de Soematra — Restaurant in Surabaya

i always think that de Soematra is THE ONE wishlist for best fine dining restaurant in Surabaya. But girl, i am so wrong!!! Apart from the fancy interior of the colonial Dutch “zaman tempoe doeloe” architecture, there is nothing “fine” about this restaurant. in fact, im not even sure the management knows or cares about running a proper fine dining restaurant.

i booked a birthday event and was required to pay a Rp.1million for a deposit guarantee to secure a room and was told for a pre booked, we need to be on certain private room and must order a set menu (cost roughly 1million with tax and service charges included) for each guest. (turned out to be that we could book a non set menu tables on different non private room).

On D-day, we were shocked to find out that the private room is still being painted!!! Imagine that!!! just from an ethical point of view, they must let us know beforehand, let alone from the business view. the stinky odour of the fresh paint was so smelly, we thought of cancelling. so the waitress offered us a different private room, but because it is on the same vicinity, the fresh odour is still strong. we refused, then we were offered a different room that is not freshly painted. (finally...)

after all the trouble, they quickly set up the room and the waiter (yes, one waiter for 8 guests) took all our orders and seemed to rush, more like the waiters of cheap restaurants. most of my guests are not regular patron of fine dining so they ask lots of questions. the waiter does not know a lot about the food ingredients, how the chef prepares them and what process are being involved to produce them. this ordering thing took almost 15 minutes, because the (only one) waiter had to come back and forth to get answers from the kitchen.

ok now to the food. appetizers, the salad were alright, tastes just nice, but not the kind that will blow your mind away. they messed up my request for the soup and all condiments (the waiter forgot to exclude milk from it). the main course, 120 gram of wagyu beef steak, a US beef with grade 7+, was not that great, the meat looks dry and lifeless. and the seabass was cooked medium RARE and really, nothing to be excited about, same as the scallop in my salad (again, the waiter forgot to explain how the chef normally cooks). the only thing i like is the dessert, which is a warm chocolate mudcake with chocolate ice cream.

overall, if you are a SUPER easy going person or sugar daddies with lots of dollar to burn, then de Soematra can be your typical weekend choice for dinner. other than the above, i would not recommend it. you surely will be...

This might be the best fine dining place restaurant in Surabaya. Great food, great place, great service. I had the ribeye steak and it is the best steak I’ve had in Surabaya. Unfortunately the potatoes and veggies that come with the steak were not that good.

Still I had a really great experience dining at de soematra. The food here is really expensive. From IDR650k ribeye steak up to IDR1.2m for wagyu beef choices. You can choose to have 5 course set menu or ala carte. You can expect around IDR 1-1.5m per person.

Even with their exorbitant price, I still do think the experience is worth it. I recommend de soematra for you who want to take your special ones for a...

Truly a magical place. Felt like we were transported back in time to colonial era where this historical place celebrate french style cuisine into modern times.

The salmon terrine as amuse bouche was very apt opening to our meal. Briny fish paired nicely with sweet coconut cream and delicate brittles.

The bisque sauce angel hair with scallop as appetizer was a flavor bomb to prepare my palate for the main course. Such a pleasant meal to eat the noodle with creamy seafood sauce that enveloped the spaghetti.

The Surf and Turf meal was absolute cracker. The truffle sauce elevates the savory Lobster and Steak to the next level. Each bite was umami bomb one...