizers, QFA, match commissioners, security agency and Embassy worked together to ensure as many as supporters could watch inside the stadium. The total number of Indonesian supporters was estimated at around 3000, many more should have been able to enter only if Qatar coach did not reject the idea of admitting more Indoensian supporters for valid reason: Qatar is playing home not away!

On that basis, thank you Qatar!

Meanwhile, Qatar national team played with full determination, high stamina and excellent passing and crossing. They deserved winning the match. Mabruk!

We've made it red!

 

An Indonesian supporter

 

 

 

 

Another Indonesian supporters

 

Indonesian National Team players - seen here Christian Gonzales (center)

 

Qatar's marching band

 

Singing national anthems

 

Qatari supporters

Fathan (my son, left) and his friend watched the match

 

Where is the Solo?

Griyo Solo (literally means “Solo’s House ) added to the list of Indonesian restaurants in Qatar, since its grand opening on 22 June 2010. As usual, I am bit late in following the crowd to test this Indonesian Javanese food restaurant.

Located in Wakrah, the restaurant can be found at diagonally opposite Al Wakrah Health Center (map is here – 25°10’16″N   51°35’52″E) at the same row of buildings of McD, Isfahan Express, Domino Pizzas).

The dining hall is not to big, less than 40 person capacity, with a display of ready to serve buffet at the end of this long narrow buildings. What you can find is an array of Indonesian/Javanese fares – typical to other Indonesian restaurants, though unique Javanese cuisine (primarily Central Java, where Solo, also called Surakarta, is a main city there) dissapointingly not available.

Sample total damage: QR100 for 4 adults, 4 small children (food + drink)

GriyoSolo is located at Al Wakrah to capture the potential customer in Wakrah and Messaied

 

 

Griyo Solo - interior view

 

A typical dish - Javanese - in Griyo Solo

 

 

 

My Great Adventure Indonesia

Just want to share this excellent TV ad by one of the biggest cigarette manufacturer, Djarum, about great adventures in Indonesia. The ad is featuring Sumatera, Lake Toba (the largest volcanic lake in the world), Way Kambas National Park and its Elephant Conservation Center, Rinjani - Lombok (active volvane and crater lake), Raja Ampat (the largest marine national park in Indonesia; the highest marine life diversity on Earth), Kuta Reef – Bali, and lastly Krakatau (famous for its massive explosion in 1883 that shook the world). Enjoy!

 

Sand Dune Unites People

Sand dune takes a center part in Qatar’s outdoor activities. It’s like you’ve not been to Qatar if you haven’t been to sand dune; play with it, drive over it, sleep over it

25 December 2010, a new record broke. If last month dune trip attended by 35 cars, this time was about 50 cars plus 2 motocross (mostly Indonesian plus 1 Western and 2 Qataris). The number is unsure since people come and go for different purposes. I noted there were people coming from Qatargas, Rasgas, QP, Qtel, Qapco, Qatalum, Qchem, Oryx, and contractors and engineering company.

Managing a large number of cars seems a quite difficult task. There are a number of participants who are first timers to use his 4WD to dune. Though prior to trip most have been briefed with basic 4WD and sand dune drive. Nevertheless, we had several number of cars bogged down on a dune along ‘highway route of inland sea’ due to failure of maintaining safe distance.

“Highway route” was selected to accommodate many first timers. This route is basically a quite level offroad route with few small dunes to get over it. Our destination was an area near Ministry of Environment camp at the southern end of Inland Sea.

Other than that, it was fun. People could use the opportunity to get to know each other who otherwise only known by their email or nickname in virtual mailing list. Potluck lunch, kids beach play, and beach football added the joy to the team.

Indeed, sand dune unites people.

[pictures will follow]

 

Indonesia’s Angklung granted a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Copy-paste from The Jakarta Globe:

Jakarta. Angklung, the traditional West Java musical instrument made from bamboo, has been included in Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage. The instrument was among 46 items from 21 countries inscribed to the list at the Fifth Unesco Inter-Governmental Committee meeting on Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nairobi, Kenya.

The angklung now joins the wayang (the Javanese shadow puppet theater), the kris (the Javanese ceremonial dagger) and batik among the Indonesian representatives in the list.

I Gusti Ngurah Putra, a spokesman for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said the government welcomed the recognition granted by Unesco. “The reason the angklung was inscribed to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is because it has deep philosophical values for humanity, such as cooperation, respect and social harmony,” he said.

“Because to produce music with angklung requires good cooperation among the angklung players, as no melody can be played by a single player.”

Masanori Nagaoka, the culture program specialist at Unesco’s Jakarta office, said it was hoped the recognition would lead to greater awareness of angklung and its traditions. “Being recognized by Unesco on the list ensures better visibility for the intangible cultural heritage and raises awareness of its importance, while encouraging dialogue that respects cultural diversity,” he said.

Each angklung is made with two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. It plays only one specific note, which is produced by shaking the instrument rapidly from side to side. During the height of the Sunda Kingdom, when much of Indonesia was still Hindu, it was used to signal prayer times. Later on it was used by the Sundanese to boost morale, and was banned by the Dutch colonial masters. That effectively relegated it to a children’s toy.

In the 20th century, the angklung was adopted by several other countries, including Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. These were variations of the original, with the Thai angklung, for instance, using three bamboo tubes instead of two.

In addition to the four items Indonesia now boasts on the list of intangible cultural heritage, the country also has seven sites on Unesco’s list of world heritage sites.

Three of them — the Borobudur monument, the Prambanan temple complex and the Sangiran Early man site, all in Central Java — are on the list of world cultural heritage.

The other four — the Komodo, Lorentz and Ujung Kulon national parks, as well as the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra — are listed as world natural heritage.

“We’re now working on getting the Acehnese Saman Dance to be recognized as intangible cultural heritage,” Putra said. “We’re going to work hard to have as much of our culture as possible recognized by Unesco, the main point being to get the rest of the world involved in preserving our culture.”

He said the government also wanted recognition of Indonesian culture to prevent other countries from laying claim to it. The government earlier this year promoted the angklung by inscribing it on the back of the new Rp 1,000 coin, which was introduced in April.

Angklung (Source: http://bandung-visit.blogspot.com)

 

Pray for Indonesia

My heart goes out to all those affected by the flood, the quake & tsunami and the volcano eruption in Indonesia.