Today I went to this culinary festival, LocalTaste (Local Taste) which is currently happening in Gandaria City, Jakarta. The event is scheduled to be running from 17-20 July 2014, and is held at VIP Parking Lot or known as Piazza area. It can be accessed through Mainstreet Dining area on the Ground Floor, the entrance is just between Excelso and Pizza E Birra. There is no entrance fee (YAY!) and actually there are fashion booths too and the F&B area is more into the inner side, located separately from the fashion booths area.

The F&B area is not too big, I took barely 3 minutes to actually walk around and although it was Friday evening, the venue was quite empty. As usual, majority of the tenants sell snacks or desserts, some selling savory foods like bento, crispy snacks and a food truck look alike selling heavier meals. Honestly, in my opinion, I just went there out of curiosity and of course to write about this in the blog, but I think the stuffs are getting repetitive and I usually spend ridiculous amount of money just for a single visit. 

There are probably less than 40 tenants in total, like I said before, most of them selling sweet stuffs or desserts-alike such as puddings, cakes, and so on. If you frequent some of the culinary events in Jakarta, some of them are very familiar such as Taburi Rendang Rawit, Flavor Kitchen, La Creme Dessert, The Lab, BYOD, Saved by The Ballen, Elevate Juicery, etc. 
Suwe Ora Jamu

Hanna’s Klappertaart

Taburi Rendang Rawit
BYOD

Elevate Juicery

UP Bento

Tried some of food and snacks from some tenants, and let me share what I had from the Local Taste today!
1. Amerigo Food Truck
Honestly, even until now I still don’t understand why our people have certain obsession towards food trucks and so-called ones. This food truck is parked in the innermost side of the F&B area, and for people who look for decent meal, this looks a promising candidate to try. I believe it is their first stop in such event and sadly, it was very visible from many aspects. I ordered Louisiana Gravy (IDR 35K) and Jaegerschnitzel (IDR 35K) and after waiting for ridiculous 50 minutes, I finally got ONE of my orders ready, and the one that came later was wrong. And because I didn’t want to wait another round (and the best part was that I couldn’t cancel it!), I accepted my wrong order: Swedish Meatballs (IDR 35K). And I had my orders to be made into set meal (1 main course + 1 Strawberry milkshake = IDR 50K), when those things were delivered to my table, I was asked for IDR 120K. I was already not in good mood when the food came but I still tried keeping a cool head and asked the staff nicely. This was the same girl staff who also took our order and I could see that she wasn’t really focusing because after I mentioned my order, she didn’t even write it down, and when I asked her to repeat, she already mistook my Jaegerschnitzel order with Swedish Meatballs. I corrected her but, well.
The food were nice though, the Louisiana Gravy contains of beef sausage cooked with Louisiana thick gravy that tastes like loads of herbs like Rosemary etc. And surprise, the bottom of the cup is rice. The Swedish Meatballs were soft and tender, with mashed potato on the bottom, and loaded with gravy as well. It was nice but missing some essential taste so it was kind of bland, not tasteless but there is no kick in the taste. Portion-wise, not too generous I must say. The Strawberry milkshake was probably something that I can recommend, tasted like it was made from real fruit, the strawberry flavor was strong and fruity, so refreshing! I usually think most of strawberry milkshakes that I found so far taste more milky than fruity, so I really recommend this one.

Louisiana Gravy IDR 35K

Louisiana Gravy IDR 35K

Swedish Meatballs IDR 35K

Swedish Meatballs IDR 35K

Strawberry Milkshake

2. Ind.ustrie

For this tenant, I had good experience with their popcorn chicken or chicken karaage back in Jakarta Culinary Passport 2014 last time in Grand Indonesia, and last week, we were invited to have some freshly-cooked food in their restaurant in Bintaro area. This time, I only bought their Onigiri (IDR 15K each), and opted for the Opor filling. Beside Opor, there are also Rendang and Spicy Tempe for Onigiri’s fillings, and the Popcorn Chicken and Crispy Wonton are also available. I also spotted the Red Ramen but didn’t try, because I wasn’t looking for heavy meals there. The onigiri was small and a little overpriced, the rice was dry and broken apart (or “pera” in Indonesian, if you know what I mean), while the opor filling was quite tasty although given very little. I am sorry but I think I would just recommend the Popcorn Chicken.

Onigiri IDR 15K each

3. The Lab

The Lab has its own physical outlet in Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK) area and everytime I find them in events, I would automatically buy something. XD This time I ordered Mango Bubblegum Tea with regular Black Pearl (IDR 24K) and Hazelnut Milk Tea with Pandan Pearl (IDR 25K). Both drinks were very enjoyable with surprisingly distinct flavors and I especially loved the Mango Bubblegum one. The hazelnut milk tea was also not bad but the pandan pearl was not as delicious as it looks.

Mango Bubblegum Tea with Black Pearl (IDR 24K)

Hazelnut Milk Tea with Pandan Pearl (IDR 25K)

4. IS-CAKETORY

So this was my first time buying something from this brand, which basically sells breads, cakes, and pastries alike. Nicely enough, everything is ready stock and they can help you reheating the food if you prefer to eat them right away. I bought several stuffs here and I must say I am impressed! Some of the food were very pleasant while some others were just so-so. But trust me, their stand is difficult to miss, thanks to the stacks of good looking food on the table!
What I tried:
  • Ham Quiche IDR 45K/slice: one of the nicest, softest quiche I have ever found in Jakarta, taste was perfect. Good size is just like icing on the cake.
  • Focaccia Bread IDR 20K: Again, quite big in size, with ham slices here and there. Texture was spongy, too dry for my liking, and a bit too oily/greasy. Not a favorite.
  • Poach Baked Eggs IDR 25K: Soft yet crispy crust with smooth inner pastry, one bite and I fell in love. Definitely a must try item when you happen to visit this event!
  • Carrot Cake IDR 30K: This certainly didn’t look like a carrot cake to me, but the taste was. With a texture more like Russian soft bread instead of carrot cake, it was heavy and solid. But honestly, I was totally hooked after I had my first bite.
  • Canele IDR 15K: I love Canele! And to find this there was a total joy for yours truly. FYI, Canele is a French pastry with soft and tender custard center and a dark caramelized crust. And their Canele impressed me (again)! It was solid and chewy, with perfect sweetness and I found it very addicting to be honest. Hey, I am actually thinking about going back to Local Taste event just for buying this.
Didn’t try some others that caught my attention because I wanted to try some first, but I have to say I really recommend this tenant because out of 5 items that I tried, I loved 4 of them and that is a rare case!! LOL! XD

Ham Quiche IDR 45K

Poach Baked Eggs IDR 25K

5. Sweet Savory

This particular tenant has this beautiful arrangement of cakes and savory snacks and it’s difficult to ignore. XD Basically they sell sweet things which are various versions of Molten Chocolate, and savory things called Volcano Frittata (egg based Italian muffins) which have many flavors too. I tried the sweet ones: Japanese Green Tea and Reese’s Peanut Butter (IDR 18K each), and again I loved them! First, the green tea had very strong green tea flavor although I think it was sweetened too much because I barely could feel the bitter taste of green tea. And the lava was actually green tea too so it was a big plus point. Topped with chocolate chips, the cake was a heavenly treat for sweet-tooths but for me, I would prefer the cake without those chips. The Reese’s one was also very enjoyable and I knew I was eating Reese’s flavor which was a good thing. Again, it was very sweet though. The good thing is the cake was served in a relatively small size so the sweetness was lovely and not sickening.

6. Creamy Comfort

Tried this before and this time I came back for more. Bought the Black Russian, Sticky Toffee Date, and Smores Pie (IDR 30K each). I must put here that all these cakes/pies/mousse/pudding, whatever inside, are served in small cups so yes, they are kinda pricey, but I think you get what you pay for. Some of the flavors contain alcohol so beware when you purchase for underage kids. And some samples are available, so you can always try first before buying! 🙂

Samples of Banoffee, Cookies & Cream, Mudslide
7. La Creme Dessert
Glad to find this tenant because we love their silky puddings so much! The silky puddings are available in 6 flavors and priced at IDR 18K each. It’s no brainer, we bought one each and came back with 6 bottles of delicious silky puddings! And oh yes, beside puddings, they also sell cakes in the jar for IDR 28K each and drinks in jar for IDR 20K each. Never tried both but I say the silky puddings look more appealing.
You know, actually I just wanted to write shortly about this event but in the end I wrote quite a lot. XD I hope this can help you deciding what to look for in the event this time, the stuffs that I didn’t buy didn’t mean that they are not good but I just wasn’t in the mood to try. Well, the event will be held for another 2 days (finishes on Sunday, July 20th) so if you have time, why not? Have fun, and thank you for reading! <333

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LocalTaste.co.id Culinary Festival 2014
Gandaria City 
Outdoor Piazza (through Mainstreet Dining GF)
Jl. KH. M. Syafii Hadzami No. 8
Kebayoran Lama
Jakarta Selatan 12240
Opening Hours:
17 – 20 July 2014, 15.00 – 22.00


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