Sagami Soba Pre Launching Event

9.1.2015 -  I was invited to Sagami Japanese Restaurant pre launching and food tasting event at PT. Gobel Dharma Sarana Karya.

Sagami is a franchise Soba restaurant from Japan. Starting from a small dining area in the city of Nagoya, Japan. Sagami becoming known for specializing in Soba and Udon menu. Now, Sagami began expanding their business to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Sagami first branch in Indonesia is located in the food court of Plaza Senayan, Jakarta. According to its plan, Sagami will open five new stores in the Jabodetabek area in the upcoming years.

We all already know of Japanese cuisine such as ramen and udon which are very popular and favored by Indonesian people. Sagami now present to introduce another Japanese food menu, so called "Soba". Soba is one of the authentic Japanese noodles made from buckwheat, wheat and water. Soba can be served in hot or cold soup. The broth of the soup is called dashi, made from aged giant kelp and dried fish. Soba has became one of the daily meal for Japanese. Not only because of its delicious taste, but Soba also contains of excellent ingredients for human body. If you are a fan of noodles and Japanese cuisine, you have to try Soba from Sagami! Only in Indonesia, Sagami serves spicy Soba soup because Indonesian people like spicy food. Later on, Sagami will offer a variety of other Japanese food menu that still comes with the essence of Soba.

Did you know?

Buckwheat contains of excellent amino acid balance, rich supply of flavonoids particularly rutin, more proteins and vitamins than wheat and rice, dietary fiber, and many minerals.

5 Health benefits of Soba:
- Helps keep blood vessel wall young and lowers blood pressure

- Lowers glucose level and is beneficial for managing diabetes
- Reduces cholesterol
- Helps anti-aging
- Helps dieting

What are you waiting for?? Eat soba regularly and get a healthy life! :)

Sagami offered some menu at the food tasting event, such as Green Tea Soba, Yuzu Soba (citrus), Ume Soba (plum), Tebasaki (Japanese version of chicken wings), Tori Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), and Hitsumabushi (Unagi/Grilled Eel on rice).

SAGAMI SOBA PLAZA SENAYAN

Food Court 3rd Floor

Jl. Asia Afrika, Senayan, Jakarta

Hours: Monday – Sunday 10AM to 10PM

Twitter: @Sagami_ID

Map:

IKKI Japanese Restaurant in Taoyuan

IKKI is a Japanese restaurant belonging to the WowPrime Group in Taiwan. There are about a dozen of IKKI restaurants spread throughout Taiwan counties. This review is a visit to the one near Zhongli station in Taoyuan County. It was a farewell party with some librarian colleagues. The best thing about eating with a large group is that you can share to sample different menu. IKKI offers you a full course meal starting from appetizer to side dishes to rice to main courses to dessert and beverage. And it's only at NT$698 or about IDR 210.000 per person. That’s actually an acceptable price considering the number of courses and service you get. For each course you'll get to chose one out of three or more items.

IKKI JAPANESE RESTAURANT

2F., No.118, Zhongshan Rd., 

Zhongli City, Taoyuan County

Website: www.ikki.com.tw

Payment: 10% service charge

Visit reviewed: 01/2014

Miso Soup

The first course is appetizer. We managed to order different menu out of three options. I went with fresh seasonal salad, while other friend chose fresh mushroom salad. Both taste really good. Fresh seasonal salad is tomato stuffed with potato and topped with thin slices of smoked salmon. It is served in a beautiful glass dish filled with garlic mud sauce. It’s a perfect way to whet the appetite.

Fresh Seasonal Salad

Fresh Mushroom Salad

The second course is side dishes. It's a deep-fried fish fillet with tartar sauce (a mayonnaise-based sauce) on top of grapefruit. It was excellent combination. It's my favorite dish at IKKI. 

Deep-Fried Fish Fillet with Grapefruit

There's still a couple of courses before the main. A bowl of rice with crumbed salmon & salmon roe and a glass of lemon sorbet. Next up, steamed-prawn with garlic sauce as seasonal boiled dish.

Salmon & Salmon Roe Over Rice & Lemon Sorbet

Steamed-Prawn with Garlic sauce

At long last, we finally reached the main course. There are 10 options. I went with salt-grilled seasonal fish. I was too full by then, so I asked the waiters to wrap it up and I took it home. When I got home at night, I could only think to eat my wrapped-grilled-fish from IKKI. I was surprised, they even manage to give me additional salmon rice without extra charge. I literally had my lunch and dinner by IKKI.

Salt-Grilled Seasonal Fish

Lastly, desserts and beverage. We got a caramel mousse cake and a pineapple panna cotta. Both were good. But I would suggest to go with pineapple panna cotta, since you've ate pretty much a series of courses. 

Fleur de sel Caramel Mousse

Pineapple Panna Cotta

Osmanthus Green Tea with Cream

In my opinion, the flavors of IKKI food are generally tasty. The service and quality are both excellent. You are not going to regret to pay for the price.

The Taste of Japan Delicacy

January 2014. My friend and I had marvelous days in Japan. 5 days non-stop travel around Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Wherever I travel I would definitely taste the local food of the place I visited. The fact that as a Moslem there were limited food I can eat doesn't stop me to keep looking for the best food. I could suggest for Moslems whose going to travel around Japan not to eat ramen, curry, and okonomiyaki. Because they use pork in their ingredients. Okonomiyaki originally uses pork belly as its filling. If you can speak Japanese then you can ask to take out the pork before it's being cooked.

Given the limited time, I couldn't specifically go to Halal restaurant. The food listed here were created based on our trip. Let's get right to it, shall we?

Fresh Sushi. This is not a new thing. You can find sushi anywhere in Jakarta. But you gotta eat this when you go to Japan. The raw fish taste different, so fresh!

Hakozushi or Osaka-style boxed sushi. This style is less known by the foreigner. Hakozushi style is unique to the Osaka region. All ingredients of Hakozushi are either cooked or cured: sea eel, red snapper, egg omelet, and shrimp.

The Fugu or Pufferfish. Dotonbori district in Osaka is the right place to find this restaurant. Fugu is known as the extremely poisonous fish, yet it is famous in Japan. In fact, Japan gov allow only highly trained and licensed chefs to serve the dish. Knowing this fact, I put aside my worries. I shouldn't have missed this chance while in Osaka. I ended up ordering a plate of mixed sashimi and a plate of Fugu sushi which contains of thin sliced of raw Fugu (the bottom plate in the picture). Raw Fugu is rather chewy, not like other raw fish. Since Fugu is an expensive delicacy, I can only afford this much.

Ikayaki or grilled squid topped with soy sauce. This fast food is quite popular too in Japan. The taste of sweet and salty sauce makes you want to eat more. It also good to eat it with rice. Onigiri rice filled with tuna and vegetables. Takoyaki. All of these I bought at the supermarket nearby when I stayed in Osaka. 

Takoyaki. A ball-shaped Japanese street food snack which is originated in Osaka. It is basically made of wheat flour filled with a tiny piece of octopus inside. Takoyaki is served with takoyaki sauce, green aonori, dried bonito flakes, and sometimes mayonnaise. The taste is similar to okonomiyaki that you can read in my other post. Too bad I couldn't eat okonomiyaki in Osaka because it contains pork as I mentioned earlier. Just like takoyaki, okonomiyaki is originated in Osaka.

Udon. That day, the weather was below 0°C at the top of Biwako Valley. Udon would be the best companion at this rate. Udon is served in a hot broth with thin sheets of fried tofu and kamaboko (a pink and white steamed fish cake) placed on top of the noodles. As I eat it, there's a refreshing after taste from the soup. While eating, I could enjoy the view of Biwa Lake that lies ahead.

Tentamadon in Kyoto. Rice topped with tempura and beaten egg.

Green tea puff bread. The shop is near Ginkakuji temple in Kyoto.

Kyo nama-fu yaki made of wheat gluten. A traditional food of Kyoto, which served dry baked with soysauce. Wheat gluten is more chewy than tofu. The taste is so unique. This becomes one of my favorite dish from all of the foods I've tried in Japan. This food is high in protein which once provided for the monks who are vegetarian. This is often used as meat substitutes or an alternative to soybean-based foods. I once wrote about vegetarian meat substitutes, the version of Taiwan, in my other post.

Grilled salmon. Another healthy food for you to choose.

Tarako cod-roe pasta. Tarako Pasta is certainly a popular dish in Japan. The dish was first invented at a pasta restaurant in Tokyo, when someone made a request for a bowl of spaghetti with caviar in it. Nowadays, there are many restaurants serve this, Sbarro Spaghetti is one of them.

Green tea-vanila ice cream at Asakusa temple, Tokyo. Probably not the best choice in Winter.

McDonalds at Harajuku area. French fries topped with cheese sauce and apple pie with  strawberry-ice cream. McDonald's is another must-taste when you travel abroad because every country has its own menu and style.

MOS Rice Burger. The burger that made of rice instead of bread bun. This one is a vegetarian rice burger contains of carrot, veggies, seaweed, and seasoned with soy sauce.

Kitkat, Tokyo banana, Pocky, and Maxim green tea latte. Japanese sweets and crackers. There are many unique foods in Japan that at the end I brought this much of sweets and crackers back home. Kitkat version of Japan offers a wide variety of flavors: hot Japanese chili, rum strawberry cheese cake, wasabi, green tea, rum raisin, white chocolate, and strawberry chocolate.

Japanese food: Sen Ju Ramen

The place is decorated with Japanese-style. There are indoor and outdoor seating. They also provide tatami seating as in traditional Japanese-style rooms. It is located at the corner of the mall at 1st floor, near the children's play area. So it is perfect for a family with their children to eat there.

SEN JU RAMEN

Pejaten Village

Jalan Pejaten Raya No.2, 

Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan 12510

1st Floor (near steak 21 and children's play area)

Phone: 021 - 7813113

Hours: 10AM - 10PM

Home delivery: not available

Kid friendliness: high chairs available

Website: www.senjuramen.com 

Busway stop: Pejaten Philips 

Visit reviewed: 09/2014

Tatami seating

Sen Ju Ramen menu

Okonomiyaki, known as Japanese savory pancakes or pizza. At Sen Ju Ramen, okonomiyaki is served in a hot plate with variety of toppings such as okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito flakes, and ebi crumbs. It is made of egg and flour. The additional ingredients of okonomiyaki can vary. The most common ingredients used are cabbage, seafood, and meat.

I like to eat Japanese food with red pepper flakes

I would suggest to try Sen Ju Ramen signature dish: wagyu beef udon or wagyu beef spicy ramen. Most people love to eat ramen. But I personally like udon more than ramen. So I ordered wagyu beef udon instead of ramen. Of several type of Japanese noodles, Udon noodles are the thickest. Unlike ramen, the broth of Udon is light with brown color. The color itself are made from the soysauce. At senju ramen, udon are served with variety of toppings such as tempura, dumpling, beef, and more. 

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Another dish I've tried is tempura udon. It is served with a set of tempura shrimp and fried vegetables (onion, eggplant, and sweet potato). It is commonly eaten with dipping sauce and red pepper flakes. 

Moreover, they also have sushi in their menu! Gotta try this the next time I visit.