Tummy Prosperity: Volks Coffee, A Meet-up Space with the Folks

Back in this town of heroes upon just leaving it for a couple of months. Nonetheless, if last time I came with my foodie friends, this time it's a visit with the whole family members as it's actually my dad's business trip. Coincidentally, the timing was exactly the same with the long weekend due to independence-day. Being able to be fast enough as well as adding some luck there, I was able to get quite a good deal for the ticket price and the airline was even Indonesia's best one!

Seemed to have no reason left for not flying to Surabaya for a short sweet escape, I finally came here taking a morning flight with my sister. Honestly speaking, I wouldn't write much about places at this town since you might have expected correctly how a family trip would turn out. Absolutely you needed to shoo away the imagination of non-stop cafe hoping, multiple food-photo sessions, and any similar activities, as I surely didn't have them. Well yeah, multiple dining sessions were still there, complete with desserts after each main course, but yes it's always either no time to take pictures or we simply wanted to just enjoy the dishes (another reason is my parents always prefer to have their dishes served warm or fresh! *LOL*)

Being so opportunistic, my sister and I didn't waste the chance we have prior to our departure time. Yes, our flights differed from our parents as they're going back to our hometown while we're going to our second home - Jakarta. Utilizing the two-hour timing, we managed to visit Volks, which occupied a space at the heart of Surabaya, close to many other similar coffee shops.

It's not a really new one actually yet it's our first time coming here. From the outside I could already tell the place was so eye-catchy and Instagenic at the same time. That Kinfolk-ish theme was definitely there with the venue mainly themed in white and brown. Divided equally into indoor and outdoor area, the space itself was pretty huge. Using mostly petite-sized tables, there were quite abundant number of seats provided though each of the table was mostly for pairs or individuals. Another option would be sitting by the long bar table located at the right-hand side of the coffee shop with those tall chairs.

Being environmentally-friendly, the venue was covered by semi-transparent ceiling for the open-air space, and the indoor and outdoor spots were separated by glass windows so no electrical lights needed during day time. Nonetheless, there's always trade-off between risk and benefit, and here I was talking about the heat and the direct sunlight kiss, making sitting outside was a big NO for me.

I was always in love with bright place like this as even for my working space or my bedroom, I do prefer all of 'em to have full-lighting since the dimmed one made me felt either sleepy or gloomy. So you could already imagine how I found myself being completely spoiled there. If only such place was available in Jakarta (or perhaps BSD as my current residence), I might be on the top visitor list, utilizing the cafe for both agile working and casual meeting. Who knew it's the reason why the place was named as Volks, which was kind of close to Folks, as it's perfect point to meet up with 'your folks' (again my guesstimate).

Jumping to the order point, I got myself frowned staring at the empty pastry showcase. No light bites? My thought was like 'are you kidding me? It's Sunday, when I would expect most coffee shop had their highest turnover'. Well perhaps I was wrong and it's different case here in Surabaya. Ok never mind (inhale exhale), I wouldn't let such stuff ruined my mood as I should've enjoyed the last few hours of my short sweet escape. Moreover, all the baristas were very nice with their warm welcome since I entered the venue and they were pretty helpful in offering other alternatives so that pretty much making me ended up stepping-up my tolerance level ;)

Ellie's Bowl (IDR 40k)

'No pastry no cry!' Yeah, thinking positively, cause the pastries and cakes weren't there, it made me ended up eating clean, opting for Volks' smoothie bowl. My pick was Ellie, the red one from the other four, which basically differed from each other in terms of the fruit smoothies as the base itself as well as some of the toppings. They even had the milk-based one for those who might not fancy too much fruits. If you might have noticed, the price was way cheaper than similar ones especially in Jakarta or Bali. I was at first thinking that perhaps the size was mini one and thus the low price justified, yet I was proven wrong since the size was just similar to those being priced almost twice as much as this. Another positive side of missing pastries, wasn't it? (the perks of trying to be positive aka rejeki anak soleh *LOL*).

Serving colorful ingredients in a single bowl, it's right to be called as Ellie - as gorgeous as a girl (Oops, cheesy enough huh?). I was pleased by the super refreshing red dragon fruit smoothies as it's served cold and the texture was still like crushed ice, impeccably matched the super dry and sunny Surabaya. Though the smoothies base was actually not that sweet (for which I was quite happy as it might mean they didn't add any sugar or artificial sweetener into it), all the toppings well complemented it, serving slices of ripe strawberries, banana, and pineapple. The shredded coconut was also present though it's served in softer texture compared to the common one. The granola was pretty unique, looking more alike to nougat for me but I didn't mind at all as the taste was balancedly sweet and the texture was flawlessly crunchy, precisely suiting my preference for these healthy grains. I now felt like each penny I paid for this dish was totally worthy!

Magic (IDR 32k)

For you who're coffee-lover, you would definitely understand what's Magic. Nonetheless, some who're not into coffee might wonder what's so magical from this drink; if it had color-changing feature, or it could create any magical effect on those who had it, or any other outstanding stuffs. No no no guys, Magic was basically Cappuccino with double espresso shots. Mentioning myself as coffee lover whose palate demanding something with stronger kick yet still containing milk, the barista came up with this Magic as her recommendation. I couldn't agree more since I did mostly go for it whenever it's available on the menu. Fulfilling my expectation very well, Volks' Magic served a cup of coffee with strong body, bold coffee flavor, a bit nutty taste, and a hint of acidity. I was so pleased having my daily doze fulfilled by such indulging cup.

Hearing my stories, you should've been able to picture my face going out of the coffee shop. It certainly had that big grin, further complemented by a boosted spirit! It's like giving that feeling of 'Here I am to face the second-half of the day, let's bring it on!'