Travel Rants

Indonesia Abroad - Makanan

Let's talk about food y'all!

Shiruvaaa

Mar 13, 2024 — 4 min read

There is a lot of food to enjoy in Indonesia, and I can't possibly try them all (or can I 😏?).
While you try and contemplate on the possibility, I went ahead and just started eating everything left and right.

This is a general post about some things I've eaten thus far, but I sadly can't include all of them. I haven't made photo's of every single dish out there, as I was too busy shoving them in my mouth. (cough)
With that being said, let's just get started.

P.s.: more photo's can be found in the album linked at the bottom of the page :)

Mie Gacoan

Mie Gacoan is said to be the No. 1 spicy noodle restaurant chain in Indonesia, and was established in early 2016. The "Mie Gacoan" brand has grown to be quite popular, especially among students. Of course, there is no exception for us exchange students.

The default noodles have spice ranges from 0 to ate least 6, but I believe it can even go up to 8. For me personally, I can go up to 3, but grade 1 is quite comfortable to eat. Grade 0 is not free of spiciness, however, so do be warned if you're really, really want to avoid spicy stuff. The taste of the noodles is nice. It's satisfying and it comes with some pangsit (or wonton) as well, which is always appreciated.

Often, you can buy good deals on GoFood (food delivery) with mie, iced tea, and fried shrimp with cheese. I like it. Price is decent enough.

8,5/10.

Surabaya North Quay

Surabaya North Quay is located in the most northern part of Surabaya, and serves as both a harbor to go to other islands, as well as a viewpoint to watch the sea from there. My buddies and I decided to check it out, as there was a food corner as well.

The photo above contain servings of gurame bakar: good tasting fish that sometimes differ in size depending on who sells them. Gurame is really good, so I recommended it to the rest, and they all liked it as well. The fish was a bit smaller than in some bigger restaurants, but there was good variation in the portion you bought, and it wasn't that bad at all for the price.

Aside from that, there are a lot of other mini stalls where you can choose food from. They have a lot of variety, so for each something nice.

8/10

Sansekerta

Sansekerta - The Authentic Taste Of Indonesia, is a restaurant located in the heart of Surabaya, and close to a lot of authentic and famous places. This restaurant advertises itself for it's authentic tastes, and only by the looks of it, it sure looks authentic.

Although a bit more pricey than others, the taste is really good.

The photo above shows a delicious example of es doger, which is shaved ice with young coconut flesh, black fermented rice (don't worry, it's sweet), fermented cassava, sago, coconut cream, syrup, condensed milk, and bread for some unknown reason. All in all, it was really tasty. Furthermore, I tried iga bakar, gurame bakar, and ketoprak. What can I say, I just really like gurame...
All in all, neat stuff.

8,7/10

Pakuwon City Mall

And specifically around Chinese new year, there were a lot of food stalls to celebrate chinese new year at a fair located at Pakuwon City Mall. It was pretty busy, thus pretty hot in terms of temperature, but there was a great variety of dishes and snacks you could choose from, and including the fireworks and shows, it was a blast.

9/10

Unair Campus food

Airlangga University has 3 campuses, and have their own cafeterias as well. The food they offer is cheap and tasty, so a great option for students. They offer a lot of options, and including food from the 3rd floor of the ASEEC tower, there is nothing you could not eat at the campus grounds.

Coffee

Honestly, places like Starbucks are kinda overrated. I prefer the coffee at an AlfaExpress, Indomaret Point, or a barista cafe, which there are a lot of here. One of them of which I actually have a photo of is Jokopi. Solid stuff.

7,9/10