FARM GIRL: THE BEST BURGER IN JAKARTA?

Seriously, I miss going out and do reviews, and that's exactly what I did today with my sister who slept over last night, FYI my sister is married and we work together in our business, so everytime we have projects to discuss (and when there are many) she and her kid usually sleepover at my house (btw my nephew is the most adorable kid but I don't share much details about him) and I have to thank my bro-in-law for allowing her to stay at least once every week HAHA, I was craving for some good burger so before I drove her off back to her house we decided to grab a quick lunch.

I don't have a lot of favorite burger places, they're always repeats: when I feel like having filthy, messy, over the top juicy burgers then I'll go to Lawless, but when I'm craving for good sourdough sandwiches and gourmet burgers that's finer and more reserved then I'll head over to Farm Girl, this burger joint is considered new yet been around for a while, I was surprised that not a lot of people knew about this when I posted it on my Instagram story, they're very underrated hence this blog post for more people to appreciate this beauty.

Farm Girl has two outlets in Jakarta: main one in Menteng and the other one in Wijaya, but I usually go to the one in Menteng because it's closer to home, and I love to see this discreet small blue building their outlet it is (their Wijaya branch is more like a booth FYI). Besides serving burgers and sandwiches, you can consider them a bakehouse for they also bake good looking sweet goods such as cinnamon roll, cookies, bagels and bread. I didn't take any photo of the interior as during the pandemic guests are not allowed to dine inside, and to be frank the inside was not the most attractive earlier as it's a bit messy with chairs on tables and packagings, but what I can tell you is that the open kitchen is going to be right before your eyes as soon as you stepped inside, so you can also expect tempting aroma of burgers and sandwiches being cooked too! 4 sets of chairs and tables are located outside if guests want to dine on the spot.

They have quite a range of menus and their main savories are the burgers and sandwiches. I bet if you're a first timer you'll spend a little more time deciding because everything looked so good on the menu, it's like when you're about to go for their TCS, then their American Burger sounds good too, or their pesto sandwiches and this and that but you don't have limitless pit to have everything #firstworldproblems! I always go for two of my favorites here: the TCS and Patty Melt (sourdough sandwich).

TCS - IDR 100k

Up until now, I legit have no idea what TCS stands for, but they also have another menu called TCSB (and this one has pork bacon), but anyway this is one of their staple menus and it's NON HALAL because they use pork patty here (but I think you can request for beef patty). TCS consist of omega 3 eggs, pork patty, cheddar, chipotle mayo, all wrapped with the fluffiest most amazing brioche buns that I've had on any burger in Jakarta and paired with potato chips for a bit of crunch, everything about TCS is pure love but I didn't expect the bun to be that soft and gorgeous! They're very generous with the scrambled eggs and it's also amazing because flavor and texture wise, it's soft and creamy, but so fresh WITHOUT any smell. The pork patty is also freaking amazing, it's juicy & perfectly seasoned, sadly I can't show it to you because it's completely wrapped in the scrambled egg and when I tried to dig it looked kinda disgusting so I choose not to show it here, but you know how a patty looks like right??? As for the chipotle mayo I think it's complimenting, only that it's sheer.

Patty Melt - IDR 120k
Don't ask me to choose because I love both TCS and Patty Melt, and they're completely different! Patty Melt is a very American sandwich for me, it's about indulge, indulge, indulge: seared all beef patty topped with mix of mozarella & red cheddar cheese and caramelized onion all wrapped in toasted sourdough! They're super generous with the cheese, but somehow I didn't feel like it was too much or overpowering and I don't know what kind they're using but you know one of those case where cheese can interfere with the aroma and this one doesn't! The beef patty is also well seasoned and juicy and of course the sourdough is not a disappointment. Nice texture, delightful crisp!

Damn Farm Girl is really not playing with their quality, second time and never disappointed. PS: THE BURGERS AND SANDWICHES MIGHT LOOK SMALL ON THE PIC but they were actually pretty generous, I kinda gave up on the TCS after finishing 3/4 of the whole thing because the scrambled egg was so much and it's fulfilling.

For the drink I opted the Iced Chocolate with Minor Figures oatmilk sub, it was okay good but not out of the world good, but seriously after indulging their urgers

Farm Girl is definitely one of the best bakehouse and burger spots in Jakarta, I'll definitely come back over and over and over again!

Farm Girl

Jalan Riau No. 4

Gondangdia, Menteng

Jakarta Pusat 10350

0813-1685-5076

Opening hours: 8 AM-5 PM (closed at 3:30 PM on Mondays)

Average spending for two: IDR 200k

Dresscode: none

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R&B TEA INDONESIA - THE BEST BUBBLE TEA IN TOWN?

In the midst of chaotic time there's a really happy news, at least for me: R&B TEA is OPENING REAL SOON IN INDONESIA!!! R&B has a special place in my heart because it's currently at the very top of my list for THE BEST BROWN SUGAR MILK DRINK, I remember vividly the very first time I tried R&B in Singapore (their Marina Bay Sands branch) and two years ago they were the first to start the brown sugar with cheese brulee topping and gained quite a recognition! Anyway for those who wonder what "R&B" is actually, it stands for Rex and Bruce, the owners who are Taiwanese who opened up bubble tea shops in China, as this post is being typed there are currently more than 600 R&B branches spread all over China, Singapore, Vietnam and now Indonesia! YAY! It's opening July 4th 2020!

...BUT the question is: is the one in Jakarta as good as the one in Singapore? I was so damn lucky to be invited for an exclusive preview two days ago (thank you R&B team) and I am super excited to share this review because I want eatandtreats readers to be the first to virtually experience R&B opening with me, I don't normally feel this excited about an opening that I want to be so involved, but this is R&B, honestly during the tasting I gave them so much pressure, the state of flavor needs to match the SG standard, even though I have to tell you something before I start this review: the milk they're using here is different than the one they're using in Singapore, they use "Meiji" milk in SG and sadly we don't have any here, but from what I've tried, it's definitely not disappointing and still pretty creamy!

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MY FAVORITE!!! At the moment I think this is THE BEST OF THE BEST! Never thought that it would be so hard to decide my favorite brown sugar milk drink in Singapore! Semua yang aku coba itu enak, tapi kalau disuru milih satu yang jadi favorit, sepertinya R&B TEA! Creamynya pas (susunya mirip LiHo’s), bubblenya amazing (kayak texture Hey Tea), tapi yang paling bikin impressed itu cheese bruleenya, ON POINTTTT!!! Siapa team R&B disini angkat tangan 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 . Anyway ini semua selera ya, seperti yang aku bilang semuanya enakkkk 🥤🥤🥤

A post shared by 👑 HANS DANIALS 👑 (@eatandtreats) on Mar 13, 2019 at 6:31am PDT

I am sure you all wonder about the pricing and I can leak that info for you: it's almost HALF cheaper than the SG price! That's a good start for this review!

Captured two days ago sorry for the lame phone quality, I didn't have my wide lens with me that day, I can say they're 50% done with the construction and moving pretty fast, less than two weeks before the grand opening!

The right top pic is the boba machine, it looks like this Japanese bamboo steamer: PRETTY! - anyway photo taken using my "TOKYO" Instagram story filter *promo ;P*

There were three drinks presented for me, the purpose of me coming is not only for the exclusive preview but they also asked for my honest opinion, and it is the review I wrote in this entry.

Brown Sugar Boba Milk with Cheese Brulee - IDR 38,5k

In Chinese this drink is called "A Tiger Taking it's Journey": pearls cooked with brown sugar (and brown sugar glaze for that pretty look), poured with chilled milk, topped with cheese brulee then torched for a layer of caramelized brown sugar crust. So far for "their style", this is the best brown sugar bubble that I've had, the brown sugar flavor is beautifully infused to the bubble (no wonder because they actually spent 3 freaking hours cooking the boba), and texture wise the bubble is soft and chewy! I suggest trying their warm brown sugar boba before mixing everything, I literally had no problem with this, even for not using the same milk, this one tastes 90% like the one I had in SG (can't 100 cuz milk), this drink is creamy with sweet-savory flavor, the cheese brulee is not overly milky and cheesy so when I drank it, it didn't bloat me the f out, I love the flavor contrast of this drink: you get the sweet caramelize fragrant brown sugar, what a balance to the sweet & salty drink and cheese brulee. A solid 9/10!

If you notice I wrote "their style" because I realize there are some brands in the biz with their own approach like Kokumi (and I love Kokumi too and their style is different with modern approach), R&B style is the more classic one: very Chinese & Taiwanese style.

I keep on texting the owner to keep up with the quality of this, especially since this is the signature product and because they can't fuck up the grand opening! Anyway aren't you happy that this is only IDR 38k (honestly I wouldn't mind at all to pay more for this!!!), unfortunately they won't be serving the large size like the one I had in Singapore (the large size is S$6.5 in SG).

That top layer is one of the highlight of this drink: the caramelized brown sugar crust for that aroma and delicate burnt flavor (in a good way).

GRAPE YOGI - price to be confirmed

This is the first time I tried their Grape Yogi drink, heard it's quite successful abroad and I kinda get why: it's this refreshing grape drink with creamy thick yogurt that's not overly sour (maybe I like it just a tad more sour but I'm fine with this state), this drink is not yet final because it's supposed to have grape chunks and the grapes were not available that day, but the jelly topping tho! WOW I LOVE IT, it's this long cylinder shape with this firm but chewy texture, overall it's simple but spot on.

OOLONG NO. 23
Save the best for last? Just when I prepped myself to be most impressed by their Brown Sugar Milk, this one takes the cake, turned out this one left a very special impression from the tasting session that day!

The high grade no. 23 Oolong tea topped with milky tea cream (I mean perfectly milky thick tea cream with stronger oolong tea flavor in ratio), I love how this drink is overall sweet with this dominant tea flavor along with this sheer hint of bitter note at sips, but that's the charm! I would hate it if this drink is "just sweet" with no layers. This is personally my NUMBER ONE pick that I would recommend you guys ordering when R&B opens! Don't forget to follow me on my Instagram (@eatandtreats) for more upcoming updates on R&B, anyway I can't form my final opinion yet, but based on the three drinks that I tried, R&B is definitely one of the strongest newcomers, they're not playing!

There's no rule when it comes to drinking this, I drank it through the hole on the cup cover because I want to appreciate the tasty thick cream first, then followed by the tea. I am really craving for this right now, holy moly.

I am definitely going to update this post with more drink recommendations, anyway on the day of tasting the team proposed a giveaway collaboration that I believe is going to be LIT! Stay tuned for THE BIG giveaway that's coming Sunday, June 28th 2020 on my Instagram! You definitely don't want to miss it!

Until the next update!

Read my Singapore Food Diary post where I talked about R&B for the very first time -> HERE

R&B Tea Indonesia
Mall Emporium 2nd fl.
Jl. Pluit Selatan Raya No. 47
Jakarta Utara 14440
Average spending for two: IDR 100k
Dresscode: none
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FIRE TIGER INDONESIA

Oh hi, anybody here in this dying blog? I haven't blogged in so long and honestly I kinda miss writing long ass reviews, anyway before I start the point of this post (which is the review), if you care let me tell you something about my life the past couple of months and very recently, it's no secret that we are all in this shitty Corona situation and it has been really hard for some people, I am at the point of my life where I stop saying "if one day this is all over", and adapt myself to the "new normal", really I hate saying that but it's happening, whether we like it or not, the first month of quarantine almost got me insane, I had sleep deprivation, I was constantly not in the best of mental state but with the new mindset I am slowly strengthen the grip of my life, I won't let my mind control me and long story short I am now doing better.

My days have been busy again, at first I distracted myself with the regular cooking videos challenge that I made during Ramadhan and it worked to keep myself busy, pre-corona I was busy almost everyday and I barely got in touch with myself or processed my emotion, so when the first weeks of quarantine all you had to do was nothing and you had you for yourself, I realized how my busy schedule was such a distraction, fast forward today I have been busy and working mostly from home. 

Anyway can I say I am surprised to find out that the traffic of this blog is WAAAY above what I expected, it's still gaining 4000k daily visitors, well far cry from the daily 30k I was used to, not sure where the traffic is from but for the little ones who revisits this blog, HELLO! It's indeed hard to maintain some platforms altogether, especially since I have no team and does everything by myself, there's always one that's going to stand out more, let's say my Instagram is doing amazing, but the blog is not really doing well, I am not going to lie, sometimes I am just pure tired and lazy, but to my defense, life has been so different years ago compared to now, I am not going to promise you anything, I will update this blog when I have the chance but I will put on the effort.

K, ENUFF WITH THE LIFE UPDATE AND LET'S GET INTO THE REVIEW! 2020 and the brown sugar milk drink trend doesn't seem to slow down, more and more foreign brands are opening and one of the highly anticipated has got to be Fire Tiger, Thailand's number one bubble tea brand as this entry is being typed! I was super impressed the first time I had it last year, it was one of the best yet the most expensive cup to date (it's around 80k/cup converted to Indo currency).

Can't serve you reports from their outlet because I haven't been to GI for three months (and yes Grand Indonesia is the home to their first outlet) but from what I saw on their Instagram, the design of the outlet seemed chic and poppin', along with their signature gold color and roaming tiger head as the pickup point.

I was honestly a bit concern about the pricing, I hope it wouldn't be Thai expensive AND SO GLAD IT DIDN'T! I found out about the pricing from the online delivery app (Gojek/Grab) and even though it's still considered high for Jakarta standard, but it's way below the Thai pricing, the drinks range around IDR 50k price point. Since they're opening during the quarantine days they also have DIY menus that I'm going to talk about as you scroll this entry.

There are around 5 menus that I tried: Fire Tiger Milk, Fire Tiger Milk Tea, The Crown, The Majesty and Snow Tiger. Snow Tiger is their newest menu! In terms of look, since the drinks were ordered through online app, it won't look as pretty as the one freshly made, there was no sugar swirls, but what can we do..

Fire Tiger Milk & Fire Tiger Milk Tea - IDR 52,5k

the milk tea is the more brown looking one

In terms of flavor, I think the one that I had in Bangkok is pretty much the same: their brown sugar style is a tad different that the common brown sugar flavor (I realize most has this style that's similar): it's very fragrant, bold but not overpowering & had this caramel/toffee hint to it, but certain drinks has different adjustments and toppings!

Overall their Fire Tiger milk drink is creamy with generous brown sugar syrup, tasty creme brulee (and boy I freaking love how their creme brulee is not the overly milky kind), brown sugar pearls and fresh milk (and milk tea for the Fire Tiger Milk Tea)

The Crown

I prefer THE CROWN MILK TEA, this one has a lovely earl grey note to the drink, properly creamy with brown sugar pearls, caramel jelly then topped with crispy chocolaty caramel sugar bits for texture (it's bitter but aromatic and meant to be mixed together with the drink). PS: you can easily tell which drink is which from the cup, as you can see above it has THE CROWN printed on the cups.

Snow Tiger

Snow Tiger is Fire Tiger's latest release, it's the combination of their best sellers: Fire Tiger Milk & Milk Tea, the lower layer is the milk tea, then topped with fresh milk with brown sugar sauce drizzle, this drink has this semi frozen/blended consistency, is it my favorite? Not really, I honestly don't find this anything special and taste wise very similar to their Fire Tiger Milk but blended version, the main difference that I found was the topping, it has this crispy caramel sugar bits that's used in The Crown.

As for THE MAJESTY, I didn't try it but my sis did, it's a cereal milk drink kind and I know right away I won't like it because I have never been a fan of cereal milk drink.

DIY DRINKS

Fire Tiger Indonesia is currently launching the DIY drinks for those who feel a bit more adventurous but LIMITED to their Fire Tiger Milk & Fire Tiger Milk Tea only, I honestly prefer the ready to drink version to the DIY for the comparison I experienced myself, somehow the ready to drink version was tastier and as much as I want to believe that everything's equally measured for the DIY version, but it still tasted different, I notice they're also giving ice cubes but unfortunately half of it melted as it reached home (and I used my own for this pic), well at the end of the day, if you're really concern about the best state of flavor, the freshly made one should be the best (and I mean dine in), to go or not to go to the mall is your call.

Overall, I would give Fire Tiger an 8/10, even though I still like the one in Bangkok better, and I believe it's always the issue with foreign franchises that are here: MILK, I have no idea what milk they're using in Bangkok and what they're using here, but I have a good feeling they're different, but overall still an 8 because I enjoyed the drinks, they still have the original flavor character that I vividly remember.

The souvenirs are KYUT! Even though it has the branding on it, it's the kind that I don't mind using.

Fire Tiger

Grand Indonesia Shopping Mall level 3A

Jl. M.H Thamrin No. 1 - Jakpus 10350

Opening hours: 10 AM-8 PM

Average spending for two: IDR 100k

Dresscode: none

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