The best way of saying goodbye to 2009 was with one fancy culinary adventure: a six course meal at Riva restaurant, Park Lane hotel, created by Chef Gilles Marx.
It was only the two of us, my hubby and I, and we reserved a table for two at 7 p.m. for the New Years gala dinner. The restaurant was busier than usual (or at least busier than the other two times I have been here). 
For a belated birthday dinner, I took out three friends of mine to Din Tai Fung, a Chinese restaurant famous for its dim sum variety and other dishes as well. We ordered chicken xiao long bao (dim sum filled with chicken – yummy and juicy), fried rice with salty fish (yummy and salty but goooood), mie angsio sapi (noodles with beef – best with additional soy sauce and chilli), kepiting soka abon (crab with floss – no idea how it tasted, I don’t eat crabs), steamed vegetables dumplings (not so impressive but good anyway), and buncis cah sapi (stir-fried haricot beans with minced meat – deliciously crispy).
It has been a long time since I last dined here so I really dug in. We all did. With all the food on the table, at first we thought there was no way we could finish them all, but we were wrong. We even ordered a second double portion of the chicken dumplings because they were so delicious. Of course it goes without saying, that I would definitely come back to this place again soon. 
Actually, the name of the dish is boller i karry. It’s my hubby’s favourite dish which is made of minced pork. Although I try to avoid eating pork, once in a while I do give in to his craving for his favourites. However, since I don’t really like the smell of raw minced pork, I make a deal with him that he will do the cooking when he wants to have this dish. This deal works well for both of us. Here’s how he does it.
Ingredients:
Season the minced pork with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly with the onion. Add one egg to help it stick, and form into balls. Bring chicken stock to boil, add the meatballs and cook until they float, remove and set aside. Add about 3 teaspoons of curry powder (or to taste). Add the corn flour to one cup of chicken stock, shake vigorously, and add to the pan. This will help thicken the sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, return the meatballs into the pan and season with salt and pepper if needed. We usually have rice as side dish and have a few spoons of blackberry jam on the side for taste. This recipe makes enough for 2 days (or four people).
Since we haven’t gone out for quite a while, my hubby and I agreed to go out for dinner. The main purpose was actually to roam around Ratu Plaza, a shopping mall for electronics, computer and other gadgets. My hubby needed to pick up a spare battery for his office laptop. So we were thinking of having dinner at a steakhouse in that same building, Outback.
Ratu Plaza is located in Sudirman road, which is a three-in-one area (an area with driving restrictions: between 7.00-10.00 and 16.30-19.00 you are only allowed to enter or pass that area if you have three or more passengers in the car). Therefore, we took the back road and parked at Senayan Trade Centre/STC (which is not a three-in-one area) and walked towards Ratu Plaza. On our way there, we passed Panin Bank building, which is host to Tony Roma’s ribs and steakhouse. Seeing the restaurant’s sign, we both remembered we wanted to try it out (or at least I wanted to), and we decided to go there instead.
After picking up the spare battery, we walked back towards STC and into Tony Roma’s. The atmosphere gave me a déjà vu experience: it was quite similar to Outback but of course leaning towards American style (flag and all that). Another similarity is the serving of fresh bread on a similar serving board (although at Outback, they serve brown bread whereas here they served white bread). But anyways, enough of that, because we did not come there to compare the interior, glassware and the likes. We came there to taste their food! And here is how our ‘festive’ table looks like.
My hubby ordered a regular slab of the original baby back ribs while I ordered the southern smokey beef ribs. We each liked our own order better than the other one’s which I guess is a good thing Although I thought the food could have come in a warmer state (but I could not be bothered to complain because I was hungry), I really enjoyed every bite of it. The meat could easily be separated from the bone, which makes the eating process so much easier and smoother. The corn cob which came as a side dish was also very tasty and crunchy but still juicy. I liked the baked potatoes as well, it came with sour cream, mozzarella cheese and bacon bits. Now the question is, would I come back here again? Well, for the food I would, but I thought it was really pricey. Maybe I would come back for a very special occasion, but definitely not for a normal weekday dining out experience.
If you want to try them out, here is their address (the one where I dined in):
Tony Roma’s Jakarta – Panin Bank CentreYesterday, we had chicken parmesan. Originally I made enough for two days (with four 
big pieces of chicken breast) but my number one fan liked it so much he hada second helping with half a chicken breast. So now we end up having only one and a half chicken breast for dinner.
To avoid possible blood bath due to violent fighting over uneven pieces of chicken, I decided to cut it all up and mix it with rice and some (frozen) vegetables, creating a from-the-hip fried rice. I only stir-fried some finely chopped onion, then tossed in the chicken and vegetables, and added the rice. For added taste, I generously sprinkled it with a mixture of sweet and salty soya sauce (my choice is kecap ABC). Then it’s served with two eggs sunny side up. Bon appétit! 
