BaReLo + Ezo Hokkaido Cheesecake & Bakery, Surabaya

After daddy-daughter's night out, now it's mommy's turn! Last night, my cousins and I brought our moms for a buffet dinner at BaReLo Swiss-Belinn Tunjungan Hotel. BaReLo stands for 'Bar, Restaurant and Lounge', and it is basically the hotel's all-day dining restaurant. BaReLo is located on the ground floor next to the receptionist, and honestly I was a bit surprised that there was almost no barrier between lobby and restaurant area, so these two areas seem to be merged together.

The buffet spread consists of hot Western food (poached fish, neapolitan spaghetti, creamy potato), Chinese food (black pepper chicken, cap cay), Indonesian food (soto ayam, rojak, nasi goreng), vegetable salad, soup, dessert and drink (water, fruit juice, iced tea). The choices are rather limited considering we only pay IDR150,000 for buffet dinner.

I quite like the corn soup. It was warming and flavorful.

The soto ayam tasted nice too but the meat and rice vermicelli ran out quickly. I went back for the second time and I still did not see them being refilled.

The tomato flavor in the neapolitan spaghetti was strong enough but it got no meat inside.

The poached fish was tender and the herb sauce was delectable. I super like the potato, which was drenched in creamy cheese sauce. I kept filling up my plate with this potato haha.

On the dessert display was a variety of sliced cake, Indonesian kueh and fresh cut fruits. The sponge cake inside the glass was my favorite, but that dollop of cream tasted damn heavy and I felt like putting a heap of fat onto my mouth.

The serabi looked so cute in purple color and it was nicely paired with jackfruit-infused sauce. The martabak manis tasted awful and I stopped eating after my first bite.

Tried this blue jelly just because it looked cute. It was actually meant for salad, but I just grabbed the jelly and gobbled it plainly without dressing lol.

Overall, BaReLo is more appropriate for a casual lunch since it gives us almost no privacy for deep talk - it got so noisy when the place started to fill up. The buffet is very basic and simple, you really get what you pay. The service was acceptable, although the staff seemed too hasty in clearing up the plate.

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Swiss-Belinn Tunjungan, 1st Floor
Jl. Tunjungan 101
Surabaya, Indonesia 60271
+6231-99001999
Opening hours: 6am - 10pm

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After dinner, we crossed to Tunjungan Plaza to do some window shopping. While walking, I stumbled upon a place called Ezo Cheesecakes. A lot of people flocked to Ezo and I saw all of them were holding soft-serve ice cream. The curious me immediately stepped into the queue and got one for myself.

Camembert Cheese Soft Creme - IDR27,000

Vanilla ice cream is just too boring. Why not try camembert cheese ice cream instead? Fyi, camembert cheese is made of ripened cow's milk. It is said to have less fat and fewer calories than cheddar cheese. Anyway, the soft-serve was soooo soft (duh) and thank God it was not overly cheesy (I thought it would be damn jelat as it was made of cheese).

I think Ezo's cheese ice cream is really worth the hype. Next time I will definitely try the cheese tarts, Ezo's specialty item. Their cheese tarts look so tempting with Ovomaltine, Oreo, matcha, and many other flavors.

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Tunjungan Plaza 6, 5th Floor

Jl. Embong Malang 32-36

Surabaya, Indonesia 60261

+6231-99245298

IG: ezocheesecakes

Opening hours: 10am - 9.45pm