Bakerzin -- Excellent

Hello everyone! I haven't updated in a long time. No pictures this time, since I rarely take my camera with me. I might as well update with some cake posts.

Bakerzin is an odd establishment. When they first opened, I tried their cakes and they were awful. Terrible. Out of six or seven cakes only one was edible. And even that one I know they skimped on the ingredients; in Singapore they use hazelnuts, while in Indonesia they use peanuts.

But they have come a long way since then! Now their cakes are very well-made. Their entremets are divine! The one I had was chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, passionfruit gelee, and ganache. The cake itself is fluffy and moist and the chocolate comes through (no gelatinized chocolate bullshit that's getting popular lately). They use good quality chocolate, so enjoy every last bit!

I also tried the Death by Nuts and Bloody Mary specials. Death by Nuts wasn't sweet at all, and the aroma of black sesame is faint. Overall a very bland dessert. The Bloody Mary is more appealing (red instead of grey) and tasty from the tomatoes. Texture-wise, it was interesting, as they used crunchy choco caviars that contrast with the fluffy and delicate cake. I'd stick to the other cakes.

The macarons are better than in most other cake shops. Maybe I had them while they're still relatively fresh; I don't know. Almost all other macarons I've tried are stale, either from drying out in the fridge or absorbing moisture from the air. Bakerzin's macarons have a good consistency, albeit very sweet. Update: I can now safely say that Bakerzin's macarons are easily in the top 3 in Surabaya. I bought close to a dozen macarons recently and only one had the off-smelling fridge odor, but the rest were made splendidly.

The food is quite good. I love their salad dressing. I know it's just mayo, but they put in a lot of lemon. It's like pouring slightly runny lemon curds on your greens, and I love every bite. I like the salmon pasta mixed with tapenade. The pasta is cooked al dente, which is not the standard in Surabaya. An aside: I asked the folks at Pisa Cafe and they said many customers complain the food isn't cooked through when they serve pasta al dente (lol), so they just serve overcooked pasta every time. Al dente is normally upon request.

The tea is a hit or miss. I bought some tea at Bakerzin when a new branch opened in Jakarta and the tea was memorably delicious. However, I went back there several months later and the tea was tasteless and odorless. Maybe Bakerzin doesn't throw away tea even after it's stale and past its prime.

Overall, I'd say Bakerzin is a good place to hang out at. The main drawback is the price (Rp. 35,000 for a slice of cake!) but it's okay to splurge once in a while. I upgraded Bakerzin to Excellent with one caveat: order the cakes. The food I'd say is good, but the cakes are excellent. Go there for the macarons.