Octie Appetie: Culinary Journey - Indonesia (Part 1)

Jet off to Surabaya with Garuda Airline. It was surprisingly nice and very cosy and the most importantly, feeling like I am already at home for some reason. 10 years ago if you ask me to fly with Garuda, I'd be like "umm maybe nah" but the fact is, in the past few years, Garuda Airline has got its face lifted and was voted to be the most improved airline. Anyway, I was so excited and really looking forward to this trip because it has been quite a while since I haven't been back to my hometown, Surabaya. This time one of my BFF is getting married and I take this chance to full fill my trip with my childhood's favourites as well but it doesn't mean to limit the possibility of trying new yummy food too. I brought my hubby along with me, so he can indulge in the good food, good life and good company.

There isn't any direct flight from Sydney to Surabaya, so what I do is to transit in Bali first then catch another domestic flight from there. Flight takes approx 45 mins from Bali to Surabaya. Surabaya is probably not a well-known city like Jakarta or Bali, lots of foreigner are not even aware of its existence but IT IS actually the second biggest city in Indonesia. There's a lot less traffic yet virtually as metropolis and bustling as the capital city Jakarta. It also maybe less trendy but hands down when comes to FOOD, this is unofficially named as "the kitchen of Indonesia". no doubt about that. And for me, definitely the best place to live and well worth to visit (cityism).

Flight's snacks

I have been flying with many airlines, I have to say Garuda airline's food is one of the top 3 delicious airline's food for me personally. The best part would be those mango ice cream, usually they always give out Magnum ice cream but they don't have it today and gave Weis ice cream instead, I was quite dissapointed at first, but well that mango ice cream was converted me, it was refreshing and tropical-y (nice way to start my journey in the tropical country) and I will definitely buy one from the market if I see it.

Another great service, that I haven't found in any other airline so far is that they provide the immigration clearance on the plane. Yes, Immigration check, stamp your passport on the thousands km high up in the sky. So, when we arrive the airport, we only need to show this express pass and shot off. What a very convenient and speedy immigration process.

Once we landed in Surabaya, without wasting any second of it, we headed to the newly opened shopping mall in Surabaya called Ciputra world. Shopping was part of it, but mainly for eating. In Indonesia, when you imagining of shopping mall nothing near what we have in Sydney, like Westfield or MYER. Here, is all massive, heaps of shops, and plenty of restaurants and food court. You'll need to witness this with your own eyes so you'll know what I mean.

Ciputra World, Surabaya

Porong Wei Restaurant
(Kedai Cina Kuno)

Ciputra World, Lv. 3, Jl. Mayjend Sungkono No. 87
Surabaya, Jawa Timur, Indonesia

Ph: +62 31 5120 0057

Left: Markisa Ice (Passionfruit drink) Rp. 8000 (about 80 ¢)
Right: Greentea smoothies and Choco Oreo Rp. 17,500 each (about $1.80)

Condiments: Cucumber Pickles and chilli & soy sauce dipping sauce

Ote Ote (deep fried shrimps with batter) Rp.10,000 (about $1)

The traditional Ote-Ote is more like a snack bite size, however this more like the modern style Ote-Ote, where the crispy soft skin on the outer with heaps of minced feeling. Nothing near the original Ote-Ote dish that I usually know when I was a child, this is more like a meaty and soft crepes while the real tradition Ote-Ote should be quite crispy, battery and full of prawnish flavoured. Apart from it, this dish taste good too, we just need to not call it Ote-Ote, I guess.

Udang Mayo Rp.45,000 (about $4.60)

I like this particular dish. Crispy light battered prawns served it with sweet tangy homemade mayo. They worked so well together.

Ifumie Ultah Rp.25,000 (about $2.60)

Ifumie Ultah, the word "ultah" is actually the abbreviation of "ulang tahun" where it means birthday. The reason behind this is a simple Ifumie (noddle with gravy) dish that served with extra red coloured quail eggs, because as our tradition for a birthday's meal we always include this red-coloured egg (must be red or at least pink colour) on the dish. So yeah as simple as that.

Burung Dara Ngo Hiong Rp.80,000 (about $8.25)

Burung dara is actually a pigeon. Yes you heard it right ! A pigeon ! My apologise, it may sounds too cruel for some of you guys who never know that pigeon is actually edible, but unfortunately they taste ABSOLUTELY incredible, hmmmm... similar like quail meat. This one especially been marinated with Ngo Hiong or Chinese five spice then deep fried so it crispy on the outside and still juicy and tender inside along with salt pepper dipping powder. Taste undoubtedly delicious. All I can say is, once you give it a go. You'll be either like it or love it !