Carpentier Kitchen

While the hipster trend seems to be less common as compared to some time ago, there are still many hipster places, even in Surabaya. One of them is Carpentier Kitchen. The café maybe not so much, but the store in front of it seems to be quite hipster (although we never fully understood what makes a place or a person truly ‘hipster’). On a quiet weekday evening we decided to go to Carpentier Kitchen for dinner and pretend to be hipsters by wearing our big glasses and bringing our books.

We didn’t really see the shop (I spent way too much money that month, so I have to stay away from any shopping opportunity). The café is behind the shop, it is a bit hidden. The way it was designed is very romantic and playful, there are vintage chairs and a lot of plants which create a cozy atmosphere and a nice background for photos (the light is not good though). Service was normal, and we liked their cute plates :-) .

For dinner, Carlo had Carpentier’s Ultimate Burger (48K) and I chose Fettuccine Cream Sauce à la Carpentier (38K, with chicken). Apart from the pancakes, there are almost no vegetarian meals. I generally don’t really like meat so I had a hard time to choose my meal until the waitress suggested replacing the meat with broccoli (price stayed the same). So far so good. 

We enjoyed the first bites of our meals but then we couldn’t taste anything anymore because they were too spicy! It was not chili but pepper! After eating half, my mouth and especially my throat were burning so much that I couldn’t finish my pasta. It was the same with Carlo’s burger. It was too spicy (pepper-spicy) so he couldn’t really taste the beef patty and mushrooms. It was a pity because the food may have actually been good. For drinks, we only had chamomile tea (to calm our stomachs from the pepper flash).

Conclusion: Better order dessert. Something sweet fits the romantic atmosphere of this place a lot better than the overly pepper-spicy main dishes.

Rating (max 6 stars)
Value for money	* *
Service	* * *
Quality	* *
Variety of menu	* *
Atmosphere	* * * *

Carpentier's Ultimate Burger

Fettuccine Cream Sauce à la Carpentier

Carlo acting hipster

Details:

Carpentier Kitchen, Ore Building

Jalan Untung Surpati 83, Surabaya

Tel: 031-5682074

Monday to Saturday 11.00-22.00 (closed on Sunday)