Food Review: Garçon Bistro and Bar

It's been a while since i visit to a French restaurant in Jakarta. My last visit to a French restaurant near Kuningan area was so disappointing or maybe i had a really high expectation on French food.

I still prefer Asian food though, but since my friends were forcing me to have a French food for lunch, so i finally came along. This restaurant is called Garçon (read: Jaasong) located in Plaza Senayan. This will be my first food review because the food are overall fantastic. 

The restaurant was opened in Dec 2012, so it is running for almost 1 year. The waiter was kind enough to explain the menu as some of us are not familiar with French food and wrote down the orders. The restaurant was not really crowded even it was lunch time i.e. 12.30 PM so when it came to service, the appetizers came out really quick.

First thing first, they gave us 2 servings of this bread. 

I guess it's a complimentary appetizer, but unlike other free/ complimentary food, this tasted sooo nice. The bread was crunchy and i like the butter as well. We finished them up in a flash.

Here are our appetizers.

Onion soup with melted cheese toast - IDR 60K

Salad Caesar - IDR 70K

One of appetizers in Set Lunch B

Crunchy creamy cheese wrap with green salad - IDR 60K

Mine is the last one, Crunchy creamy. I like the samosa-shaped with cream cheese inside. It just tasted so good. Overall, all of us enjoyed our appetizers. Either we are already hungry or they were just simply delicious. We also ordered two other sides (IDR 25K each) which were creamed spinach and french fries with parmesan. 

Sauteed tenderloin - IDR 220K

Burger Rossini - IDR 150K

One of main course in set lunch B. Dory fish.

Chicken risotto - IDR 110K

I did not managed to take the picture of Chicken Rosemary, argh.. My friend ate it immediately while i still managed to put the pictures altogether in my phone. Some of us, the girls, shared our appetizers and main courses. I tasted the sauteed tenderloin and the fish, it was so good, especially the sauce in sauteed tenderloin. All of us finished everything fast.

Last but not least, our desserts.

Profiteroles of vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce - IDR 60K

She was like, quick take picture! i want to pour the chocolate sauce. Haha. Again, i missed to take the picture of the Banana Split. But i tasted it and really delicious. It was like the banana, ice cream, crispy crepe and caramel created harmony in the mouth.

We spent like almost IDR 2mil, the price + 10% VAT and the subtotal was multiplied another 10% for tax. It was not so expensive after all (compared to my last-visited French restaurant or other well-known French restaurants in town), as we experienced great food and ambience. 

I will definitely come back again.

China Trip 2013: Getting Cheated on Tour

It is the first time i am writing my trip experience.

I write this because i often forget about my experience on trips, furthermore this trip is a China trip, i lived in Beijing for 1 and a half year studying Chinese before, and almost forgot on my experiences there, especially the places/ roads.

I joined a local tour service with price of USD 2,250 per pax excl VAT. I was going with my mom, dad and a brother. It was quite expensive since it was a holiday season (oh well) but i went to 5 different cities in China (total 10 days), accommodations and meals are all included. So i thought it was all worth it. Cities i've been: 1 day Shanghai, 1 day Hangzhou, 2 days Guilin, 2 days Xi'an, 3 days Beijing.

The frequency of getting cheated is very low since we are with tour, unless you are buying souvenirs or stuffs on attraction sites. But i was cheated! the saddest thing is that i was cheated by local guide in Shanghai, I bought China SIM card from her and i realized that i was cheated after i met my China friend in Beijing. 

So here's the story, i bought the 3G card (brand: 联动) for CNY 100 with CNY 50 value inside. She said it is the best value for internet. The first day of using it, the value was dropped to zero, but i did not check the value first when i have bought it whether the value inside was really CNY 50 (my mistake). I did not know why it was so fast, i was only using it for internet messaging (Whatsapp and Wechat) and some local sms to my friend in Shanghai. So i told the matter to Ms. Q (local guide from Shanghai who can speak Indonesian), and she directly called the operator. She claimed that my number was not registered for internet usage, that's why the value was depleted fast! I believed her and she said that she will register my number for the internet plan that time. I dunno whether it is possible to register for a internet plan while my card value is none. 

Without being curious, 2 days later while i was in Guilin, i recharged my balance CNY 50 with recharge card i bought from a mobile phone repair shop. I turned of my internet, i did not use any internet at all, only sms-ing to my friend in Beijing/ Shanghai. I only sent 15-20 sms for that day, no calls made at all. The next day i could not use my number at all, even can't receive phone calls/ sms from local number. Then I checked the value and what i heard was not "your value is 0" but "please contact a customer service" or something like that. What is wrong with my card? After contacting with help from tour guide, my card value is truly none. 

So ok, i thought that there was something wrong with that card, i decided to buy new one from small stall 小卖部. And the seller was kind enough to explain that what card i should use. Since i was explaining that i will only send sms and make local calls, he said i should get a normal SIM card (every month will deduct CNY 5) to keep the number active. The 3G card will deduct about CNY 18 every month. I bought the card (brand: 移动) for CNY 50 with CNY 30 value (the card is in sealed packaging). I used it for sending sms, made/received local calls for my 3 days in Beijing and i only used the value CNY 15 in total, very cheap!

I met a Chinese friend in Beijing. He said that he did some research on my previous SIM card number that it had an issue. He said that the number was registered in Shanghai and have been used by someone else. So that explained everything. I was cheated by Ms. Q. People in China can always track a mobile phone number online, he said. 

Well i guess it was my first unpleasant experience in China and i hope it wont happen again. I was really upset at that time and i don't want to trust on Shanghai people anymore. Most tourists are cheated frequently on shopping outside, especially on attraction sites nearby stalls. I saw and experienced it myself, when i asked the price of an ice cream in Chinese, the seller gave me cheaper price than a tourist who talked in English.

The risk of getting cheated is higher if you buy from seller who is walking around the street (not in a stall). It is better if you check the product that you want to buy first.