The Daily Press

It can be said that I'm a little bit late reviewing a coffee shop. Coffee shop has been trending up since end of last year in Indonesia, not only in Jakarta. Afternoon coffee in one of these place has become the new lifestyle especially to the youngsters.

One of the hip coffee shop in Gading Serong area in Tangerang is The Daily Press. There is other famous coffee shop just a few shop next to them, Turning Point Coffee, which also serve good coffee. Ambiance wise, I prefer The Daily Press because of they are located at the corner building, so they have windows for the light to shine in from the side wall. The area is also bigger than Turning Point Coffee and more cozy-er to my liking. Meanwhile, according to the pro's, they both served equal quality of coffee from the high quality beans. To be honest, I'm still a newbie to coffee roaster things so I cannot differentiate between them. There is 17% discount as I visit them today due to our Independence Day.

Cappuccino - IDR 37K

In every chance to visit coffee shops, I always try their Cappuccino as a first benchmark. In here, the taste is almost perfect, except they serve it warm, almost cold. I don't know whether it is the standard for every coffee shop, but I expect it a bit warmer. There are people who like to choose the picture of the milk frothy (latte arts), but I'm not sure they are able to do it here.

Piccolo - IDR 28K

I am also not sure what kind of coffee is this before today. Here's a definition from Cafeculture.com : "Traditionally, a Piccolo latte is a ristretto shot (15-20 ml) topped with warm, silky milk served in a 100 ml glass demitasse (small latte glass) ... basically, a baby latte, as the Italian pronunciation suggests. There have been other names for this drink, such as the Spanish version Cataldo, or a Mezzo-Mezzo." So, in short, it's a mini coffee latte. It served with a small cookie, for some said it's for the replacement of sugar. The bitterness of the coffee is softened as we eat the cookie after we sip the coffee.

Ice Blended Red Velvet - IDR 35K

The other reason I prefer The Daily Press over Turning Point Coffee is because they have more variety of cold drinks. At Turning Point Coffee, they only have one kind of cold drink. This is one of the example in The Daily Press for non-coffee drinks. The taste is just okay and a bit too sweet to my liking. But, kids and some females might like this drinks.

Surprisingly, the owner of these trending coffee shops are mostly youngsters. They are mostly the son/daughter from the privileged families, who are just graduate from college, passionate about coffee roasters, young, energetic, and have creative minds. Deep inside my mind, there is a thought to open a coffee shop like this. Co-joining with friends is the best option. But then, I hesitate to try. One is because I'm afraid this is only trending for a short period. Two, this business need huge investment and money. Passion only is not enough.

There is a red Ferrari parked in front of this coffee shop everyday, everytime I pass this place. Fancy girls and well groomed men visiting this place which I assumed friends of the owner, indicating the well above social status.

I realised this business is out of my league....

Happy Independence Day!

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

The Daily Press
Ruko Golden 8 Blok J No. 5
Jl Ki Hajar Dewantara
Gading Serpong
Tangerang
Business Hours : Mon to Sun 10am-10pm

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!