Surabaya Gourmet: Historica Coffee & Pastry

Sunday is the best time for breakfast at a café as it is the only day that Carlo does not have to work (yes, poor C). After Libby Café (read our review here) we tried Historica Café in Jalan Sumatera this time. We didn’t go there because of its location (Jalan Sumatera seems to be getting a popular restaurant/café street - the famous Domicile is also there), but because Historica café is having a 20% discount on breakfast and coffee this month :-) .

The café looks nice, outside and inside, and as you may have guessed from the name ‘Historica’ its interior design is vintage. There are a few big comfortable chairs (we were too slow to chope them – damn it!) and many normal chairs. It has also a small terrace if you want to sit outside. It was almost noon when we got there, so sitting outside was out of question, even for me as a European (this really means something...Europeans are crazy about sun and tanning). We came to Historica café not only to have breakfast, but also to “chillax”, read a bit and discuss our future plans...

After some time, it got quite crowded and with the crowd came the noise. So if you look for a quiet café where you can have deep conversations with your date or friends, Historica café might not be the best choice (it depends when you go there). One thing I didn’t like (especially as a woman) is that there is not separate toilet for women and men.

Now let’s talk about the food. Carlo had Cappuccino and Eggs benedict, his brother N. Croque monsieur and I had Green tea latte and pancakes to satisfy my big sweet tooth. The cappuccino was nice but it could not hold up to the goodness of Indonesian coffee. Carlo is a coffee lover, I don’t really like coffee but we both agree that Indonesian coffee is a lot better than the European style coffee like Cappuccino or Latte macchiato. European style coffee has this sour taste which Indonesian coffee doesn’t really have. The green tea latte was delicious, with a nice creamy texture. It was just a bit too sweet for our taste. What we liked most about the Eggs benedict and Croque monsieur was the bread! It is not sweet and reminded me a bit of French bread. The pancakes came with ice cream, honey and mixed berries. They were delicious too! The berries were not fresh, they had been frozen and thawed but this is okay. It is of course better to use fresh berries but we know that they are rather hard to find in Indonesia and the imported ones are expensive.

The service was average. It took a bit long for our table to be cleared after we finished eating. What we liked very much was that our drinks were accompanied by a glass of water.

Have you tried Historica Café yet? What was your experience? Do you agree with us that Indonesian coffee is better than Cappuccino? Let us know in the comments below and feel free to write in bahasa Indonesia :-) .

Conclusion: Fancy vintage café with fancy modern breakfast. Nice place for business meetings on weekdays or family/friends gatherings on weekends.

Good to know: Order and pay at the counter. Free wifi.