5. Grand Jatra Hotel Pekanbaru

So you guys may be thinking, what's so special about hotel food? Besides impeccable presentation, taste is bound to be great because they keep to standards. Well then, Grand Jatra Hotel is bound to surprise you.

During our four days three nights trip to Pekanbaru, dad has some business dealings with his Indonesian partners. So when we met up with his partners, two charming gentlemen, Pak Sya and Pak Hendry, they took all of us for a treat to this hotel. This hotel is one of the more renowned ones in Pekanbaru as it is a 5-star establishment with another hotel in Balikpapan.

Our tea was at the hotel's restaurant, The Bellagio, which is located by the pool. As it was a sunny day, rainbow-like sparkles reflected from the pool's surface into the restaurant. It looked magical and very much like fairy land, a gentle air-conditioned respite from Indonesia's hot weather.

A spur of the moment selfie with the buffet line's decor while waiting for our drinks and desserts.

My choice of drink was Irish coffee while desserts for everyone were pisang goreng kipas (fried banana in the shape of a fan) and bolu kemujo (a traditional Indonesian cake in the shape of a flower which normally comes in a green color).

Let's start at my Irish Coffee. Mine was heavily laced (alright, alright, LADEN actually) with Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur. It was silky smooth and the drink slowly begins to lull me into a false sense of comfort, danger in a slice of heaven. Thoroughly enjoyable, I suggest you drink this if you plan on hitting the sack before your next bout of sightseeing.

The seductively sexy coffee dubbed the Irish Coffee.

For the desserts, we had pisang goreng kipas with chocolate, cheese and condensed milk. The fried banana was a far cry from what we get in Malaysia that comes soaked in oil and liquefied cheese. This version was crisp to every bite with shredded mozzarella cheese and chocolate sauce. I couldn't resist taking seconds although I'm not a big fan of sweets.

Guess which one is the fried banana (no prizes for guessing).

The bolu kemojo, I have to be honest, didn't really rock my boat. It's a dense cake made out of flour and pandan juice and some other ingredients. Being truly Indonesian, it was sweet as how desserts should be which doesn't appeal to my taste buds which shun sweet things. But it had a lovely fragrance and the pretty appearance of a flower. Do try this by the way as it is the local dessert, so not trying it will be a miss too.

Bolu kemojo.

So I will bid you adieu till my next tantalizing post on, what else, FOOD of course! Haha...So stay with me as I will be giving you glimpses into my life as a travelling foodie.