Food notes

Every meal, scored the same way.

Jakarta reviews every few weeks, plus the meals worth writing about from each trip. Full reviews carry a Signature Meter; shorter notes just tell you whether to bother.

Signature Meter
Saawaan — 7.2, the only scored review
Home base
Jakarta — the list that keeps growing
Disclosure
All paid in full unless a note says otherwise
Place
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11 notes across 5 places

Newest first

Kindling crab custard served in a white cup with amaebi and dark sauce 9.1
Jakarta · Review 9 May 2026

Kindling

Three-room set menu that felt intimate rather than polished. Crab custard was the peak.

Expensive but worth it · birthday dinner
Teh Kotak dessert presentation at August Jakarta 9.1
Jakarta · Review 18 Apr 2026

August

Third visit and still no weak dish. Warmer-modern where Kindling is nostalgic.

Worth it · date night
Sculptural opening course at Saawaan Bangkok 7.2
Bangkok · Review 17 Jan 2026

Saawaan

Serious Thai craft and excellent service, but the Raw course was the clear miss.

Beautiful craft, not automatic return
Gyukatsu Motomura beef cutlet set with sides and rice
Tokyo · Food note 26 Jan 2025

Gyukatsu Motomura

The hot stone lets you finish each bite yourself. Best first meal of the Tokyo leg.

Go · best gyukatsu
CoCo Ichibanya curry with fried cutlet and spinach in Osaka
Osaka · Food note 23 Jan 2025

CoCo Curry, Shin Umeda

After Osaka Castle: crispy cutlet, warm sauce, easy travel-day comfort.

Fine · easy lunch
Assorted wagyu beef plate at Ryunosu in Osaka
Osaka · Food note 22 Jan 2025

Ryunosu yakiniku

Yakiniku near Shinsaibashi — legitly good meat, plus a big udon bowl.

Go · late lunch
Soft serve ice cream cups outside Shiroi Koibito Park in winter
Sapporo · Food note 20 Jan 2025

Shiroi Koibito soft serve

Delicate and sweet, eaten outside in freezing weather after the biscuit tour.

Go once · sweet stop
Lunch plate with omurice, fried seafood, salad, and hamburger patty
Sapporo · Food note 20 Jan 2025

Lunch near Hokkaido Jingu

Omurice, fried seafood, salad, hamburger patty — comfort after the shrine.

Fine · shrine day
7-Eleven dinner spread with crab, egg, grilled chicken, and snacks
Sapporo · Food note 19 Jan 2025

7-Eleven hotel dinner

After Mt. Moiwa: convenience store snacks, crab-style bites, egg, chicken, dessert.

Do it · hotel night
Fresh salmon sashimi rice bowl from Sapporo lunch
Sapporo · Food note 19 Jan 2025

Salmon & king crab lunch

Restaurant name forgotten, but the salmon sashimi and king crab leg stuck.

Go · seafood
A bowl of ramen with egg, pork, scallions, and savoury broth
Sapporo · Food note 18 Jan 2025

Arrival night ramen

A late 22:30 bowl after landing in Hokkaido. Cramped, cozy, savoury broth.

Go · first night

Coming next

More Jakarta, and a Malang list.

A new review every few weeks. The monthly letter goes out before anything is polished.

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