Mong Tong Shine at the 2024 Bali Joyland Festival

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Mong Tong are destined for cult status. That much I'm sure. For those fortunate to have attended the 2024 Joyland Festival in Bali, this was a gig that will be seared deeply into the memory for a long, long time to come. The setting was just perfect. Just imagine a sultry late night in the tropical paradise that is Bali with gentle waves caressing the sandy shores close to where the modestly-sized stage had been set up.  When the Taiwanese electronic duo emerged, they promptly tied black cloths around their heads to cover their eyes. Incredibly, they would play blindfolded!  Experiencing Mong Tong's music live is quite a different proposition to listening to their recorded songs, which although brilliant, are more subtle and laid back. Live, though, the music takes on a psycadellic dimension, being notably less melodic but far more intense and catharic. The music was so immersive that the past and future disolved into irellevancy for me and only the moment mattered. But time
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Q Smokehouse (Senopati)

My favorite animal is steak.
~Fran Lebowitz

 You can get the man out of the jungle but you can’t get the jungle out of a man, so the prospect of a trip to this tidy little restaurant in the affluent tree-lined district of Senopati literally left me drooling in anticipation of sinking my teeth into some succulent raw steak.

 Verdict

 The Restaurant: Nice laid-back rustic vibe to the place with brick walls, soft lighting, modern seating and a few sofas chucked in for good measure. No vines to hang from but apart from that it was fine (not vine!)

 The Taste: We ordered four steaks for three people – two for me! – and as you can see in the picture below they looked superb. The taste did not disappoint either – the steaks were juicy, tasty, mercifully free of fat and very tender, albeit a tad salty (not that I don’t like that). The steaks were served with the obligatory French fries (shame they weren’t potato wedges) but a nice touch was the excellent watergrass with olive oil.


Q Smokehouse (Senopati)

Vietnamese coffee

Vietnamese coffee makes a change from the usual es teh manis!

The Service: Not too bad although the waiter’s rather lacking communication skills would (hopefully) rule him out of a job as an air traffic controller.

 The Price: Most steaks are in the Rp100k-300k range. Certainly not cheap but this is quality fare so what do you expect? Drinks cost Rp20k plus.

 The Verdict: A very good steakhouse in the mid-price range. They also do Mexican foods which I’ll have to try on my next visit…

 Q Smokehouse
Jl. Suryo No. 20,
Kebayoran Baru,
South Jakarta
Telp: ( 021) 723 5728

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