We looked at each other real quick and realized that even though Kelapa Gading has been the place we go home to for the past 6 years, we had never really give the place much of a thought. It’s convenient of course, but we’re Southerners by heart, which means we would know more about Pondok Indah Mall than Mall of Indonesia.
The mall has been our comfort zone for food, coffee and grocery shopping. But the franchise cafés are getting too crowded with families, moms gathering and nannies with the strollers. So we dared ourselves to check what’s outside the doors. Turned out we’ve been missing out some good stuffs. A pity that is, because we spent most of our time on the North side of the city, where tasty food is plenty and homey café are flourishing. So one public holiday weekend, we decided to go down to the Mall of Indonesia’s vicinity and check out what’s available for our date: blogging and homework that is.
Here are three of our findings: TOF Sicacilla, Coffeegasm and Kahvenin, located just right outside the Lobby 8 door.
THURSDAY – Public Holiday
TOF Sicacilla
Ruko Italian Walk B/43
8AM – 8PM Weekdays, 9AM – 9PM Weekend
The first one we tried is TOF Sicacilla (Ruko Italian Walk B/43), a small neighborhood coffee shop with comfortable sofas just across Lobby 8. The place is rather small and not really noticeable from the outside. We’re there because the other coffee shops are rather packed with groups that afternoon and this one has only a few pairs of people inside. Turned out, it’s really cozy inside with a unique sofa seating and good coffee. People recommend the small pies but we’re full at the time and decided to go straight for the drinks. Our orders are Black Coffee (Rp. 33k) and Tropics (Rp. 40k) which is Apple, Carrot and Orange juice in one glass. The servers are friendly and the wi-fi is reliable. We stayed for few hours, until almost their closing hours.
FRIDAY – Back to Work
Coffeegasm House Brew
Ruko Italian Walk Blok I/10A
7AM – 10PM Weekdays, 8AM – 10 PM Weekends
The following morning, I need to grab a quick breakfast coffee before running to work and ended up at Coffeegasm (Ruko Italian Walk Blok I/10A). It’s located right next to Lobby 8, just look right when you go out the double door. This one opens at 7AM, so I can get my coffee and breakfast (they have tasty banana bread for Rp. 30k). The Americano (Rp. 25k) was okay but it’s still good for a morning buzz. The tables are bigger in this coffee shop, which make it more ideal if you’re working together with two laptops. Since Dudu is mostly doing homework or watching stuffs on Youtube on his tablet, the spacious tables are rather a luxury. We can easily make use of this place on the weekend too.
SUNDAY – Homework Procrastination
Kahvenin
Ruko Italian Walk Blok I/6A
8.30AM – 9.30PM Everyday
Saturday afternoon are the busiest for every business, so we ended up going into Kahvenin (Ruko Italian Walk Blok I/6A) on Sunday Morning, especially when our Google search identifies the place as “Brunch Restaurant” instead of café. Their food menu is actually quite extravagant; unfortunately it’s also quite pricey. So, we ended up with long black coffee (Rp. 25k), lychee ice tea (Rp. 25k) and Rainbow Fries. The Rainbow Fries (Rp. 50k), which consists of yam, sweet potatoes and regular French Fries, is recommended for those looking for some light munch. We’ve yet to try its other menu but maybe next time when we arrive on empty stomach, we’ll splurge in the brunch. The place is quite cozy although the long sofas have smaller tables which are perfect for group chat but not for laptops or homework paper spreads. Kahvenin is probably the most noticeable café of all three due to its large sign and white exterior.
We took a stroll afterwards and find several other coffee places that look friendly from the outside. Maybe we should give them a try another time.
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