Surabaya Culinary Trip

Last week, I had a chance to visit Surabaya after long time not have a visit to this city. The purpose was actually a business trip from my office, but I take the chance to also have a culinary roadshow. Well, work hard during the day and play hard during the night. Sounds fair, isn't it?

There are some emotional connections between me and this city. My dad was spending his teenage time in this city, studying at one of the Chinese high school here. He always took me here for school holiday during my childhood era. Not a surprise that I also familiar with the local food especially restaurants which has a long heritage.

Since I really miss these foods, I decided to have memory trails this time. I stayed at Pullman Surabaya City Center. All my culinary trails are located in the center area which is very close to this hotel. The hotel was great. Big room, nice service, fantastic breakfast, strategic location very close to Tunjungan Plaza, the biggest shopping mall in Surabaya.

Let's start the culinary journey in visiting sequence order.

Nasi Bebek Sinjay - IDR 25K

My first stop is to taste the famous duck rice from Madura which has open their branch in Surabaya recently. So actually this cannot be included as Surabaya heritage, but I was tempted to try because of the fame of this dish.

The fame was not a lie! This is the best Madura duck rice I ever eat. The meat was super tender, generous crunch, super hot chilli, with some pieces of duck liver and innards. As an innards lover, I really appreciate the addition of the last one. But sadly, the duck piece was rather small as compared to the other restaurants.

Rujak Cingur Delta - IDR 30K

The favourite restaurant from my dad's fave dish. Cingur is literally means cow's nose. I know your face show a disgusted feeling now, but trust me, this is really good! The restaurant is located inside Delta Plaza, one of the heritage shopping mall in Surabaya which are now often visited by lower class community.

The dish may not be instagenic, but the taste was well worth to try. It contains cingur and some vegetables, topped with peanut sauce. What make the peanut sauce different from Gado-Gado is that it mixed with shrimp paste or petis.

Ice Cream Zangrandi - IDR 30K (Tutti Frutti)

When talking about home made ice cream, the local's top of mind will be Zangrandi. This cafe was the famous place where the teenagers spend their Saturday night during the 80s era. Until now it's still crowded especially during weekends. Their signature ice cream is Tutti Frutti, comes with various flavour, Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, etc.

Rawon Setan - IDR 30K (with rice)

Rawon is the specialty food from Surabaya. It's beef in black soup. The black color is coming from Kluwak fruit. The most famous rawon in Surabaya is Rawon Setan, which means ghost rawon. They name it like this because in the first years of opening, they only opens from dusk till dawn.

Rawon often served with other fritters mainly innards, but most commonly served with salted egg.

Ayam Goreng President - IDR 20K (one piece)

This is the most famous kampung fried chicken in Surabaya. Or I can say the most delicious fried chicken in the world. You might argue with me, but please try. It's well worth it.

They also serve other side dishes, mostly fried innards, kangkung plecing, tahu pong, didieh (fried frozen chicken blood), etc. The last one was really special, I really like it.

In the 80s era, they have the real contender called Ayam Goreng Pemuda. But their business is stepping back lately and left behind by Ayam President.

Soto Madura Gubeng Pojok - IDR 25K

This is my another childhood memory. Also my dad's fave restaurant for Soto Madura. In the very first time when they open their stall, they were located at Gubeng Pojok. That's why they name their restaurant before the location. Now they moved to Kusuma Bangsa with still preserving the original name so that people aware.

All my culinary trails above was happening near my hotel. To see how close they are, you can see below map. I have mark all of them. Please click to enlarge.

Not many restaurant I can try in a very short 2 nights stay in this city. Actually, there are many heritage and childhood memories restaurant we can visit in Surabaya. Not forget to mention Boncafe, the most famous local steakhouse. Bakwan Kapasari, heritage pork meatballs. Also local snacks like Ote-Ote Porong (oyster cake), or Bandeng Asep (smoked milk fish) to be brought for your family when you leave Surabaya. Oh, Surabaya. How can I not miss you...

Happy birthday to me!

Jakarta's Top 10 Trending Bakmi 2015

We are now approaching the end of 2015. Good or bad,  some memories have been made during this year. It's time for Jakarta Hunger Trails to share special post as a gift to our loyal readers, The Top 10 Trending Bakmi 2015 in Jakarta. Why Bakmi/Noodle? As simple of this dish is the most favourite food for Jakarta people especially for breakfast.

In this occasion, I will not use my own photos. Instead, I use photos posted by the netters to give appreciation to my fellow food bloggers in Indonesia. And the list will not in a particular order, means randomly. Because I couldn't decide which Bakmi is better than which one. They are all delicious. I also feel that no review needed for each Bakmi because most of you are already familiar with them. Location map will be included just in case you want to visit them. If they have more than one branch, we will only mention their most famous branch. Enjoy the list!

1. Bakmi Ahiung Khas Jambi

Photo Credit : JenzCorner

Address :
Jl. Pinangsia Timur No. 15 Tambora
Jakarta Barat

2. Bakmi Aloi

Photo Credit : Pergikuliner.com (Maria)

Address :

Jl. Muwardi Raya No. 36 Grogol

Jakarta Barat

3. Bakmi Alok

Photo Credit : k317ny.japar.net

Address :

Jl. Mangga 2 No. 38B Duri Kepa

Jakarta Barat

4. Bakmi Asui

Photo Credit : The Hungry Doctor

Address :

Jl. Tanjung Duren Utara IIIA No. 37

Jakarta Barat

5. Bakmi Khek

Photo Credit : Opensnap.com (Afifah Firdiyanti)

Address :

Jl. Muara Karang Raya No. 115

Jakarta Utara

6. Bakmi Ko Hon Toboali

Photo Credit : Openrice.com (Nardit)

Address:

Jl. Mangga 2 No. 39 Greenville

Jakarta Barat

7. Bakmi Lamlo

Photo Credit : Instagram @chavia_natasha

Address :

Fresh Market PIK Blok G No. 29-30

Pantai Indah Kapuk

Jakarta Utara

8. Bakmi Orpa

Photo Credit : The Hungry Doctor

Address :

Jl. Malaka II No. 25

Jakarta Barat

9. Pangsit Mie Palu

Photo Credit : Openrice.com (Elvinds)

Address :

Jl. Kelapa Kopyor No. 14 Kelapa Gading

Jakarta Utara

10. Bakmi Ketapang Wewe

Photo Credit : Bakmiapps

Address :

Jl. KH Zainul Arifin No. 43B Ketapang

Jakarta Barat

I know there will be some debates on the list. Do you agree with my list? Feel free to drop any comment below.

Fröhliche Weihnachten

Feliz Navidad

Joyeux Noël

Maligayang Pasko

圣诞节快乐

メリークリスマス

สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016

Sunny Side Up

There are many new restaurant open at Central Park Mall recently. The latest one was Sunny Side Up. And they have the same offer as Zenbu, also the newly opened restaurant at this mall with 20% discount offer.

Sunny Side Up once was a restaurant that serve all about eggs. This concept was not running well. And recently they changed their concept to served Omurice as their main menu, and this quite working. For those who didn't know, Omurice is rice wrapped with omelette. With this renewed concept, slowly but sure they started to spread their wings by opening new branches at some shopping malls.

Salmon Cream Omurice (Half Cooked Eggs) - IDR 64K++

For your information, in here we can choose the eggs to be cooked well done or half cooked with different pricing. The half cooked one is slightly more expensive. The salmon cream omurice was their signature dishes according to the menu book. Taste wise it was just okay. The cream was fine and also the rice and the omelette.

Beef Demiglaze Omurice (Half Cooked Eggs) - IDR 52.5K++

This omurice was serve with brownie sauce and 3 pieces of beef balls. The brownie sauce taste sweet and sour and quite delicious. The beef balls also perfectly cooked. I prefer this menu rather than the cream salmon one.

What I experience during the promotional period was the serving time was too long at almost an hour for our food to be served from our order was taken. It seems that their resources was not ready for full capacity guess. Even, I saw a Chinese husband and wife who I suspect one of the owner was cooking at the kitchen as the chefs. It seems that family business was still strong in the management. Aside all of the messy serving, this restaurant was worth to visit not during the peak time when less people visiting this restaurant.

Food - 7/10
Cleanliness - 10/10
Service - 5/10
Ambience - 7/10
Price/Value - 6/10

Sunny Side Up
Central Park Mall
Lower Ground Floor (In front of iBox)
Jakarta Barat
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm

Zenbu: House of Mozaru

Zenbu has spread their wings by opening their new branch at Central Park Mall recently. Celebrating their opening, they offered 20% discount on all Food starting from October 1-11, which I think was an interesting offer. That's why I went to this restaurant 3 times during their promotional period. Basically, Zenbu offered almost complete range of Japanese food, from street food like Okonomiyaki until more premium ones. It ranging from Ramen, Udon, Teppanyaki, Katsu, Donburi, Yakimeshi, Omurice and also Sushi. Their signature menu was Mozaru which for me was more like Japanese baked rice.

Let's have a look at the dishes that I tried during the 3 visits.

Chicken Mozaru (Regular) - IDR 59K++

As I mentioned, Mozaru is like a Japanese baked rice, topped with melted mozzarella cheese.

I ordered Chicken Mozaru. Other than chicken, they have other type of Mozaru such as Beef, Mushroom, Seafood, Gindara, Salmon and the most expensive was Unagi. For the rice we can choose between Curry rice, Butter rice and Spaghetti. For the sauce, choose between Tomato, Butter and Dynamite. This time I choose Dynamite since the waiter recommend that as the most favourite. According to him, Dynamite sauce was spicy mayo. Taste wise, I kinda didn't like it. I think the baked rice at Hong Kong Cafe was more delicious. The taste was too ordinary.

Chicken Omurice - IDR 59K++

For those who didn't know, omurice is rice wrapped with omelette.

The choice of omurice in Zenbu ranging from Chicken, Beef, Salmon and Gindara. I choose chicken omurice. The chicken katsu was very well cooked and quite thick in size. The curry sauce was also perfectly seasoned and not to strong in terms of the smell, typical of Japanese curry. Comparing to the Mozaru, I prefer this omurice. We can choose the rice as well, whether it's Shoyu, Tomato or Curry.

Beef Teppanyaki - IDR 69K++

The third dish that I tried was the Beef Teppanyaki.

I was quite surprise with the serving size of the teppanyaki. I think it's enough for two person. Aside of the sliced beef, there was also vegetables, beansprout, corn and half cooked sunny side up served on the hot teppan. This tasted delicious. I choose the sweet sauce and it blended perfectly with the ingredients. Other choice of sauce was spicy sauce. We can have the rice and Miso soup as well for an additional of IDR 20K. Their signature teppanyaki was Wagyu beef teppanyaki.

Chicken Furai - IDR 35K++

For me this was just an ordinary chicken katsu with no special taste. The taste was similar to what Hokben has, but with bigger size. We can have an additional sunny side up for IDR 8K. The extra crunch on top of the katsu didn't help much.

Dynamite Roll Sushi - IDR 85K++

I ordered this fushion sushi because of the dynamite sauce as mentioned by the waiter.

There was also nothing special in the sushi. Inside the roll was unagi and some veggie topped with dynamite sauce. The sushi rice was too soft and too sticky to my liking. Taste wise it was okay.

As a restaurant which offered complete variety of Japanese food, Zenbu was worth to try if you want to have all kinds of Japanese in one place. What interesting was they also served Modanyaki, the less popular Japanese street food as compared to Okonomiyaki. It's more or less similar to Okonomiyaki, but instead of veggie filling, Modanyaki filling was noodle. As I mention, this restaurant are worth to try, at least once in your life.

Food - 7/10
Cleanliness - 10/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Price/Value - 7/10

Zenbu: House of Mozaru
Central Park Mall
Lower Ground Floor (Next to Bonchon)
Jakarta Barat
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm

Bakmi Lamlo

You just can’t deny the power of Instagram nowadays. I notice the presence of this noodle in Instagram posted by one of food blogger colleague. What makes me more curious to try was another posting by my cousin in law, Tity Henny, also in Instagram, saying that this noodle is her new favorite and she has it every week. First impression looking at the posted picture was this is Siantar Curly Noodle or Bakmi Kriting Siantar. I got it right when I visit this place last week that the noodle is particularly Medan specific noodle.

I visit their main branch at Fresh Market PIK. They have other branch at Muara Karang. They only serve 3 kinds of dishes: noodle, beehoon, and kwetiaw. Each has 2 varieties: Biasa (Original) and Komplit (Complete). To satisfy my curiosity I order the complete noodle instead of the original one.

The complete noodle consist of two pieces of pork meatball, two pieces of shrimp & pork swekiaw and one piece of hard boiled duck egg (Yes you heard me right, it’s duck egg, not chicken) cut into two. And then topped with diced chicken, minced pork, spring onions and crispy fried shallots. The pork meatball and the swekiaw was the difference with the original one which doesn’t have these two side dishes. When the dish was served in front of me, I directly know it will cost me much money just looking at the quality of the ingredients and its quantity. The pork meatball was having more meat than gluten. The swekiaw contains generous shrimp. And the other topping was also very generous in amount. Also not to forget the use of duck egg instead of chicken egg. I was not wrong, it cost me IDR 50K per bowl. Oh my, this was the most expensive non mall/café noodle that I ever had. But it was logical considering the above ingredients that I mentioned. Maybe it will be much cheaper if you just order the original one.

Taste wise, all I can say is the taste was a combination of the usual Siantar Curly Noodle that we usually have, and Bakmi Khek. For those who don’t know, Bakmi Khek is also one of the Medan noodles which located in Muara Karang in front of Sun Merry Bakery. The unique taste made it very delicious to my liking, maybe because this is something new for me. For the drink, I recommend Badak. This is sarsaparilla cola from Siantar. Other Medan restaurants usually serve this drink as well to their customers and becoming their unique identity. This cola was made by a heritage cola company in Siantar. It taste very refreshing. Badak will cost you IDR 10K per bottle.

If you ask will I be back, will be back someday to have this noodle again.

Food - 8/10

Cleanliness - 6/10

Service - 8/10

Ambiance - 7/10

Price/Value - 6/10

Bakmi Lamlo (Main Branch)

Fresh Market PIK No. 29-30

Jakarta Utara

+62-21-33081068

Business Hours : Mon to Sun 6.30am - 2pm

Other branch:

Muara Karang Blok D7 Timur No. 96

Jakarta Utara

+62-21-70231331

Business Hours : Mon to Sun 6.30am - 5pm

Bakmi Ahiung Khas Jambi

For those who didn't know, my wife's home town is Jambi. And this noodle is my in-laws all time favorite. I've been aware of this noodle since I dated her 17 years ago. They have long heritage and it can be said that I was part of their journey until they have fixed position now in Pinangsia Timur, from selling their noodle off the street in front of other's store, opening branch at Taman Palem and now they bought a building of their own.

Actually in Jambi, the most famous Jambi noodle is Teng An, who also has branch in Jakarta at Taman Palem. However, personally I prefer Ahiung. Maybe because of the influence from my in-laws.

The characteristic of Jambi noddle is that instead of serving the noodle in a bowl they serve it using flat plate, and the soup is serve separately in a big bowl. The noddle was topped with sliced barbecue pork and minced pork. My most favorite was what's in the soup. The soup contains pork's innards. In the soup was intestines, liver, minced pork, fish balls, a pork wanton, and some vegetables. To strengthen the flavor of the soup, do add some black vinegar to the soup before you enjoy the noddle.

I really like the taste of this noodle. One basic rule to enjoy this noodle was you must add the chili. They made the chili to be perfectly fit with this noodle. Without the chili, you will not see anything special to this noodle.

The noddle was priced at IDR 25K and it was absolutely worth the price. You can also order bigger portion with slightly more expensive price. Other than Jambi noodle, they also serve other additional menu like pork satay, fish wanton soup, pork wanton soup, and tofu. If you come earlier, you can have Nasi Gemuk, the specific breakfast rice from Jambi. Just for your information, the servants was aggressively offered these additional menus to us.

The main branch at Pinangsia Timur was ran by the father and the mother. They are now also have branches at Taman Palem and Alam Sutera which ran by the sons. Are you ready to taste Jambi noodle?

Food - 9/10
Cleanliness - 6/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Price/Value - 9/10

Bakmi Ahiung Khas Jambi
Jl. Pinangsia Timur No. 15 Tambora
Jakarta Barat
Business Hours : Tue-Sun 7am-12pm

TGI Fridays

I have deep memories with this restaurant chains. TGI Fridays was my dating place with my wife before we got married about a decade ago. Most of our important events such as birthdays and anniversary were celebrated here. We felt a loss when they decided to close their last outlet in Taman Ria Senayan. Thanks to celebrity couple BCL and Ashraf Sinclair who brought this chains back to Indonesia a few years ago in Lippo Mall Kemang. Now they have two other branches in Jakarta at Pondok Indah Mall and Lippo Mall Puri. To bring back our memories, today we visit their outlet at Lippo Mall Puri.

There was not much different in terms of decoration as compared to their old outlet. I already feel familiar with it when I walk my feet inside the restaurant. I ordered my most favorite menu which was still available now, Jack Daniel's Steak.

Jack Daniel's Steak - IDR 259K++ (Aussie's Beef, Medium Rare)

The 10 oz striploin steak was served with two choices of side dishes. Grilled with the famous Jack Daniel's whiskey. Upon serving, the servant was asking us to check whether the doneness was already correct according to our order. I'm not sure whether this was for the sake of formality, or to be true that we can refuse the dishes and ask to change to new one if the doneness was not correct. To my opinion, this was quite a risky policy to apply to Indonesian. Since I have to take picture of my dish first, I didn't want to cut the meat to check the doneness. So what did I do? I just touch the meat with my knife. The experts said that the medium rare meat will feel bouncy like we touch our cheek. Quite simple, right?

And it was confirmed that they got the doneness correct when I cut the beef. Not over or undercooked for a medium rare steak. It was just perfect. However, the beef was not too tender. Possibly because I ordered Aussie's beef. My suggestion is to go for the USDA Choice Meat for more tender option, although you have to look more deeper in your pocket for this choices. I forgot how was it like 10 years ago, but the Jack Daniel's sauce is too sweet to my liking now. The side dishes were just okay.

We were more satisfied simply because of the memories, rather than the food. I must admit that my taste and tongue has already changed. I will end this review with my photo collections of TGI Fridays all over the world. From top left clockwise : TGIF Queensbay Mall Penang, TGIF Orchard Road Singapore, TGIF Lippo Mall Puri Jakarta, and TGIF Pavilion Mall Kuala Lumpur.

TGI Fridays, in here, it's always Friday.

Food - 7/10
Cleanliness - 10/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Price/Value - 7/10

TGI Fridays
Lippo Mall Puri Unit UG-65
Jl. Puri Indah Blok U1
Puri Indah CBD
Jakarta 11610
+62-21-29111173
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm