Tummy Prosperity: The People's Cafe: Kafe Orang-orang

Yes, you've just read the title right. The People's Cafe, literally translated into Kafe Orang-orang, and yes that's exactly what the name intends to show; this was the place where people gather and enjoy the day! If some of you might have known, TPC was formerly known as Ismaya Catering.

So could you guess how the venue looked like, having this simple yet ear-catchy name? For sure it tried to deliver the ambiance of togetherness, comfort, casual; perfect place to relax, chill, chit-chat, waste the time in the way you enjoy the most as the time you enjoy wasting would always be not wasted. I really loved how the place somehow tried to create the cheerful feeling by having colorful decoration with hugely-printed interesting short sentences all over the walls, strongly delivered that typical Ismaya group concept. Yeah, it was owned by Ismaya group, the parent to the well-known restaurants such as Social House, Tokyo Belly, Djournal, Pizza e Birra, Colette & Lola, SKYE, and many many more.

Basically, The People's Cafe was established with the idea of serving street foods, originated from all over the world. They even had a huge wall in the venue, showing the gigantic world map, where they pinned the pictures of the street foods, right at the country from where each of them came from. Such an unique idea, which had successfully captured my curiosity to try the dishes they served. As they're offering street foods, though it was served in restaurant style, the price was quite affordable, especially considering their fulfilling portions.

The venue was quite spacious and really cozy, providing sofas at almost each of the corners. I could clearly see many people spending long long time there; some simply just for gathering and chatting, while some also for busily working. Looking at the wide selections of dishes provided on the menu, no wonder the guests could spend hours in the cafe.

Delivering 'The People's Cafe' concept, just like what its name mentioned, all the waiters/waitresses and baristas tried to make you feel welcomed and 'somehow spoiled' with their quick and highly responsive services. Despite the rich choices of dishes provided, they were so knowledgeable and helpful in assisting you to make decisions on what to order, since they completely understood what's inside each of the dishes. They even have some recommendation, based on the most favorite ones.

Last weekend, I (fortunately) got the chance to try their new comers, which were literally a lot! Even more than 15! My heart was actually dancing excitedly especially when each of them came one by one on the table, simply looked sooo appetizing, let alone the deadly aroma which was surely sinful temptation.

From the starter family, we got 3 new members to make it more dilematic for the guests in picking up what they wanted to opt for . The Chicken Soup simply reminded me of my mom's homemade version of it. Nothing's really special yet able to cure the craving for the one at home. The K-Wings was okay, but still couldn't beat my number 1, which was Pizza E Birra's El Diablo :p. The most unique was actually the Thai Chicken Salad as it's not that common to find Thai style salad in a non-Thai-specialist restaurant. Nonetheless, I preferred to move on to the pizzas as for me they were far more attractive with more exceptional taste.  

Clear Chicken Soup (IDR 32k)

Chicken, carrot, potato, and macaroni all in beef broth

K-wings (IDR 45k)

Chicken wings in Korean sauce

Thai Chicken Salad (IDR 45k)

Green salad topped with minced chicken and spicy homemade Thai dressing

If previously they served Thai Style Chicken as salad, now it's served as pizza. This was such an innovative idea, which surprisingly turned out awesome! Another pizza, which was also another great choice for tapas was Meat Me that brought out combination of various chicken-based ingredients. Yum!!

Thai Style Chicken (IDR 55k)

Thin crust pizza with minced chicken and served in Thai sauce

Meat Me (IDR 55k)

Thin crust pizza with chicken sausage, chicken-shrimp fusion meat, chicken sliders

Now it's the turn for the abundant heavy meals. I was first surprised looking at how many dishes were served there. However, I couldn't hide my curiosity to try every single one as they smelled too good. Beware of saliva dropping!

For those who fancied something light and more westernized, Fish and Chips could be the perfect one for you. Just like common ones, it gave that crispy outside moist inside texture. When you were into the currently hyped trend, Salted Egg Chicken was one of the menu available here. I wouldn't comment much on this as my taste bud indeed didn't go well with salted egg. Just one thing, thanks for not being stingy with the chicken fillet ;)

Classic Fish and Chips (IDR 55k)

Fried batter-coated dory served with french fries and tartar sauce

Salted Egg Chicken (IDR 45k)

Deep fried battered chicken coated in salted egg yok sauce and fragrant curry leaves, served with rice and sunny side up

Nevertheless, if you were more into Indonesian cuisine, perhaps Mie Bakso Special suited you better. I loved how the broth was not over-seasoned so the after taste was pretty good. But, if you couldn't live without rice, then you'd better opt for their Nasi Uduk Rendang Sapi, which was so generous in toppings, creating that gorgeous mix of colors on your huge round plate. 100% guaranteed that your hunger could be satisfied with the portion.

Mie Bakso Special (IDR 42k)

Meatballs soup with stuffed tofu, wonton, glass and egg noodles

Nasi Uduk Rendang Sapi (IDR 60k)

Steamed rice in coconut milk, served with sweet soy egg, stir fried tempeh and tofu, fried glass noddle, rendang, crackers, and Indonesian traditional raw veggies (lalapan)

When your palate was having high-spiciness-tolerance as mine, another rice-based option for you was Nasi Bakar Cakalang, which was one of my personal favorite as this dish was basically originated from Manado, a city residing in the same island as my hometown. Dare to take something spicier? Try my most favorite dish among all the main courses, Mie Ireng Dori! Scrumptious flavor blended with burning sensation from chili cuts, which were cooked together with the noodles and fried dory. Having more would surely create more heat on your tongue, yet it's just too addicting to stop.

Nasi Bakar Cakalang (IDR 50k)

Grilled rice in banana leaves, filled with smoked tuna and spicy chili

Mie Ireng Dori (IDR 48k)

Charcoal infused noodle with fried dory and spicy sambal

Should you be one of the early-birds, The People's cafe were there to accompany you and pampered your tummy before you started your day. Their "Rise & Shine" menu is served everyday at 8 to 11am at Setiabudi One outlet. While on Sunday, perhaps you want to spend your weekend at earlier time with your family or friends, you can also enjoy these dishes in Kota Kasablanka outlet.

Still with Indonesian touch, Bubur Ayam Kota was there to fulfill your nationalist palate. This bowl totally brought this traditional street food to the next level. The seasoning, which was based on chicken stock, was awesomely appetizing. The toppings were abundantly given as if it didn't allow you to enjoy any single spoon without having a topping on it. My friend and my sister opted this dish for the best one among the savory menu. But for you who preferred something heavier, you might want to go for Nasi Mawut TPC. Just like the common one you usually bought from the 'abang-abang', it also had noodles and sunny side up. The distinctive point was at the noodles, which used the green one, showing how The People's Cafe wanted to go anti-mainstream.
  

Bubur Ayam Kota (IDR 35k)

Warm rice porridge topped with fried shallots, shredded chicken, peanuts, and crackers; and if you want, satay (incl. innards)

Nasi Mawut T.P.C. (IDR 38k)

Rice mixed with seaweed, topped with green noodles, minced chicken in green chilli sauce and a sunny side up. Garnished with sliced chili and spring onion

Despite the fact that most Indonesians couldn't live without rice, some did love other carbo types more (including me). So let's go with Mie Godog Jawa, which visually indeed looked like Indomie. Coming as the perfect dish to warm up your body in the early morning, this soupy-based dish did have lavish toppings to create that wide smile on your face. Besides noodles, another different carbo was potatoes, which were served together with eggs and various proteins. Yes, The Big Breakfast, that simple breakie menu, which was loved by almost everyone.

Mie Godog Jawa (IDR 38k)

A steaming hot traditional Javanese boiled egg noodle soup with shredded chicken, egg, cabbage, tomatoes, green chili, candlenuts, garlic, and spring onion

The Big Breakfast (IDR 55k)

Two eggs of your choice (scrambled/omelette/sunny side up/boiled egg), salad, beef sausage, chicken ham, and sauteed potato

Finally, we arrived at the bread-based menu, which was SOOOO MEEE! Yeah, bread was in fact my most favorite choice for breakfast, regardless it's savory or sweet, and excitingly, TPC served both for me *dancing*. The first one, Roti Bakar Telor Kornet, served every single topping I could ever ask for to be stuffed between my breakie toast. Seriously, corned, egg, and cheese; what could go wrong with this combination? Then, as anything salty must be followed with something sweet to create a perfect ending, there came Roti Bakar Komplit, which was literally too complete to be true. You could even see the toppings overflowed from the toast once you tried to cut it. Finger lickin' good!!

Roti Bakar Telor Kornet (IDR 32k)

Fried corned beef, egg, and cheese toast

Roti Bakar Komplit (IDR 32k)

Banana, hazelnut chocolate, shredded coconut, peanut and mozzarella toast

 Not enough by having foods only, I did try the beverages served in The People's Cafe. To quench my thirst, I had both the mocktail and the coffee. For the first one, I was looking for something refreshing and as the name indicated, this Lychee Refresher was indeed a refreshing one, serving my favorite traditional ingredient for drinks, lemongrass, with lychee and soda water. I was soooo in love with it that I recommended it to all my friends LOL. Another one I ordered was The People's Coffee, TPC's signature coffee which I didn't want to miss since it's also said as recommended, which I did believe as even the name using the restaurant's name so it ought to be special. Basically, it's Vietnamese coffee served with both hot water and ice cubes so you could firstly enjoy it hot, then you could continue by having it cold. Such a creative idea to allow me having my caffeine routine-doze satisfied with great-quality coffee.

Lychee Refresher (IDR 35k)

The People's Coffee (IDR 40k)

Simply said, The People's Cafe for me successfully delivered that Global Street Food concepts. Not only serving street foods in innovative and fancy ways, they're also providing them in affordable price and satisfying portion. Keep up the great job! ;)