First Time at My Family's Own Restaurant: Kogyo (Surabaya)

There's definitely a conflict of interest here since I'm actually talking about my family's restaurant. My mom opened Kogyo on the 2nd floor of Sutos (Surabaya Town Square) in January but I haven't gone home to Indonesia since then until very recently. Finally could see and taste it for myself!

I don't want to seem like I'm promoting our own restaurant, but you know, after hearing about it for 10 months, I got excited about finally going there myself.

The whole thing started when I brought blogger friends Mattatouille and Glutster to Indonesia last year, and talking about the Kogi hype to my mom, it seemed natural that with a real Korean and a real Mexican in town, we should try making it ourselves.

It's a small and casual place with mid range prices. My mom tends to say you can't find another place serving US rib eye at our prices in town (the local beef is so much tougher compared to the marbled US beef).

The menu is mostly Korean plus some non-Korean items my mom is proud of (like her niu ru mien aka beef noodle soup which seems to have a small following of its own). There are people who come a couple times a week just to have the beef noodle soup.

Photo by my brother.

Our most popular item is probably the Durian Mochi.

The chewy mochi skin is made fresh and the mochi is filled with cream and real durian monthong! I've never had anything like it before and loved it. Props to my mom for thinking up something like this.

I try helping out with the menu by suggesting some items. So far I've contributed Pat Bing Su (aka Korean shaved ice), and soon dubu is not far in the future ..

I never told my mom about the Kyochon/Bonchon hype here, but she must've known about Korean fried chicken from somewhere else, since I found these fried chicken wings with sweet and spicy plum sauce on the menu.

I didn't get to try everything, since we still ate at home or went out to other places to eat while I was there, but I really like their burrito too. Guess I'll have to wait until 2012 to try the rest.

Kogyo BBQ
Surabaya Town Square (SUTOS) unit 1-46 (2nd floor)
Surabaya, Indonesia
@KogyoBBQ

Padang Food 101(Sari Nusantara, Surabaya, Indonesia)

Padang is the capital of West Sumatra (which is mostly known for the earthquakes and tsunamis that happened nearby).
When you go to a Padang restaurant, an array of dishes will be placed on your table. Rendang (beef curry), curried vegetables, egg balado, and many more.

It's not all you can eat, though. You pay for what you take and eat, so if you don't think you really want to eat a particular dish don't touch it.

Padang cuisine is known for their spicy dishes and a variety of curries can always be found. Rendang is so popular everywhere now, including in LA. Simpang Asia's rendang actually won the curry competition a couple years back. Padang food is usually cooked once a day and mostly served at room temperature. That's why when you go to a Padang restaurant, they will display everything and let you do the pick and choosing at the table.

When Mattatouille and Glutster visited my home town, we went to Sari Nusantara, a Padang restaurant in Surabaya, for their first Padang meal.
That day the three of us plus my friend and my dad pretty much ate all the dishes. The tour de force: fish head curry
The body of the fish was grilled but in my opinion the fish head curry is superior with its much more tender meat.

When I was little and couldn't eat spicy food (still can't today but I'm getting way better) I used to eat ayam pop, chicken cooked with garlic and butter. I loved ayam pop but I'm not sure if it was because now I can eat spicier food or because the version at Sari Nusantara wasn't that good, but the one we had that day was pretty bland. I would have to try ayam pop at Rumah Sederhana again to see which it really is.

daun singkong (cassava leaves)

To calm my palate down, I had a glass of kopyor. Kopyor is actually a coconut with a genetic defect. Instead of the smooth, meaty flesh in a regular coconut, the flesh of kopyor is tender, easily peels off from the inner layer of the skin, and is crumbly. There usually isn't much water inside kopyor, and the flesh is made into a drink using syrup. Es kopyor is a very popular drink in Indonesia and costs more than regular coconut.

There's a folklore that says that when there is a lunar eclipse, the moon comes down to earth and eats coconuts. The leftovers of those eaten coconuts become kopyor.

If you are in LA and want to try Padang food, I'd suggest Raso Minang in West Covina.

Sari Nusantara
Jl. Gubernur Suryo No. 24
Surabaya
Jawa Timur (East Java)
Phone: 031-5348638

Indonesian Street Food: Kue Leker (Surabaya)

Street snacks in Indonesia are everywhere and are as varied as the number of islands in the nation (about 17,000).

The good thing about having out-of-the-country guests? I have an excuse to indulge in many of them. This kue leker cart was set up right in front of the spicy chicken place we went to for lunch, and since my brother said it was good, we got some.

Kue leker guy on wheeled push-cart

Kue leker is almost like a crispy folded crepe, usually filled with chocolate and banana. It is supposedly one of the staple foods of my home town, Surabaya, although apparently people from a neighboring town, Lamongan, claim its theirs also. Surabaya-ers will win by sheer number.

The origin of the name "kue leker" is not certain, but a likely explanation is that the word "leker" came from the Dutch word "lekker" which just means good or tasty. Kue simple means cake in Indonesian, so if the first part is true then the term just means "tasty cake."

The cake/crepe is made to order on a rotating hot pan while the guy pours chocolate syrup and plops banana slices down.
It seems quite likely that this dessert did originate during the Dutch colonization, right? I mean, it's practically a chocolate and banana crepe, rather European. And they did colonize us for 300 years!

As the bottom is getting crispy, it's folded and flattened, distributing the fillings around. Eat it while it's fresh: hot and crispy.

They'll have some already made on display, but you can always ask for a freshly made one.

It's a simple dessert that's quick to make and hits the spot, just as street snacks should be.


in front of:
Ayam Penyet Bu Kris
Kl.Tenggilis Utara no.1
Surabaya, Indonesia