MARUFUKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT

After some Korean from the last post, we're sailing to the neighboring country, Japan! Wished that it's for real..but alas, we could only sail through the cuisines in Jakarta..lol! We went a bit further to Melawai with some friends just to get some authentic Japanese foods, since there's a lot of it here! This time we chose Marufuku and yes, we already tried some other Japanese restaurants here and usually it's good, so we didn't hesitate to try other new ones!

As always the interior is a simple typical Japanese restaurant but it gives more impact as an authentic Japanese restaurant! You'll really feel as if you're eating in Japan! They even have the open bar spot where you can see how they prepare the sushi and sashimi!

First, you'll be served this pickled thingy that I don't really know and not dare to try except for the square gelatin. Yes, that's somewhat like a square jelly, go try it and find out!

GYU KARUBI NINNIKUYAKI IDR 92K

Grilled bone in short rib and garlic.

Amazing tender beef with superb seasoning! Though it was a bit overpriced considering the portion, I guess it's because of the meat quality. Don't be scared of the color, it's not raw, I think it's even a medium well!

ABURI SALMON ROLL IDR 98K

Grilled salmon roll.

Good but nothing really special. Was expecting a torched aburi sauce on top but turns out it's only salmon and I don't really think it's torched. Well, it's not that it's bad, just not worth the price!

Can you see what's inside? Well, you probably could have guessed, right?

NAMI CHIRASHI-DON IDR 85K
Assorted sashimi rice bowl.

Super good and super recommended! I'd definitely suggest you get this instead of their sushi, it's much more worth it! Especially since all their sashimi here is incredibly fresh and you get all various of items, so this is just a bowl of heavenly goodness! An absolute must try!

A complimentary coffee jelly with condensed milk for desserts! Just something to sweetly end your dining experience! :D

Marufuku Japanese Restaurant

Jl. Melawai 6 No. 11

Blok M, Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-726777

Opening Hours :

Monday - Friday : 11:30 am - 00:00 am

Saturday, Sunday & Public Holiday : 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

WEBSITE

ECHIGOYA RAMEN

Kon'nichiwa! Why the Japanese? Well, cause today we're gonna introduce to you another Japanese restaurant which is located at Little Tokyo, the same place as Daitokyo Sakaba. This is also another one of those that opened only at lunch and dinner time, which is at 12 pm - 2 pm and open again at 6 pm.

Came here at 11, since I'm just an impatient person when it comes to good food and became their first customer of the day right after they opened at 12. Yay! To all otakus out there, this will probably be your top dining destination with all the manga they provide (all in Japanese)! Oh, and most of the customers here are also Japanese, when I came here, all of the customers were Japanese businessmen, must be authentic!

Since nowadays, many dining spot has offered interior more than taste, it's amazingly relieving and refreshing to find one that still has a nice simple interior with an ass-kicking food!

Of course, the typical window to you're magic maker view is almost always available in a Japanese restaurants.

OCHA (complimentary)
An essential beverage for a Japanese restaurant!

MINI BUTA CHASHU DON IDR 30k
Going to several ramen places in town, sometimes you'd get this weird craving for donburi! Translating it as a rice bowl, it's for those who'd like to have some rice instead of noodles as their carb portion! This one is not-so-mini compared to other places (ring a bell?) but not as big as a normal bowl either. Perfect portion for ladies with perfect taste! Love the tenderness of the perfectly grilled pork and it's well seasoned as well. For all of you non-pork eaters, don't be disappointed! They also serve chicken for the very same menu!

GYOZA IDR 29.8k

Gyoza is probably a mandatory appetizer for me when it comes to Japanese dishes cause I think it's the best partner for ramen and this has got to be the BEST gyoza I've ever tasted! The authenticity of it is killing me, in a good way, I don't even mind that it's chicken meat instead of my all time favorite pork!

ECHIGOYA RAMEN IDR 49.8k

Yeap! This has got to be their signature dish, it has the same name, can't get more obvious than that! Anyway, this place serves super sized bowl of heavenly goodness for only 49,8K! Guess that Japanese people really love their ramen. This is perfect for those who likes vegetables cause it's complete with large amount of corn, wakame, carrot, and leek with only few chickens, the noodle is also fulfilling, I bet it's even enough for 2 people. You can also choose between shoyu and shio for the soup. 

CHASYUMEN IDR 78K
Drum roll please, cause we're gonna welcome the champion here, Chasyumen! Ramen with PORK, sweet, juicy, fat slices of pork! With the generous amount of beautiful pork and ramen, you can rest assured that you're gonna go out this place with a stuffed belly!

This here is the fat, juicy pork! There's like 5 or 6 thick slices of these and I seriously can't get enough of it! Best ramen in town next to Hakata Ikkousha and it's only because the soup is not as rich as Hakata's, but other than that, PERFECT!

Now, I'm gonna show you just how big the portion of the ramen is compared to the donburi!

Did you see how big it is? The best ramen shop in town indeed! Fyi, all the noodles here are homemade. Wow! Big applause for that! I'm definitely gonna come back here to enjoy their amazing ramen with unbelievably reasonable price!

Echigoya Ramen 

Jl. Melawai 8 No. 2A

Blok M (Little Tokyo)

Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7395962

Opening Hours :

Monday - Friday :

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:00 pm

Dinner : 06.00 pm - 01:00 am

Saturday and Public Holidays :

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:30 pm

Dinner : 05:00 pm - 12:00 am

Sunday:

Lunch : 11:30 am - 02:30 pm

Dinner : 05:00 pm - 11:00 pm

DAITOKYO SAKABA JAKARTA

Okay, confession time! Who else have never been to the Little Tokyo in Melawai other than me?? Anyone? Well, I didn't even expect Jakarta to have this kind of place. This whole area is full of Japanese shops and of course, Japanese restaurants; which is why it's called Little Tokyo. Though the opening hours varied from restaurant to restaurant; some open for 24 hours and some only open from lunch till dinner, and Daitokyo Sakaba is one of the ones that only opens at night. Fyi, it's a bit of a struggle to have dinner here, cause the whole place is FULL of people and I really mean FULL! Good luck finding a parking space. Just look at the picture above! Actually, you have a bigger chance in finding a spot at the parking building provided rather than trying to find one in front of the restaurant.

I first knew this place from Ivy and I totally fell for the looks of their Donburi and Yakitori, so I thought 'I HAVE to try it!'. In the first night I came here, the place is too full that I had to change my plan, BUT that didn't stop me! Yeap, I came back the other night and all just for this particular restaurant.

The place is an authentic Japanese restaurant and it looks like a hallway divided into several private tables. Cool!

Unfortunately for big parties though, they only have tables around this size: 4 per table, or bigger ones for 10 at most. Private to the level of inner circles!

Look at how cute this is, it's where they wrote our orders!

Like the Japanese street food you might see in television, this place also provides a table right in front of the kitchen where you can eat whilst looking at the cooking process.

It's always fun to be able to take a peep into how the magic happens behind the kitchen!

Fyi, this is an actual Japanese restaurant, even the website is in Japanese!

ODEN

Too bad I didn't get to try this, but it sure looks appetizing!

OCHA

What's more Japanese than Ocha when it comes to beverages??

GYUTAN DON IDR 63K

Looks small, but it's actually a lot. Though the rice portion overwhelms the meat, it's still the best Gyutan Don I've ever tasted! The Gyutan is really tasty and tender and the complimentary miso soup is also yummy, perfect match for a rice bowl.

YAKITORI DON IDR 60K

Rice with a lot of small chicken drumsticks on top, at least that's what I first thought. Turns out, there're chicken skins and livers too, PLUS an egg in the middle which is covered by those Nori. Seriously, ultimately yummy, just imagine a super tender sweet chicken meat with savory chicken skin and liver plus a creamy egg yolk. I'm craving for it whilst writing this as well! I have to come back here again!

BUTA BARA IDR 40K

From the grills, PORK! I know it's not photogenic, but you gotta try this! Nothing beats a perfect tender texture with amazing aroma and it's PORK, I can't ask for anything better. Only 1 word to describe this; PERFECT!

NEGISHIOTAN IDR 75K

For those who don't know what Negishiotan is; it's an ox tongue. This one is recommended by the waiter and I admit, it's delicious, but I still like the Gyutan on the Gyutan Don better. It's the same meat, the only difference is the cooking process. Worth the try though!

I did NOT regret having to come back here twice! I won't even mind going through all those hardship just to get to these amazing foods and I will come back soon. Definitely made to my TOP Japanese authentic restaurants! Thank you Daitokyo Sakaba for the delicious experience!

Daitokyo Sakaba

Jl. Melawai 9 No. 26

Blok M

Kebayoran Baru

Jakarta Selatan 12160

021-7222047

Opening hours :

Monday - Friday : 05:30 pm - 12:30 am

Weekend : Closed at 11:00 pm

WEBSITE

FACEBOOK