Zomato Foodies MeetUp and "Tabula Rasa" Movie Screening at Yo' Panino

Hi Eaters,

About last week I received a surprising e-mail from Zomato, inviting me to another Foodie MeetUp. This was my second Foodie MeetUp after the first one at Crematology at mid August. And of course I was so excited to be invited because this MeetUp is going to be extra special. Why? Well, it's not just going to be a foodtasting event, but also a movie screening event. Yeaayy!!

For this MeetUp, the venue was at Yo' Panino which is located at Plaza Indonesia. The restaurant itself is quite renown for its delicious sandwiches. And truly, looking at the menu just got me drooling.

The interior of the restaurant is quite hip. It looked like it's applying industrial theme into the restaurant. The overall feeling I get in this restaurant was cozy and comfortable. And I'm loving the decorations. Unique and so intriguing.

I got the chance to tried some of Yo' Panino's Premium Sidekicks (light bites) while waiting for the movie screening event to get started. Here are some that I tried.

Buffalo Wings - IDR 27K

If ever there should be any light bites that I love, it has gotta be chicken wings. This wings at Yo' Panino tasted decent for me. I love how it's not too greasy. And actually the sauce on the outside layer was pretty good. Unfortunately it was only on the outside. The meat underneath that sauce tasted a bit bland. Could be good if the seasoning was seeped inside. The chicken was cooked nicely though and it's still got that juicy meat.

Chick Pops - IDR 24K

Tasted nice. Nicely seasoned, and went pretty well with the mayo sauce. I'm loving this dish.

Truffle Parmesan Fries - IDR 24K

I would presume that the Truffle mentioned in the menu is the Truffle mushroom. Well, Truffle mushroom is like a delicacy when it comes to ingredients, And for my palate it seemed a bit overthrown by the cheese. Well, the taste is quite good though, I just hope there would be more striking flavors from the mushroom.

Cheese Nachos - IDR 27K

The nachos was topped with jalapeno. Well, I personally love jalapeno and the heatness that comes with it. So I certainly have no objections with this dish. But maybe the name of the dish should be added the word "Spicy" so it won't mislead customers who wouldn't expect nothing else besides cheese and nachos to be served to them.

Java Slaw - IDR 15K

If you're a fan of gado-gado you would love this dish. The chips gave it an extra crispy texture which is yummy. The taste was good. Perhaps it just needs better plating to make it more visually appetizing.

Spicy Cassava Chips - IDR 12K

My favourite light bites of that day. Maybe my tongue is just too Indonesian, right? lol. But actually this cassava chips really tasted good. The only downside was it's a little too thick. Perhaps if they were cut more thin, then it would be better. But the seasoning was excellent.

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Movie Screening

Okay, have you drooled yet looking at those awesome food? Well, I felt the same that day. But I was drooling for Padang cuisine. Well, I mentioned earlier that this was not just going to be a food tasting event right? It's also a movie screening event. And that movie that has successfully got me (and also the other foodies) drooling is Tabula Rasa.

Tabula Rasa is a food film which uses the philosophy of food and incorporated it in terms of human and social relationship. Padang cuisine is the highlight of the movie. I don't see much movies in Indonesia which use food as the foundation of the story and maybe Tabula Rasa is the first one to ever do that.

The movie itself tells a story of Hans (Jimmy Kobogau) who had a dream to be a professional football player and yet he has to see his dream vanished because of an accident. He has no will to live until he met Mak Uwo (Dewi Irawan) who took him as a helper in her lapau, side by side with Natsir (Ramdan Setia) and Parmanto (Yayu Unru).

Conflicts and human relations sparkled as the movie went along, emerging every unique personality that each character has. It's a heart-touching story how human relations could be build on the love for food. And how two different cultures could meet in a harmonic way. 

As the movie went on, my eyes were spoiled by the awesome cinematography, and how the foods are depicted so beautifully and so soo visually appetizing. Here, let me show you what I mean by putting some screenshots from the movie trailer.

See? Beautiful right? Taken from a perfect angle. Well if these still images didn't get you drooling maybe you should see the trailer.

The brilliant mind behind the idea for the movie is Sheila (Lala) Timothy who acted as the producer, helped by Adriyanto Dewo as director, Tumpal Tampubolon as script writer, and Vino G. Bastian as Assistant Producer.

 The director, Adriyanto Dewo and the producer, Sheila Timothy

 Discussing the movie with foodies

The foodies also got the chance to meet the creative guy behind the movie, the director, Adriyanto Dewo to share and ask questions about the movie. And boy, sure we had a lot of fun in our discussion with him.

I'm not going to spoil you with more details, I'm just going to tell you that Tabula Rasa is a very recommended movie for all ages. It's got that element that will make you fall in love instantly. The storyline was not over dramatic and still reachable to common sense so you won't feel confuse since it really touches daily human relations.

To know further you have got to watch the movie on theaters. It has premiered on 25th of September 2014. Be sure to watch it, Eaters.

I'm loving the movie screening event and I felt so lucky to be one of the foodies chosen by Zomato to attend this event. Hey, I even like the apron we got from the movie screening event!

 Foodies wearing the cute aprons!

Me with Sheila Timothy

Tabula Rasa is definitely going to be a movie which I will watch again. And this time I will bring others to enjoy the exciting experience I got from watching it. And maybe afterwards we can huzzle up together to the nearest Padang restaurant. Lol.

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Anyway, back to the foodtasting event. As I mentioned, Yo' Panino has got some delicious subs to offer. Come on see what I tried.

Sloppy Joe - IDR 69K

This is my order. The sandwich consists of ground beef, onions and of course the sauce. The taste was fantastic. The ground beef was delicious and savory. There were more beef than the onions (which is good btw). The buns were nice and soft too, 

The price may looked high but it came with a monstrous portion, so totally worth it. A really recommended dish. I love it.

Crispy Dory - IDR 59K

Another loveable dish. I'm loving how they incorporated jalapenos in this sandwich. So the heat comes up with the nice savory taste from the dory and also the cheese at the same time. Bursting in flavors.

Ham & Cheese Melt - IDR 39K

Delicious. Good fillings. The bread was a bit hard. Almost too hard for the knife to cut. Had it be softer, it would be good.

Philly Cheese Steak - IDR 69K

This one was also super delicious. The beef steak was super tasty, and there's a lot of cheese inside. The buns were soft and truly this is a memorable dish.

Pesto Chicken - IDR 59K

There were quite a lot of arugula inside this sandwich. The pesto sauce tasted pretty good, I loved how the olive oil still shined in the dish. The chicken was cooked nicely, and it had a savory taste in it.

Avo-Mango Prawn - IDR 69K.

The Avo-Mango Prawn Salad had grilled prawns, sliced mango and avocado, frehly chopped mezclun and arugula and finally dressed in spiced lime sauce.

I love the salad dressing, it tasted delicious. The prawns too bad there weren't many inside. The mezclun and arugula were fresh and tasty. The portion was quite generous too, so totally worth the price tag.

Now let's go to my favourite part. Dessert.

Fresh Baked Cookies - IDR 12K

There are 3 variants for the cookies: Chocolate Mint (clean, no topping), Chocolate Chip (with nuts topping) and Almond. From all 3 variants I would say I love the Chocolate Mint more. Basically because Chocolate Chip and Almond are just common variants easily found elsewhere. But they all tasted delicious. The sweetness was fine, and even the chocolate still had that bitter sensation. So it's not all sugary.

Coconut Squares - IDR 18K

The most loveable dish that day. The sweetness was perfect. The coconut was delicious. A must-order dessert. Enough said.

Banana Cake - IDR 18K.

Nice level of sweetness and the actual banana flavor was decent and not too overpowering. The cake, however, could be better if it was more moist. Eating this cake that day made me thirsty.

Speaking about thirsty, now let's see the drinks I had.

Blackcurrant, Homemade Lemonade, Milo - IDR 12K/each

Blackcurrant

 Homemade Lemonade

Milo

Those are the classic drinks I tried. None of them were disappointing. I love how these drinks were not too sugary so I didn't have to concern about having a sugar rush after going home. But if you need to feel more secure about what you drink, there is another option for you.

Cold-Pressed Juice Yo! - ranging from IDR 36K to IDR 42K.

For you who concern about health, definitely cold-pressed juice is the perfect choice for you. And here at Yo' Panino you'll find there are 12 variants to choose. So many right?

I tried the Pineapple Express - IDR 36K and the Vitamin-C Detox - IDR 36K and I love them. 

Thank you, Zomato!

In the end I give a standing applause for Zomato, Yo' Panino and also Sheila Timothy from Lifelike Pictures for successfully making this Foodie MeetUp a memorable and exciting event. Can't be more grateful to be invited here. Meeting new friends, having wonderful tasty meal, and watching an awesome movie are just things that really made my day.

Can't wait for more events to come from Zomato, more delicious food served by Yo' Panino, and absolutely more creative and more outstanding movies from Lifelike Pictures.

Keep on chewing!

Jazzy Dee

Twitter: @jzzydee

Instagram: @jzzydee

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Yo' Panino

Plaza Indonesia, 4th Floor

Phone: (021) 29924020

Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta Pusat