KQ5 ia a cheap steak hut in Denpasar famous for its... well, cheap price. Howver, they're among the short list of top cheap steak vendors in Denpasar, along with Obonk, and Steak & Shake (both from Jakarta); so when our carnivorous rush emerges, we felt it's better to visit the first; hoping to encounter a wonderful surprise; especially since we're quite familiar with the last two.

Guided by the iWare GPS using Amigo, we found the place without much hassles. Alas, during our arrival there at 11 o'clock we only encountered empty benches in an open area with two less than interested staffs. They then informed us that the place is not opened yet, but they will be at 12.

Felt a bit disappointed to have an eateries catering for lunch still dead at an hour before lunch time, and we're both hungry, we then left the place. However since we think that it's just an hour away then we'll just drive around for a while and find a place to hide from the Denpasar scorching sun.

We're hoping that we can just wait there with a glass of cold Teh Botol or iced Aqua; but since the two staffs were less than eager to welcome us, we just drove away.

After spending some time at the Es Teler stand about 400m down south, and circling the Bajra Sandhi monument scouting for new food prospects, we then returned to the place at about 5 minutes to noon, and found the two staffs was then busy behind the counter chopping and slicing; but still no other visitors than us, and no other staffs present.

So we parked our motorcycle in front of the dining area, willing to wait for another while, when one of the staff again shouted at us "belum buka pak!". Upon reconfirming when we should return then, there's just another continuous shouts "belum buka, belum buka!"

Funny shop... we understand that misjudgement and misshapen do occurs, but we also learned that most of the times it's how you manage the unexpected that really makes a matter. In this case KQ5 fails miserably; not only again, we're only receiving distant shouts from the staffs, and not even an offer to have a seat and wait, it even felt like our presence was even unwanted.

I was once visited Iga Bakar si Jangkung in Cipaganti, Bandung, when the semi permanent stand was only just erected. The staff preparing the tables welcomed us and seated us, and let us having a drink while waiting for our order prepared. Not long afterward, our food then served, and only upon finished eating and we're asking for a hot tea, they informed us that the hot water was still boiled, as they're not open yet!

Back to the present, feeling ignored, twice; we then think it's much better to visit the nearby Cak Asmo restaurant instead, and save our good mood (the rest of it) for the day. Thanks to Cak Asmo, we had a delicious sweet and sour crab there; a perfect lunch!

As about the eating experience at KQ5, I guess in this case they're failed right from the very beginning; customer relationship should be maintained right from the very beginning, even at the stage of information inquiry.

Even that we're unable to determine how KQ5 here really performed on other aspects; we're not curious. We value our time and well being highly, hence we rarely revisit places that don't welcome customers with even common courtesy (unless they have a damn good food or very rare experience expected to occurs). Well in KQ5 case all that we have is a bad start, all the hype on the internet, and nothing more.

I guess for now we can conclude that cheap food here is really paired with poor experience. (byms)

GPS Data:

KQ5 STEAK
-8.675605
115.230104
Denpasar Selatan, Panjer
Jalan Tukad Musi 4

CAK ASMO
-8.675710
115.228149
Denpasar Selatan, Panjer
Jalan Tukad Gangga

Here's a report on some of the most famous bebek (duck) dishes in Bandung, from our neighbor; Capcai Bakar.

Capcaibakar: Berburu Bebek di Bandung

The article is in Indonesian so you might need the help of certified Indonesian translator, or Google Translator; whichever is easier to find :), to read with comfort. (byms)

Nasi Gudeg & side dishes, originally uploaded by bayuamus.

For about two months, sometimes attending them several weekends in a row, this is our favorite spot for weekend lunch or dinner; Gudeg Danukusuman.

It happen right after our neighbor inform us with the precise location of the eateries, which now is located deep inside the abandoned Ruko Alfa shopping mall beside the Carrefour Alfa store at Imam Bonjol street.

Previously we've been searching for this place, but not knowing the exact name or location the search was fruitless. Now with the new information, we're able to find the place without too much effort.

As it turns out, it's almost impossible to spot the place from the main street, since it located deep within the store lots, not on the food hall up front; which sometimes there's also buses parking to completely obstruct the view towards the place.

(see the small green rectangle banner far behind?)

The finding, as you have predicted, resulted in major remapping of our recommendation list for good food in Bali, because not just the food here are delicious, it is also affordable, and you got a lot of option to choose from.

Basically they serve traditional Solonese dishes here, which includes:

• Nasi Gudeg (Solo style) - 8K
• Nasi Liwet - 7K
• Nasi Tumpeng - 7K
• Timlo - 7K
• Selat - 8K
• Nasi Kuning - 7K
• Bubur Lemu - 5K

You can also find various side dishes and snacks, like:

• Sosis solo
• Sosis solo basah
• Quail eggs satay
• Tempe bacem
• Tahu bacem

And variety of traditional delicious drinks:

• Beras Kencur (must try)
• Kunyit Asem
• Wedang Ronde

I'll elaborate more on detail of each dishes later on. Please refer to http://bit.ly/balifoodmap for map reference.
(byms)

Remember our last entry on diskonkolektif.com? A few weeks after that post has been published, Yanto Chandra, the owner of the site informed that their website has won the best e-commerce in the Sparxup 2010 competition (see www.sparxup.com/winners). We are joining in cheers, as Diskonkolektif.com is an Epicurina partner in promoting Indonesian Food through its blog section which also features entries from Epicurina blog.

It's a pity that shortly afterward, the good news was followed up by a sad news that Yanto has decided to stop the online business related to the website, due to some internal issue (which was revealed but I cannot disclose here), and will soon closing down for good.

Well it was a promising website, Yanto was nice and very accommodating, and Epicurina was glad to take part in its short live. (byms)

Recently I found this new website on Indonesia Travel which published and maintained by our very own Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism; check this link out.

I think it's well designed and looks very "current" in both looks and information architecture; it might even be the first website created by Indonesian government which tries to appear and appeal pleasing to the international audience. What do you think? (byms)

For the last few months, almost all of our family weekend has been spent on looking for a new place to live in. During the searches and wandering through mostly unfamiliar territories, we noticed then that most of the houses on rent in Denpasar aren't listed in any newspapers! Hence why making our trip becoming more a safari like where we travel to certain hot spot areas with hopes of sighting the rare beast that we're looking for. We wish there is a centralized information board that inform house seekers like us about the most recent house on market for rent/selling; this would be a great time saver especially for new settlers like us.

And an idea come up to our mind; with all of the places we visited and scouted, why don't we start a list ourself? Well it's a pity that our journey hasn't been well documented, and all that's recorded from each house scouting was a mere "yes" or "no" conclusion. We only remember vaguely which houses we have scouted, and which streets we have traveled through.

Then I remember about the gadget a friend brought with his visit to our place a while ago: a pocket sized GPS device. I wonder if I had one of those, then I can record all of the places I visited with a simple click on the device? I guess so; though just based on common sense and educated guess.

Interestingly, after a quick search we found out that we can have such GPS device without spending a fortune, and after some time thinking, we're seriously considering of having one of those because it will also be a very useful device to help us track and record eateries into the Bali Food Map. Not to mention that it will make our address searching easier.

And so after a quick scouting, we decided to buy the iWare 8801 from a local shop at Jl. Teuku Umar; "Fast n' Cheap", mainly because I am quite familiar with their online store, and I could not find any Denpasar based store address on its competitor website; the original model we want.

A little disappointment to find that the price for iWare 8801 is about 100K higher than we expected, and it has not included the scratch resistance film for its touch screen, but we bought the thing anyway as we're too curious and would not want to spend extra time looking for other sellers; especially when we don't know where those other sellers are.

Well the initial look of the iWare 8801 device looks promising, sleeker than its competitor the Super Spring, and turns out that it was not just a GPS device but a multi-functioned device based on dual-core processor Windows CE 6.0 system capable to play music and video, reads document, receives FM radio signal, and it also has the AV in port, and a micro SD card reader; so it's basically a PDA, a very affordable one!

As we found out later, this iWare 8801 device has three GPS software installed; the Papago, Amigo, and Garmin XT. Amigo seemed to excel over the others as it has a quite easy to use interface and a detailed map of Denpasar pre-installed. And indeed it has made our place recording easier, as we can add the current place we're at into its "favorite" folder with just a tap of our finger, then it's ready to be retrieved anytime we'd like. And it's route finder has been really useful too; with the voice instruction and earphone plug, I can put this device into my shirt pocket and use it while riding on my motorbike. I think I'm into GPS from now on.

Should you are interested to acquire one, you can get one of these iWare 8801 with IDR 1.099.000 and IDR 75K for the scratch resistance film. iWare store locations (in Indonesia) are available at its online website here. (byms)

Rendang is a dish made from beef (or other meats) which slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices. The taste is curry like, pungent, with beautiful coconut fragrant, and a load of hotness from the chillies. A good rendang usually has darkish brown coloring with a greasy grainy rendang paste.

Rendang is also considered as one of the national food of Indonesia, though lately Mr. President chose to promote Nasi Goreng Indonesia instead at the World Expo Shanghai China 2010 (WESC 2010) which held at Shanghai, China, from May 1st - Oktober 31st 2010; perhaps due to the more simpler preparation required by Nasi Goreng Indonesia. 

Indonesian culinary experts on the other hand, unanimously choose rendang as one of the signature dish of Indonesia.

However, even though Wikipedia clearly states that Rendang is a dish originated from Indonesia, and there's no doubt in Indonesian mind that rendang is their national cuisine, a recent Google search shown an interesting fact that the most prominent promoters of Rendang are not Indonesian, but Malaysian.

Click disini untuk membaca artikel selengkapnya.

Nasi Goreng Yang Chow Bakmie Kita, originally uploaded by bayuamus.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, expressed his dignify for the famous Indonesian dish Nasi Goreng during the World Expo Shanghai China 2010 (WESC 2010) which held at Shanghai, China, from May 1st - Oktober 31st 2010.

Though fried rice are a common dish throughout Asia, Indonesian Nasi Goreng has its own unique style which clearly differentiate it from other kind of fried rice, hence why it is among the most well known Indonesian food, beside of the Gado-Gado and Sate (Satay).

At the WESC 2010 itself, according to Kompas, Indonesian Pavilion manage to sell at least 700 portions of Nasi Goreng Indonesia each day! Which mean to date, they have already sold about 126,700 portions of Indonesian fried rice!

According to Indonesian Ministry of Commerce, Mari Elka Pangestu, there was a discussion to determine what kind of dish Indonesia would bring to the Expo to symbolize our national cuisine. Previously Rawon and Soto were the strong nominates, but then the President suggested that we should present Nasi Goreng Indonesia instead.

Nasi Goreng Indonesia differs with the rest of its siblings with the dominant use of kecap manis. Kecap manis, which is the Indonesian version of sweet fermented soy sauce, help gives the unique dark sweetness flavour to the dish. Along with the use of kecap manis, you will also find that fried shallot sprinkle is a standard, as so are fried egg and kerupuk udang (shrimp flavoured crackers). Within the rice compound you will usually found dices of chicken meat, sliced bakso (meatball), and traces of garlic. As the matter of fact, that is the most common style of Nasi Goreng Indonesia you will find in Indonesia. The modern and internationalized version of Nasi Goreng Indonesia however, often includes also sate ayam (chicken satay) as the side dish, and they created a wonderful harmony nevertheless. As another common condiments, the common version Nasi Goreng Indonesia sold in its native environment would also put in mixed pickles consisting of diced cucumber, half shallot, and whole bird eye chilly.

As a word of caution though, when you're intended to have Nasi Goreng Indonesia in a more authentic settlement, you have to make sure that you want it with or without the sliced chillies, because usually a small dose of those is a common factor that inject "live" into the dish; just a mild heat though, but would become irritating for those unfamiliar with chillies nonetheless.

(As a matter of fact, when you're eating in Indonesia, be prepared to make sure that every kind of dish has chillies included in one way or another or not, because one of the basic character of Indonesian food is hot)

At the street peddlers, the sliced chillies in nasi goreng usually are substituted with the even more punching sambal made from bird eye chilly (cabe rawit). Please make sure.

Preparing for Nasi Goreng Indonesia

Wikipedia wrote that fried rice dish was emerged from the custom of Chinese culture who dislikes cold meal, and combined with their reluctance to throw away food. Combined with other left overs from yesterday's meal, fried rice is a luxury created from a day's old food.

It is also the same case with Nasi Goreng Indonesia; to create a good one, it's best to use a day's old cooked rice. This was due because those rice have lost some of their moisture thus avoiding the lumping together during cooking, absorbs the seasoning well, and still maintaining its grain shapes, whereas a new cooked rice would become mushy and broken during pan frying.

But nevertheless, with the popularity of Nasi Goreng Indonesia as an easy to cook meal, this dish has becoming a major commodity in the Indonesian food market, and the preparation has been revolutionized also. Expert Nasi Goreng Indonesia chef with years of experience under their sleeves will already knows what kind of rice to choose (sometimes you have to mix among different varieties), how long to cook them, and how to pre process them before cooked into Nasi Goreng Indonesia. The variant of rice used usually are those geared toward "pera" instead of "pulen" varieties; the less sticky one. For more information about those lingo, please read this article about Indonesian Rice.

Another common method of preprocessing the freshly cooked rice is to air them to enable the trapped moisture to escape and to further separates the grains to avoid lumping. This is usually done traditionally with "akeul" method of flipping the rice mass over and over again, until there's only a small amount of vapour visible. The rice then needs to be left cooling off for a while, until the temperature is much reduced. The result will be easy to separate grains with just enough moisture.

Afterward, heat the pan in medium heat, add the chopped shallot and garlic, fry the chicken and bakso, put in and the sliced chillies. Turn the heat into low, add the rice in small amount, pour the kecap manis, salt, and seasoning, mix them well, and then add another amount of the rice, and mix them well also. Unless you're making it in a small portion, this partial addition of rice helps to make sure that seasoning are mixed evenly, and no lumping formed. Test the rice for final adjust of the taste, turn the heat into high for the last touch, and flip the rice over again for few times to add the caramelized taste.

Sprinkle some fried shallots on top, serve it with sate ayam, kerupuk udang, and acar, and your Nasi Goreng Indonesia is ready, selamat makan!

Versatile dish Nasi Goreng is

Apart from the convention of common style accepted as Nasi Goreng Indonesia, fried rice in essence is a wonderful dish to cook and to eat, since it has the endless possibility of recipes and pairing combination. You can have it mixed with scrambled egg, or have it with sunny side up (runny is the best imho), or top it with sliced omelette, and it still tasted good. If you grow tired with the same sate ayam pairing, then fried chicken and other kind of meat protein would be a good pairing. In Aceh region, they even serves nasi goreng with selectable condiments; from the mandatory salted fish, fried chilly, and fried peanut, to the heavier choice of fried chicken, deep fried squid, shrimp, and fresh water eel. Sausage and beef jerky are also great. The idea of the pairing is; keep the condiments less complicated, because the taste of nasi goreng itself usually is already rich and complex.

The endless possibility and the variations a Nasi Goreng could have, is also the reason why I usually order this dish on a new restaurant I visited, to get a glimpse of the restaurant's quality. Can the chef make a simple dish great? You may make it Indonesian style with kecap manis and a bit of spiciness from the chillies, Each ones may have a different approach and it's all permissible.

On the other hand, if they failed on such a simple dish then I will have a big question mark in my head related to the taste and quality of other menu served at the restaurant. Well it's not always the case the about 90% of the time the Nasi Goreng trial will prove worthy.

How about you? Have you had any good Nasi Goreng Indonesia encounter recently? And how would you like it to be prepared, share with us! (byms)

Today Epicurina found out about this wonderful website that provide discount coupons for Indonesian customers! It's a collective discount-buying website, that gets the crowd together to sign up for discount coupons and so that they can get big discounts. In this way, people can "daftar kupon diskon rame rame, dapat diskon gede"; bulk buyers rule!

Come and visit their website here: http://diskonkolektif.com or their Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/diskonkolektif, and their Twitter here: http://twitter.com/diskonkolektif you might find one that fits your need (or passion).

Happy shopping! (byms)