First time hearing my friend mentioned Bird House, I thought the cafe would be like kind of tree-house with wooden walls. Or else, it might be something indoor, but the seating would look as if you're in a bird's cage, just like the one used to exist in Jakarta but I wasn't sure if it's still there or not. Trying to find more information about its location, I found out that it was a cafe made of container, yes it's literally a two-storey container-made space.
Talking about container, I guessed you could already imagine that it wasn't something sizable. The first level was dedicated for kitchen and cashier and wasn't accessible by customers. The dining space was provided in front of the container with several communal tables. As it's open-air area, and you might have known quite well how hot and dry Surabaya was, it's pretty much not preferred to sit there. Alternatively, they did have indoor full-air-conditioned spot (thanks God!), located at the second floor.
Just like how its name has reflected, though it wasn't a cafe fully made of wood just as my imagination, the stair bringing you to the second level wasn't a giant one. It's quite narrow that it could only allow one-way movement, meaning when someone's heading up, no one could go down and vice versa.
Despite those challenges, the view of the second floor was such a jaw-breaker. All white spaces, beautifully decorated by miniatures of birds, their cages, dry plants, and many more; all of which successfully delivered the theme of bird house. OK, I found myself ended up couldn't stop snapping each corner there.
As I've been highlighting that it's made of container, moving around the second floor might be pretty scary as apparently everyone else could feel the tremor. Due to the size, there were only limited seats available and it's quite packed since I guessed this cafe was actually still quite new.
The selections of dishes offered ranged from Western to Indonesian ones since they did have pasta-based and rice-based ones. Even for the sauces, you could have something creamy up to something spicy like Indonesian's well-known sambal matah. You might even get surprised that they did serve one of East Nusa Tenggara's signature foods, the Sei Pork, which was basically smoked pork served with special spicy chili sauce.
Chicken Sambal Matah (IDR 50k)
My pick wasn't something too complicated and perhaps could be called as kinda mainstream lately since apparently all cafes did have it. Yes, something which was loved by most Indonesian palate, the infamous sambal matah! I firstly thought the chicken would be the fillet ones being deep-fried then sauteed together with the chili, yet in actual they were served shredded and not fried. The chicken itself was tender enough, yet it did need stronger kick from the seasoning and spices. The combination of shallot and oil within the sambal matah were also slightly bland that my palate wished to get something bolder than this.
Cheesecake (IDR 35k)
Regardless the tiny space, the menu wasn't to be underestimated. They offered quite rich ranges of meals, including desserts! Yeah, perhaps not all were freshly handcrafted inside the petite kitchen, yet it's totally fine as long as they're still made at the same day so they're definitely safe to consume.
It led me to surprise that actually the cheesecake turned to be the one I found delectable compared to the first dish, which was actually the heavy meal. I was initially expecting that simple cafe like this would focus more on the main courses and only took desserts as complementary items. Nevertheless, I was somewhat so happy as you might have known, desserts were always the most important part of any of my full courses!
Being more to the creamy dense type, the cheesecake had indulging smooth texture with valiant cheese flavor, absolutely suited my liking for cheesecake! The bottom layer was the happiness bonus for me, delivering crumble pie as the base. If I had to call out the first reason that would make me come back to this place, I could easily answer you in less than a sec that it would be this cheesecake.
Ice Summer Tea (IDR 25k)
Since Bird House did mention itself as the specialist of home-made tea, dining in here without ordering its signature Ice Summer Tea would end up making you lack of something. This distinctive innovation from the house was the blend of several flowers and was indeed served with flower petals on it. It's not only gorgeous, but also refreshing and aromatic. Such a perfect match to the sunny day!
Knowing that Bird House could still be said as new kid on the block, I would say that it was worth to visit, especially for having afternoon tea and at the same time having Instagenic pictures ;)
Taste: 7/10
Place: 7.5/10
Service: 7/10
Price: 7/10
Thanks for reading! :)
BIRD HOUSE
Address: Loop Graha Family Container No. 7, Jl. Mayjen Yono Suwono, Surabaya
Phone: (+62) 878 5589 8882
Operating Hours: Wed - Mon 12pm - 10pm, Tue off
Find me on:
Inputs & comments: jessicagaby@ymail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment