food review: pipe and barrel

welcoming february! i'm officially on my maternal leave. the baby will arrive any time soon.. hopefully this weekend.. and today i get the chance to go out to do some errand (administration stuff with the government.. yukss..) and my husband turned out to be my personal chauffeur for the day. double yey! and we decided to get early lunch at pipe and barrel.

if you're living in surabaya, then you'll probably know that there are a lot of new cafes and coffee shops opening in surabaya. one of them is pipe and barrel, which is owned by masterchef ken. yep.. the baldy chef from masterchef indonesia.. since we're nearby and i saw that the menu was edible for my husband, we decided to try it.

the location: it's located in dr.soetomo road, just across the st.louis high school. probably you'll want to drop by outside normal meal time to avoid the crowd. the place isn't that big.. and the parking lot isn't that big either.. so i guess try your luck if you want to eat there.

the appointment: no appointment needed, you can just walk in. but since it's not that big, if you wanted to eat with large group or celebrate special occasion, then i suggest to do reservation.

the menu and the food: it's on the wall just like the other cafe and coffee shops. and you have to order at the cashier, pay in front and then they will give you your table number and then you can wait for your food. the menu has more variety than the other cafes and coffee shops. for beverages, they have selections of coffee, tea, blended, sodas and alcoholic beverages. for food, they have appetizer, main course and desserts. but unfortunately, they only have panna cotta and gelato for desserts.. bummer..  as for the main course, not all the menu are western food. i ordered the barrel beef burger (you can choose the doneness level of the meat) and my husband ordered the honey chicken rice. for me, the beef burger is delicious. but it's strange since they put pickles inside the burger.. an indonesian translation for burger, eh? pretty weird.. so i set aside the pickles. the sauce has some smokiness flavour in it, like combination of mayonnaise and barbeque sauce, just like my husband liking. but the honey chicken rice is another story.. it's too sweet for my husband. we thought it would be sweet spicy, but turned out it was just sweet. and they also serve it with pickles.. the one just like mine. pretty weird. hahaa..

as for beverages, we pick oreo blend and salisbury chocolate.. the oreo is just too sweet again.. meanwhile the salisbury chocolate is supposed to be chocolate milkshake, but somehow it has some bitterness inside it, a hint like coffee, which is weird.

thr price: i might say, you get what you've paid for. not too overpriced. the portion is decent too.

overall, it's a nice place to hang out with friend, but not kid friendly. i don't spot any high chairs. the interior also not kid-friendly. they have indoor and outdoor setting. but when it's full, it's too noisy.. just like monopole.. too noisy for our taste. oh well, this is just a coincidence moment.. for me to enjoy while the baby hasn't been born yet.. soooooo.. if you ask me, probably i won't be back with my husband. but if i'm nearby alone or with friends or with my sisters, probably i'll drop by again.

honey chicken rice

barrel beef burger