Surabaya Kouhoku: Delicious Indonesian Cuisine

I love Indonesian cuisine. The first time I went to an Indonesian restaurant was in 1998, back when I was a college student in Nagoya, a city in central Japan. I’ve forgotten the name of the restaurant, but I remember how much I liked the food.

Fast forward more than a decade later. Having since moved to the Tokyo vicinity, I found the place to be for delicious Indonesian fare: Surabaya. (Continued after Japanese summary)

スラバヤ港北店で美味しいインドネジア料理

インドネジア料理が大好きです。初めて食べたのは名古屋で大学生だった１９９８年。レストランの名前は覚えていないが、お料理は美味しかったことが覚えています。十数年後の今、「スラバヤ」というインドネジア料理のレストランを発見。数年前から通い始め、美味しいお料理に魅了され続けています。特に好きなのは、揚げ春巻き、サラダ、サテなど、様々な料理を楽しめるランチプレートの「ナシチャンプル」。単品注文もコース料理も頼んだことがありますが、一番お気に入りはひき肉たっぷりの揚げオムレツ「Martabak」です。ジューシーなひき肉を春巻きの皮で包んで揚げた逸品は病みつきになります！

お料理だけではなく、エキゾチックでありながら落ち着いたインテリアがとても素敵。観賞植物やチーク材の彫刻で飾られ、大好きなバリを思い出させてくれます^^。港北店のスタフもフレンドリーで、南国ムードのお食事は快適で満足しています。今度はいつ行こうかなあ〜

They have several restaurants in the Kanto area, and I’ve been to two of them. In this article I’ll introduce the one that I frequent, the Kouhoku branch in Yokohama.

Beautiful Memories of Bali

Among the many things I love about the Surabaya restaurants is that the interiors remind me of one of my favorite places on earth, Bali.

Surabaya Kouhoku restaurant interiors. Photos by Beverly Claire Discoveries.

Entering the restaurant one is greeted by the warmth of teak wood and natural stone, dark stained bamboo, intricate carved panels on the walls, and large potted greens. It’s Southeast Asian exotic all around, and I love it. It’s my little bit of Indonesia, to tide me over until I can visit there again.

Food for the Gods

Well, not really. But I could eat a meal here each week and be very happy indeed. The food is delicious. My favorite is the lunch plate called “Nasi campur” that has a little bit of everything: meats, vegetables, soup. This generous plate absolves you of the responsibility of having to choose your own dishes. It’s perfect for the times when you just want to eat great food without thinking of what goes with which.

Indonesian food at Surabaya Kouhoku. Photos by Beverly Claire Discoveries.

I’ve also sampled the individual dishes, as well as the dinner course menu. My favorite dish is the “Martabak” (crispy meat pancake): neither fatty nor oily, it’s flavorful and the texture is kind of addicting 🙂

Kouhoku Sunset and Night Views

Kouhoku in Yokohama City is one of those “new towns”, newly developed, well-planned residential areas with parks and shiny malls and everything you need around the train station. Lucky for those who live in one of the apartments nearby as everything is just a stone’s throw away.

We drive to Kouhoku by car, but since it’s nearly an hour away, we make sure to do not just do the Indonesian food bit but also lots of shopping. The Surabaya Yokohama branch in the World Porters building is near Yokohama station and thus nearer to where we live. But I like the restaurant staff at the Kouhoku restaurant. They’re friendly and always give us the best available seats, the one with the nicest views.

Speaking of views, here are some Kouhoku scenes that I captured on cameara, in the form of customizable postcards:

Above is a sunset view from the Mosaic Mall’s parking lot, right above Kouhoku station.

Orange and yellow sunset with metal fence in the foreground.

An urban sunset, with violet skies, wispy little clouds and dashes of yellow and orange.

And my favorite view of Kouhoku: the Ferris wheel.

Passing cars make light trails as they leave the building. I quite enjoyed using slow shutter speed to capture the light movements in this urban night scene. I must have looked strange to the security cameras, setting up my tripod on a parking lot of all places!

These postcards may be customized with your names, initials and/or messages.

I hope you enjoyed this post on Indonesian cuisine in Yokohama.

How to Get There

View Larger Map

North Port Mall Bld.3F
1-25-1 Nakagawa Chuo Tsuzuki-ku Yokohama-shi Kanagawa
Access: Nearest station is Center-Kita on the Yokohama Shiei Chikatetsu (subway) line
Phone: 045-910-0157
Hours open: 11:00～23:00 (L.O.22:00)
Parking: Available via the North Port Mall parking lot. A purchase of 2,000 JPY gives you 2 free hours of parking. Be sure to have your parking ticket stamped at the restaurant upon payment.

スラバヤ港北店
神奈川県横浜市都筑区中川中央1-25-1
ノースポートモール5F
アクセス：　横浜市営地下鉄センター北駅
駐車場：　モール使用。２千円のお買いもので２時間無料券が発行されます。