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...

The Golden Saffron

Chicken Tandoor Mix

Coming from a European country where most people eat bread every day, I (Julia) have some kind of a bread addiction. Sometimes it can get really bad and I crave bread so much that the sweet bread and toast bread which you can find in Surabaya are not enough to satisfy me. Then, strangely enough, I have to eat Indian Nan bread to fix my bread cravings :D . So, when this was happening last week, Carlo and I went to The Golden Saffron to enjoy some Indian food and bread. The Golden Saffron is located in Lenmarc Mall and one of the very few Indian restaurants in Surabaya (Sitara is another one). We haven’t been to India yet, so we cannot judge the authenticity of the food. But I used to eat a lot of Indian food when I was living in Singapore, so we have a rough idea about it.

You already get a feeling of India when you enter the restaurant. There is a small elephant shrine that welcomes you as you enter. The interior design is pretentious, with a lot of kitsch and a lot of purple colour and a screen showing Indian TV, so you feel a bit like being in Bollywood. Tables are big and comfortable but our table was not clean. There were stains on the table cloth! This little fact changed our expectations from neutral to negative and we were curious how the food would be.