High end Western cuisine in Surabaya, Indonesia is few and far between and I'm usually pretty skeptical about trying them. Some of my cousins have been talking about a fairly new French place called Citrus Lee, and it looked pretty good. Turns out the chef is a regular at my mom's restaurant, Kogyo, so we decided to go there for my birthday dinner.
The menu at Citrus Lee comes as a set (when he didn't do set menus, some people would make a reservation and come to eat salads - it was all about showing off that you dined here) of three or four courses. The prices vary depending on your choice of main course and you can go as low as a three course chicken dinner for Rp.175,000 (US$19-20) - not bad compared to US prices! But it does go up to about $80 for 3 courses with a lobster entree. With the amuse bouche, palate cleanser, and all, it ended up being a substantial amount of food and a pretty good value.
First came a trio of seafood-centric amuse bouches: smoked salmon, scallop, etc
Although it's a French restaurant, Citrus Lee incorporates a lot of Chinese flavors. It isn't quite fusion but probably just enough to cater more to the Asian palate.For my first course I chose the Tiger Prawns with Leek-Potato Bacon Prawn Cream Bisque Soup Infused with Shaoxing (a traditional Chinese rice wine)
The foie gras addition is expensive compared to the US, though. The seared duck foie gras with apricot vanilla puree and star anise costs an extra Rp.265,000 (about $30) - oh well, it had to travel farther to Indonesia.
It was a good sized piece of foie gras and nicely done. I was missing foie gras and was glad I could have a good version for my birthday in Surabaya! This was also the first time my mom tried seared foie gras - and she liked it!Sauteed Wild Mushroom Brule with Brown Butter and Beets-Orange Wedges
Wild mushrooms are one of the things I miss when I'm in Indonesia, and this was the first time I encountered them here. Turns out he gets them from a small local island, and they were wonderful.A shot glass of juice and a bowl of granita as palate cleansers follow between courses.
For the entree, my brother ordered the Pan-Roasted Angus Tenderloin with Chinese Aromatic Spices and Bordelaise-Shaoshing Sauce
Tender, medium rare pieces.My mom's order: Crispy Duck Margaret Confit with homemade preserved orange navel with duck-bacon spiced dressing
The duck in Indonesia is decidedly leaner and gamier than in the US, so I thought the confit is not quite as fatty as what I'm used to - expectedly so and it was still good.Marinated oven-roasted seabass with sesame-miso and black truffle-infused soy-corn coulis
Indonesians tend to fry their fishes whole, so the flaky texture of a roasted seabass is a nice break - but really, I ordered this to get a whiff of truffles.Roasted lamb rack marinated in green curry, garlic mint butter with layu-spices mint chutney
Tender lamb rack, flavorful "curry" sauce. This was a great dish.Pan-seared Jumbo Scallops with miso mustard sauce and sauteed Chanterelle mushrooms
Another thing I tend to miss in Indonesia: scallops. I'm talking jumbo scallops. I mean, sure we have scallops at street stalls but they tend to be tiny. The scallops at Citrus Lee are the ones I miss, and they were seared nicely.
The chef at Citrus Lee is Hendry Sedjahtera whose parents own a Chinese restaurant in a neighboring city, Malang. Hendry studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and worked at a few restaurants there before opening Citrus Lee in 2009.
The desserts at Citrus Lee are all made by his younger brother in Malang and shipped here. A family of chefs who work together! The dessert menu is pretty small here. With the tasting menu you get a choice of two flavors of creme brulee and another item that I can't remember right now ... There's also a flourless chocolate cake and some specials, but they cost extra.
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| Happy birthday to me! |
Psst, so at Citrus Lee they serve mini mochis after your dessert as a palate cleanser. Guess who makes these mochis? Yup, my family's shop, Mochiko! So of course we loved this course, hehe. We made them miniature-sized and not as sweet as the ones we normally sell, though.Since there's no in-house pastry chef, there's no house-made amuse bouche. They gave out Valrhona chocolates instead, which are perfectly fine by me.
I wonder how many people were scared to try Citrus Lee because, like my family, they keep hearing about how expensive it is. Well, it can definitely get expensive depending on what you order (like kobe beef), but you can actually have a great meal and be full with one of the less expensive set menus - especially after all the amuse bouche and palate cleansers. There aren't many French restaurants in Surabaya (actually, I think there may only be two), so Surabaya people, why not be adventurous and give it a try?
Citrus Lee
Jl. Kutai No.12
Surabaya, Indonesia 60241
031-561-5192
The food menu is extensive since long time customers complain when the restaurant tries to take their "favorites" off the menu, so it just kept growing. Most of them are the "typical" Mexican food you encounter, but they have quite a few interesting items as well. We tried a few appetizers. For me, the highlights were these two:
A bowl of hot melted Jack and Cotija cheese, what a perfect food for drinking.
They actually use chunks of lobster in the quesadilla. The quesadilla itself was pretty inexpensive for lobster, plus half off? Quite a deal.
For desserts they have flan and churros, but you can get an after dinner boozy drinks like the Senior's Famous Mexican Coffee. What's in it? It's apparently a "secret recipe" but it's sweet and strong.
In this station they also had ceviches and dungeness crab salads. Then, move on to the made-to-order omelets
This fifth location is their swankiest (being the flagship and all) with a kid's corner, communal table, outdoor seating, and a lit-up "EAT HAPPY" sign above the kitchen.
They're also trying to have beers that are more interesting than the ones at the Marina del Rey location and will be selling those that have been selling well at Blue Cow Kitchen.
Summer Cubano: slow braised carnitas, prime honey ham, Mendocino mustard, housemade dill pickles, Cuban mojo sauce, drispy plantains on Dolce Forno's soft roll
They have finally "perfected" their cubano sandwich using the new mojo sauce developed at Blue Cow Kitchen, and topping it with fried plantains
Starting May 31, you don't have to drive to Marina del Rey or downtown for their popular pork belly banh mi anymore. 
The cocktails are much better than the bar in Kuta but they also cost a lot more at Rp.110,000 (~$12). Still, I was happy to see some tiki classics like Blood and Sand and Mai Tai on the menu - happier still to find out they were done well.
To relax on a sunny day, and especially if you can snag some seats during sunset, KuDeTa is currently my bar of choice.
Samala Showroom
Some great moves from James Duke Mason
