Boncafe Steak & Ice Cream + Le Cafe Gourmand, Surabaya

Boncafe has always been a special place to dine for many years. My fellow 90s kids who grew up in Surabaya would surely recognize Boncafe as one of the most renowned old school steakhouses in town with its flagship red and white colours, checkered table cloth and outdoor kids play area. It started in 1977 when a small cafe was built on Jl. Raya Gubeng, and now it has a total of 4 outlets city-wide, not including the ones outside Surabaya (i.e. Samarinda and Makassar).

When I was a kid, my big family loved to have gatherings and birthday celebration there. Now that there have been more and more options to dine, we don't visit Boncafe as often as we did in the past. So, yesterday I brought my grandma for lunch at Boncafe Pregolan as she was craving for beef steak. She still could remember vividly how good Boncafe's steak was in the old days. It was kinda quiet when we arrived at 11.30, but the place started to fill up by 12pm onwards. The Pregolan outlet is spacious (although not as big as Gubeng outlet) - it is perfect for dates, family and friends gathering. Nowadays, the menu has been revamped to include Korean-style steak and even local delights like nasi goreng. However, we settled for the more mundane ones as we wanted to stick to the classic.

Es Teh Manis - IDR14,000
The tea was refreshing but it was too sweet! I wish the drink came with separated sugar so that we could adjust the sweetness to our preference.

Boncafe still serves the same good ol' soft bread as starter. The bread was soft and yummy, especially when I spread the slighty-salted butter on it (it was already good on its own though). It boosted my appetite right from the start.

Sirloin Steak - IDR99,000

For the beef steak, you can specify your preferred level of doneness. My grandma's sirloin was cooked to medium rare doneness. The steak came with thick-cut fries, vegetables and Boncafe special steak sauce. The beef was well-marbled, marinated perfectly and grilled to perfection. It was tender (the elderly will not have a hard time to chew), juicy and flavorful. The quality was good for the price and the portion was big as well.

Chicken Roulade - IDR77,000

You can tell by the look that this chicken roulade is gonna be filling af. I was afraid that I could not finish it tbh. The chicken meat is rolled together with smoked beef and sausage, then coated with breadcrumbs and fried to golden brown. It is served with potato croquettes, chips and sauteed veggies. The chicken was nicely seasoned and the signature pouring sauce helped elevate the flavor. At the end, I managed to finish this dish by digesting the meat veryyy slowly haha.

The service was attentive and prompt although I feel that the staffs could smile more to customers. I hope Boncafe will pass the test of time and continue to pamper us with its quality old school steaks.

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Jl. Pregolan 2

Surabaya, Indonesia 60262

+6231-5343018

IG: boncafesteak

Opening hours: 9am - 10.30pm

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It was freaking 34 degree Celcius that day and I could not stand that terrible humidity, so I thought it would be perfect to get some gelato to cool down. Luckily, Le Cafe Gourmand was just a doorstep away from Boncafe. Le Cafe Gourmand is a small cafe that sells gelato, cake, sandwiches, coffee and light bites. It is still under the same management with Boncafe by the way.

Birthday Cake Gelato + Marshmallow - IDR35,000

A single scoop of gelato is priced at IDR35,000 - not cheap, but it comes with one topping of your choice. You can choose to have your gelato in cup or cone (you can also choose the color of the cone, how cute is that?!). After trying out several flavors, my pick went to birthday cake flavor, in which I paired with marshmallow topping. The gelato base tasted like vanilla with cake batter smell, and I love that they threw in some rainbow cake chunks. The cake was a bit dry but it was soaked in the gelato anyway. It felt like there was a party going on in my mouth. Surprisingly, the gelato was not overly sweet and I managed to finish it despite being very full after eating steak.

My gelato melted sooo fast, that's just how merciless the weather could get

I wish I were given more time to indulge in my not-so-cheap gelato (if only it did not melt that quickly!). Next time, I would just stay indoor and try out their coffee and pastries.

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Jl. Pregolan 2

Surabaya, Indonesia 60262

+6231-5355511

IG: lecafegourmand.sby

Opening hours: 8am - 11pm