Staycation at Hilton Bandung

As some of you might already know, just exactly a couple of days before last Christmas, I was kindly invited by Hilton Hotel Bandung for a 2D1N bloggers trip! It was definitely one of the highlights of my blogger life this year, and I can’t wait any longer to share it with you all.

And by the way, just so you know, it was a super exciting trip as I spent those two days eating NON STOP with my other blogger friends : @dunia_kulinerbdg, @nakamajem, @foodnotebdg, and @lets.go.eat. And what I mean by non stop is… literally, non stop. Like, my stomach didn’t even have a time to take a rest.

So here you go, the longest post I’ve ever written so far! 

Day 1

So, starting right off from the beginning…

We arrived at Hilton Bandung at approximately 11 am. I was super excited to see this huge made-from-gift-boxes Christmas tree at the lobby. Don’t you think it’s cute?

And by the way, Hilton Bandung is located just approximately 10 – 15 minutes away from the airport! So it’s a perfect place to stay for either your vacation or business trip. You can easily book it from Agoda :

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Magma Lounge

After having to wait for about 15 minutes or so, we headed to Magma Lounge where we’re about to have our welcome drink, which in my case is welcome cocktail 😉

We were allowed to choose our own drink, so there were a couple of different drinks served. Some of them doesn’t contain alcohol but mine, the blue one definitely does.

One of my favorite drink at Magma Lounge was this Thai Iced Tea. It was one of the best! Too bad that the bubble was not.. chewy enough as I found it quite hard and frozen. But aside from that, it has this nice balance amount of milk, sugar, ice and tea given.

And here’s mine. Blue Sparkling, which is basically made from blue curacao, vodka, and soda.

My energy was recharged and I’m ready for lunch!

Lunch at Purnawarman Restaurant

Right after having our welcome drink, we moved to Purnawarman Restaurant, which is located just exactly beside the lounge, for lunch.

Purnawarman Restaurant is their all-day dining place here at Hilton Bandung. You can have you buffet breakfast here, a la carte lunch, and also buffet dinner. The venue itself is spacious and it does have a private corner room with 2 big round tables. And as the food? There were a lot of choices ranging from the Asian menu to the Western.

To start with, we had this Chicken Caesar Salad. What makes it unique is that instead of mixing the bread, the veggies, and the chicken just like any other common Caesar Salad, Hilton Bandung managed to have them separated. Love love love!

Oh, did I mention that this salad came in a huge portion? I can barely eat my next meal. But since the main course was even more interesting, I sort of forget about my full stomach and start digging in the meal immediately.

Next was Prawn Wrapped Bacon with Spicy Tomato Sauce. It doesn’t look appetizing for me at the first sight. I mean, it looks dark. And that’s it. But you know, glad that I didn’t judge this dish from it looks as it tasted just beyond my imagination!

The prawn was perfectly cooked. I can really taste the sweetness from the meat. And then, it was wrapped with beef bacon which tasted quite salty and spicy. And then it’s served with mashed potato and sauteed horenzo. I didn’t even use much of the tomato sauce since the prawn itself doesn’t need any more additional seasoning!

Then of course, the dessert. We had this red velvet Yule Log Cake. It came with a cute Christmas icing decoration! Mine was Bell but I spotted some of my friends got the Santa and Christmas tree one.

This was simply a nice traditional Christmas cake with ice cream on the side. Perfect!

Spa Time!

What could be better than a spa time after lunch?

I had a great time getting a massage! It was just exactly what I needed after a tiring week of working. The staff was so friendly when we came in and we were quickly escorted to the massage room. The therapist was pretty amazing and always asked me if the pressure was good enough, and of course it was.

Tea Time at Executive Lounge

Then, we headed to Executive Lounge for tea time. Like I’ve mentioned before, it was a NON STOP EATING trip, as you can probably see.

I didn’t get to try much since I was saving some space for our wine dinner, but I definitely love the ambiance here.

As it’s Christmas, they put this edible Gingerbread House as a Christmas touch. I felt like eating the whole house!

Chef’s Table Wine Dinner at Bonquet Kitchen

After spending like 15 minutes of tea time, we rushed to Hilton Bandung’s banquet kitchen, the one they usually use for wedding catering meal cooking. It’s Chef’s Table Wine Dinner time! I had this mixed up feeling since it was the first time I went into the kitchen and it was also my first time having chef’s table dinner. It’s kind of weird but exciting at the same time. We got to taste several food which was served by the chefs and there was also a sommelier who explained about the wine.

It was hot and a lil bit slippery inside the kitchen (what do you expect?). Glad that I didn’t wear any fancy dress.

So, a bit explanation about Chef’s Table. It began at France as a family tradition like, a hundred years ago where chefs feed their friends and family without having to leave the kitchen. And nowadays, it has evolved to be an exclusive dinner where the chefs will serve their meal to us directly.

We sat at the front-row seat and had a chance to interact with the awesome chefs and also the sommelier directly! You know, those yelling you heard in a Gordon Ramsay’s tv show is kind of real!

Amuse Bouche : Water Melon with Feta Goat Cheese

The wine dinner started off with something refreshing. It’s watermelon, with feta goat cheese, vegetables paste, and macadamia nuts. And of course, sparkling wine for the pairings. I tried to kind of mix the watermelon and the wine inside my mouth and it was literally melting and bursting! I was sort of amazed at how unique a slice of watermelon could be.

The sparkling wine was from Pearly Bay, it’s a wine of South Africa. It has this sweet floral taste which I love. Salute!

Appetizer : Mediterranean Seafood Terrine

Next was Marinated Pan seared Terrine. The term terrine itself refers to a meat loaf made from coarsely chopped ingredients. This one over here use several kind of fish. It was served with capers, tomato salsa, black olive, roasted capsicum, feta goat cheese, and angle hair pesto at on the top.

It was paired with this Pearly Bay Dry White, a refreshing dry wine with a crisp lemony flavor. Finishes dry and tangy in the mouth.

Soup : Asparagus Soup Three Colour Ravioli

Next up was asparagus soup with three colour ravioli. It was an amazing house made ravioli! Especially as it use Blue Cheese as one of the ingredients. By the way, those crispy leeks you see on top of the soup give a really nice hint to the flavor! Finished mine within minutes.

Sorbet : Ginger Beer Sorbet

Then we had this refreshing Ginger & Beer Sorbet, before we had our main course 😉 Just to cleanse everything out.

Main Course : Beef Duo of Signature (Sous Vide)

And here you go, the main course. It’s Angus beef and NY Striploin Rillettes, served with pomme terrine, dehydrated black olive, vichy carrot, shallot confit, asparagus, rosemary glaze and espresso sauce. Yes you heard me right, it’s espresso sauce. I never thought coffee and meat can make a really nice combination. The acidic and sweet tones of the espresso pair really well with the savory tones of the meat. Exploded in my mouth!

Dessert : Artisan Signature Tiramisu

Next was Tiramisu with Chocolate Mousse and Vanilla Panna Cotta. A perfect ending to the dinner. We paired it with Pearly Bay Sparkling Rose. It has this nice red berry and peachy aromas with a soft and sweet finish. I like this particular wine the most!

Cheers!

Enough with the food, I’m ready to go to bed!

The Bedroom

By the way, I was super excited that I got this King Hilton Executive room! It was really spacious I think it could hold up to 3 person at once while you still have so many spaces left.

The room has a huge window facing to the city view. And it was completed with a large desk, a bath tub, a rain shower, a huge TV, a sofa, and of course, the very comfy and fluffy bed and blanket. I don’t wanna leave my room!

Good night, everyone!

Day 2

The next day, I woke early just because I couldn’t wait any longer for breakfast. It took place at Purnawarman Restaurant, the same place we had our lunch the day before.

Guess what? There’s this BIG SIZE HILBIE (Is that the correct way to spell the name?), the mascot of Hilton Bandung.

Breakfast at Purnawarnan

It was a all you can eat breakfast, so I just simply took everything that looks interesting to me. But first, coffee!

And of course, not to forget some bread.

I didn’t take much photo of the food since it was still early in the morning and I was not in the mood of taking pic. You know that feeling right? The good thing is, I successfully recharged myself for the next schedule : COOKING CLASS! or a.k.a Ultimate Chef.

Ultimate Chef

The cooking class took place at the pool side.

Chef Dhoni taught us to make Hilton Bandung’s signature dish : PINDANG IGA ASAM PEDAS and POACHED SALMON.

First thing we made was this Poached Salmon. We just simply tossed everything into the boiling water, and waited for several minutes for the salmon to cooked. Then put it on the plate, give it a lil kick from the corn and stuffs, and TA~DA!!

Next was PINDANG IGA ASAM PEDAS, the signature dish of Hilton Bandung. You don’t want to miss this one! It’s THAT GOOD! I think you can order this one at Purnawarman Restaurant, or Fresco Restaurant.

Cooking the ribs itself was pretty easy since the soup was all prepared by the chefs. Again, we just need to toss it all and warm them up a lil bit.

Pindang Iga has never tasted this good!!! It’s really tender and the meat was easily fall out of the bone. And then there’s this thick savory soup with spicy flavor. Soooo rich!

Lunch at Fresco

Right after cooking class, we headed to Fresco Restaurant for lunch. This restaurant is famous for its pizza and pasta. A lil bit about Fresco Restaurant. So there’s this interesting package for Sunday. It’s a all you can eat pizza lunch with a free swimming tix! Interesting huh?

Sadly, this was our last schedule here at Hilton Bandung. And I was sort of sad remembering that I had to go home soon.

Appetizer : Seasonal Fresh Salad

A bowl of salad to start with? Yes please. This was baby romaine, frisse, endive, and loloroso served with pine nut, cherry tomato, light lime, and honey mustard. Refreshing! Am ready for the next meal.

Soup : Classic Bouillabaisse

Rich seafood broth with Crouton de Gruyere and Garlic Bread.

Main : Homemade Pappardelle

This was roasted Chicken Duxelle Mushroom served with Homemade Pappardelle, a large flat pasta. The pasta was lovely! It was perfectly cooked and served with parmesan cheese on top. Then there’s this stuffed chicken on the side.

Dessert : Cheese Cake Fritters

Warm crispy fried cheese cake served with banana foster flambe and vanilla ice cream. I couldn’t ask for more. Like, literally. I’ve never been this full before.

Fresco Restaurant opens from 5pm – 10pm on weekday and 10 am – 10 pm on weekend. Go for their freshly made pizza!

And… it’s time for us to say good bye. I really enjoy the warm hospitality Hilton has offered. The room was unbelievably spacious, the pool area was comfy, the massage was relaxing, and THE FOOD ROCKS! A huge thanks to Hilton Bandung for sponsoring this awesome staycation. It was a blissful trip and I’m super happy and honored to be there! Special thanks to Ervina Mironari, Julie Soegianto, and Hesty for accompanying us during the trip. Hope to see you all again soon!

… and of course, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of us!!!

Psst. Why not joining NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY at HILTON BANDUNG? By paying IDR 450K++ per person, you’ll get to experience a BBQ session at the pool side (at Fresco Restaurant) or a Dinner at Purnawarman Restaurant! Plus many other performance to enjoy. LET IT SPARKLE!

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