[Culinary Travel Medan]: Afternoon Coffee at Warung Kopi Kurnia Medan

Our curiousness of another coffeeshop forced us to again visit Jl. Perdana. We saw that Warung Kopi Apek has closed but Warung Kopi Kurnia still opened. So we decided to have a final stop at Warung Kopi Kurnia. Warung Kopi Kurnia

When we entered the place, only two stalls opened. One was  roti cane/martabak and the other was Mie Rebus Perdana. Few people sit and having coffees.

We order a cup of black coffee. The style of the coffee was exactly the same as Warung Kopi Apek which we visited earlier in the morning.

 Mie Rebus was too much at that afternoon, so we decided to try sweet roti cane.  The maker of roti cane looked like Indian.

 Sweet roti cane was served hot with white sugar on top of it. This was very delicious roti cane.

Total costs for this afternoon coffee (sweet roti cane and coffee was IDR 13,000).

Visited on: 03/12/2013

Warung Kopi Kurnia
Simpang Jl. Perdana/Jl. Mesjid
Kesawan, Medan
North Sumatera

[Culinary Travel Medan]: Breakfast at Warung Kopi Apek

We were told that if you went to Medan, it is not complete if you did not try Medan-style coffeeshop. Normally, these coffeeshops open early in the morning to serve coffee and breakfast. Of course, Medan-style breakfast. So, we decide to wake up early that morning (03/12/2013). It was rainy last night so the soil a bit wet. At 5:30am sharp, we have ready with our sports shoes and wears. We walked a along to the east direction of the hotel, left right to the south until reach Aston Hotel and then browsing Kesawan and finally headed back to Jalan Hindu. It took almost one hour for such short distance because we frequently stopped to take pictures. Approximately 6:30 we reach Pasar Hindu. We have read some reviews of the coffeeshops along Jalan Perdana (closed to Pasar Hindu). We noticed some recommended coffeeshops such as Warung Kopi Bahagia and Warung Kopi Kurnia. Unfortunately, they were still close at that time. The last chance was looking for Warung Kopi Apek, the other recommended coffeeshop by www.jenzcorner.net. After asking few people, finally we found the place. There is no signboard of Warung Kopi Apek. It is located in the corner of Jalan Hindu/Jalan Perdana just across LBH (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum) Medan or across Pasar Hindu. In the picture below, Warung Kopi Apek is located at the left side (corner).

When we enter the coffeeshop, our feeling was thrown away to somewhere in the old days. The place has half full. People sit, enjoy coffee or breakfast, reading newspaper or having chit chat with friends. It was Tuesday not weekend. It appears that drinking coffee in coffeeshops has been Medan culture for sometimes. Coffeeshops were not only simply place to enjoy coffee or breakfast but also part of social life in Medan.
We sit at the corner, the only left table that morning.

We first order black coffee. Evaporated milk was separated in a small cup. The coffee is "kopitiam-style". Served in small cup.  It is very hot, black, bitter and very nice.  We were told it was Sidikalang coffee.

From our table, we can see street activities. People went and back to and from Pasar Hindu.

After finishing a quarter cup coffee, we order our breakfast meal. We decide to order kaya toast and half-boiled eggs. The kaya toast was big and nice.

The half-boiled eggs were served with soy sauce, pepper and salt.

The big breakfast of Warung Kopi Apek will make your day perfect. Our big breakfast costs IDR 57,000.

Finished? Not yet !! We notice that there is a small stall outside the coffeeshop that sells something. So we approach the lady waiter and asked what sold by outside stall and if we may bring that food inside. She explained that the outside stall sold fried kwee tiaw, noodle and bee hon and pleased her customers to bring their own foods but not drink.

Unfortunately, the only left was fried bee hon. So we order one. The fried bee hoon costs IDR 10,000.

It is very tasty and very nice. Some chilli sambal was also put at the dish, so if you like spicy just mix the chilli sambal with the bee hon.

Perfect breakfast for today.

Visited on: 03/12/2013

Warung Kopi Apek
Corner of Jalan Hindu/Jalan Perdana

Kesawan, Medan
North Sumatera

[Culinary Travel]: 85°C Bakery Cafe, "Starbuck"-nya Taiwan

Ketika kami mengunjungi Beijing minggu lalu, kami menyempatkan diri mengunjungi salah satu coffee shop yang cukup terkenal di sana yaitu 85°C Bakery Cafe. Cafe ini sebenarnya berasal dari Taiwan. Ketika dua tahun lalu kami berkunjung ke Taiwan tidak sempat mengunjungi coffee shop  ini. Kebetulan hotel tempat kami menginap bersebelahan dengan salah satu outlet 85°C Bakery Cafe.

85°C Bakery Cafe pertama kali didirikan di Taiwan tahun 2004 oleh Wu Cheng-Hsueh. Dengan cepat gerainya menyebar ke seluruh Taiwan, bahkan menyeberang ke Amerika dan China daratan. Di Cina sendiri coffee shop ini kurang lebih berjumlah 385 buah.

Kata 85°C, konon, berawal dari kepercayaan sang pendiri bahwa kopi akan sempurna ketika diseduh pada suhu 85 derajat celsius. Oleh karena itulah kedai tersebut dinamakan "85°C". Sedangkan kata "Bakery Cafe" digunakan karena selain menjual kopi, juga menjual berbagai macam bakery yang juga harganya relatif murah. Hampir semua outlet 85°C Bakery Cafe (kecuali berada di dalam malls) buka "24 hours".

Penampilan gerai ini cukup sederhana, dibandingkan dengan coffee shop lainnya. Tapi konon karena "murahnya" menjadikan gerai ini cukup banyak berkembang. Bahkan sempat dijuluki sebagai "Starbuck"-nya Taiwan.

Sekarang, selain minuman kopi, mereka juga menjual aneka minuman teh dan yoghurt.  

Konsep yang dijual adalah sederhana yaitu menjual kopi  dan bakery murah. Ya, dikatakan murah jika dibandingkan dengan pesaingnya Starbucks atau Costa misalnya. Sebagai  perbandingan, segela Americano di 85°C dijual dengan harga CNY 9, sedangkan di Costa dengan harga CNY 20 atau di Starbucks dengan harga yang kurang lebih sama.

Di dalam coffee shop sendiri tidak banyak kursi yang tersedia, paling hanya cukup menampung sekitar sepuluh orang. Pada malam itu sekitar 23:30pm, masih tampak beberapa orang yang membeli minuman dan berbelanja bakery.

Rasa Americano-nya sendiri ketika kami mencoba, biasa saja.

Last visited: 23/11/2013

C85°C Bakery Cafe (85度C 咖啡蛋糕烘焙專賣店)
Dongxinglong Jie
New World Mall
Beijing, P.R.C.
W: www.85cafe.com