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!
