The Champion VS Le Ciel Bleu

Hey everybody!! #Undecided here!!

This is another joint post and just like last time we're going to review and compare two (relatively) new restos in Surabaya: The Champion and Le Ciel Bleu.

The Champion is located in the east part of Surabaya. Very close to where #Pink and I live so I was pretty darn excited when I first saw it opened, like FINALLY A NICE (non Chinese, mind you) RESTO IN OUR AREA!!! LOL. So obvi we had to try that. Le Ciel Bleu on the other hand, is located in west part of Surabaya (where all the good restos are, yes, how's that fair LOL). 

Anyway, without further ado, let's go check out The Champion first!

Us and Baby Boy in front of the resto.

The outdoor section of The Champion.

The indoor section.

The inside. LOVE the lighting here, so pretty and romantic.

As you can see in the pictures about (it's #Pink, hello!), The Champion was built to resemble a glass green house, i've passed the place a few times before and was always attracted to its cool, minimalistic design with the twinkling lights.

#Pink and #Undecided at The Champion, we just got our bangs trimmed (like always haha) by Ndaru!

And our hubbies who obvi just got haircuts

Our oh-so-handsome Baby Boy!

We actually moved to the next table (i don't remember why-probably coz the lighting was better for cam-whoring?)

Personally i find the ambiance in The Champion to be very nice and comfortable, it's not too snooty and very welcoming. My only problem with The Champion would be the abundance of mosquitoes!!!! It's really really crazy and i kept on fidgeting and actually asked to go home a while after we finished our meal because i cannot risk another mosquito bite! I went home with over 5 bites as it was :(... And yes, we stayed in the indoor section the whole time, can't imagine how i'd fare if we sat outside!

As for me, I'm a big fan of light (cool & fancy lighting to be exact), so this resto caught my eyes the moment I saw it. To say that it's eye-catchy is an understatement LOL. And it didn't disappoint. But yes, ugh to all the mosquitoes. Maybe they should put a snapper on the doors so they close by themselves whenever someone walks in - you know, to minimize the possibility of mosquitoes entering because several times I noticed people going in and leaving the door open behind them...

Anyway, next up, Le Ciel Bleu.

(Oh, i need to apologize in advance for the very different photo qualities! Hunny forgot to bring his NX300 to The Champion and i accidentally changed my pinko's setting to VGA WTF, i dunno how *obvi i didn't mean to, i don't even know how to :p*! So we ended up with very small sized, grainy picture of The Champion but very sharp and pretty (if i may say so) ones of Le Ciel Bleu! Hardly fair, i know!)

The view that greets us.

Same models, different prop hahahaha... (I kid, I kid... LOL)

The inside - view from our seat.

The other direction - that's a bar on the very back.

View to our right.

Again, our hubbies :p in matching dark-toned outfit

LOVE the cute seating.

I really love the pictures we took in Le Ciel Bleu, hence the blown up size *LOL*

Our table number.
I feat this photo because i like how it seems very artsy fartsy LOL. Somehow my hunny's always a lot more artsy fartsy than me when taking non-living objects :p

That's the entrance to the bathroom.

I love how detailed they arranged everything

#Undecided looking very happy

I was quite pissed because the camera couldn't pick up the true color of the aquarium *sigh*, it was really really blue! Btw, whatta cute dotty stingray!

#Undecided made me snap this pic because she said the puffer fish was cute -___-
Yet somehow when I saw this, my eyes were drawn to that obese fish and completely missing the puffer fish LOL.

I'm in love with this particular wall.

#Pink made me pose!

The photo on one of the frames.

Took quite an effort to get this shot. The mirror is tiny IRL LOL.

The 2nd floor - photo taken from the bathroom.

LOVE the setting and ambience of this place!

As you can see from the photos, both restos look like an aquarium from outside LOL. I love how they both have lots and lots of windows and pretty lighting which is different compared to other places we've been to.

Ambiance wise, I think (albeit IMHO it's a very close call) Le Ciel Bleu wins. 

As for me, Le Ciel Bleu also wins-HANDS DOWN *LOL*. Unfortunately that seems like the only aspect in which they come up strong...

Next is the menu! I don't know if these are their permanent menu or it's just a temporary ones because they're both still very new, but both restos have very simple (if not errr ugly) menu made from laminated papers -___-.

The Champion's menu, made from flimsy papers *LOL*. They have different colored menus and i had to pick up the baby pink one, naturally!

 

I can't help it... I had very pretty manicures that day, must take NOTD pic... You'll never guess the brand of the nail polishes that i used... Review coming up sometime in the future! (can't say when LOLOLOL)

Le Ciel Bleu's menu. #Undecided said she looks like those naked girls on advertisements where they're just holding a placate to hide their bodies LOLOLOL

Blowing up the pic so you can see clearly

I completely forgot to snap a pic of the inside of The Champion's menu! To summarize it, The Champion mainly sells the regular cafe foods. You know, salad-pizza-pasta kind of things? While Le Ciel Bleu's menu also contains similar items but with a weirder twist. They also serve very traditional food like fried cow lungs (it sounds more disgusting than it really is, a very common delicacy in Indonesia :D) and tahu pong (a famous Indonesian fried tofu)!

I cannot choose which menu's better, while Le Ciel Bleu's menu has more varieties, it's also very confusing for me, and it doesn't really reflects the style they have of the restaurant. As for the actual menu, i also have no say since they're both errr... ugly and unprofessional looking *LOL*.

Price wise both restos are quite neck to neck, we're quite happy because when making comparison posts it'd hardly be compatible if we compare two places from completely different leagues, right? Prices in both restos are quite low, so this is the more economical resto comparisons LOL (if you want to read a more high ended resto comparison in Surabaya, read this)

The drinks :

The Champion's drinks: Iced Chocolate (hubby's) & Hot Cocoa (Baby Boy

's)

#Pink posing with Baby Boy's Hot Cocoa & me with my own drink, Virgin Mojitos.

I'm clearly fascinated with The Champion's cute glasses and cannot stop snapping pics

Even the cutlery's holder's so cute!

The drinks are quite nice. One of the nicest Virgin Mojitos I've had. And the glasses they use are quite cute and totally match the whole image this resto is trying to project.

I also quite liked the hot cocoa drink even though it tasted very generic (like...Swiss Miss brand or something). Baby Boy didn't enjoy it that much since it's a true cocoa drink (not milky) so it was probably a bit bitter for him. The portion's quite generous too. Hunny drank an affogato or something, but he mucked up his drink before i could snap a pic (damn him!)-it was pretty nice as well, the coffee was really strong!

Right right... loved the affogato!! #Pink's hunny had to mess it up by adding water on his drink though... Silly dude was like "the coffee's too strong I won't be able to sleep later" LOL.

Le Ciel Bleu's Chocolate Milkshake (hubby's) which came in a unique container, but notice how they use a very ugly straw LOL.

My Iced Lemon Tea - which came in a plain boring glass & was very very sour (and I like sour drinks, so believe me when I say this one's too sour LOL), I had to add all simple syrup they served this with.

#Pink's hunny's drink - can't remember what.

I also can't remember what drink this was (it's my hunny's), it was okay i think...

The Champion's drinks are WAY better compared to Le Ciel Bleu's. And props to them for being consistent by using cute glassware for all drinks.

Now the fun begins, let's talk food!!!

The Champion's Garlic Bread.

The Champion's Pizza (which was the only thing that didn't taste good that night)
It's way too thick and fluffy. I don't think fluffy and chewy is actually the kind of thing one's looking for when it comes to pizza! It really tasted more like those pizza buns sold at bakeries than a real pizza!

The Champion's Fettuccine Carbonara - so yummy I can't even... *drool*

Yup, it was pretty yum. With just right portion that filled me up but wasn't to much that it made me sick. I've been going almost carbs-less for almost 3 weeks i can't really remember how's a pasta taste WTF

The Champion's Aglio Olio - yum yum and quite spicy.

The Champion's Mushroom Soup.

Baby Boy gulped more than half down and then announced that he didn't like it LOL. Aunty and mummy finished it with no complaint LOL.
It was really nice actually!

The Champion's Fish and Chips.

They use dory fish and #Undecided approved! LOL. My only complaint would be that the portion is miniscule LOL.

Le Ciel Bleu's Fried (Cow) Lungs.
Told ya they serves weird things...

Spicy BBQ Ribs - Hubby said it was okay (he didn't love the sauce) but IMHO the portion reminds me of Antica Osteria's.

#Pink and her Cesar Salad
Which comes with a yucky teriyaki sauce @___@ i am NOT a fan!

Both #Pink and I had Cesar Salad that day. We should have opted for the plain salad (without the additional chicken) because the teriyaki sauce is way too sweet to be combined with garden salad like this.

Le Ciel Bleu's Spaghetti Carbonara which was bland - didn't like it.

 

Le Ciel Bleu's Chicken Cordon Blue. If was the only one good dish from that night IMHO.

Food wise, The Champion wins HANDS DOWN. LOL. To me personally, it's a breath of fresh air for my part of the town. For now whenever I crave for good pasta, it will only take me 10 minutes drive - no traffic whatsoever LOL. So happy they decided to open!! I'm looking forward to try their brunch menu (went there once for lunch but apparently they don't serve brunch just yet, just a coffee shop during the day, so to be on the safer side, just go there for dinner for now, k?) and shall blog about it too!

As for Le Ciel Bleu, as much as I wanted to love their dishes (due to the fact that I loved the ambiance of the place), I just couldn't. #Pink and I even had a discussion about whether or not we would go back there (as a paying customer), #Pink would (because she just loves the place she wants to take more pictures there LOL), but I wouldn't. I just can't justify the drive and the traffic jam for such mediocre tasting food...

Yep, for me The Champion wins too, but sadly we had a quite horrible encounter with their staffs last Saturday, on #Undecided's birthday dinner (which we should blog about pretty soon, hopefully) that it just marred the impression i have on them. Oh, and their chicken caesar salad's only slightly better than Le Ciel Bleu's too zzz.

And #Undecided robbed the exact words i planned to use to describe Le Ciel Bleu *LOL*. I really really wanted to like them since the place's super nice, their concept (design wise) and decor's so nicely executed but they managed to forget the most important part of a restaurant : the food. Their foods were mediocre at best, some even hardly edible *LOL*. And yes, i would actually want to go back to hang out, take pictures and all *maybe for a drink or so* but i would be thinking really hard to do so *LOL*. Le Ciel Bleu's owner should really sit down and have a taste test on their menu, and maybe fire the chef.... In conclusion, if you want a place to take nice pic and maybe snack a little, Le Ciel Bleu could be an option, but if you're in for the culinary part, maybe you should avoid this place.

Some extra photos :

Boys

And gurls

#Pink and #Undecided at The Champion

The Champion's vast parking lot, why is there so many orbs??? Supernatural thingy???

Those lights make such an impact on me (sucker for good lighting thanks to Lasika LOL)

Le Ciel Bleu's porch - nicely decorated.

ohi hubby!!

Cute little seating - which hubby used as his smoking place last time LOL.

#Pink and #Undecided at Le Ciel Bleu

We saw a mouse scurried through when we were sitting here and freaked out a bit *LOL*
A bit, bb?! I remember we jolted and ran right away after your hunny snapped this pic LOL.

Had to snap several times to get this one good shot LOL.

#Undecided and the hubs actually brought us drinks from The Stupid Baker (whatta name, right?) which tasted 10x better than Le Ciel Bleu's!
Why you may ask? Because they use La Marzocco's coffee machine *coffee addicts rejoice LOL*! Dare I say it's even better than Starbucks'? LOL. Well it's neck-a-neck, I love them both!! But Stupid Baker's coffee is super cheap! IDR 6k for the hot ones in mini glasses, and IDR 12k - 15k for the standard ones, crazy huh... But I digress!!

Sooo... have you tried these 2 new restos? What do you think? Do drop by on the comment section below to let us know, k? 

Toodles,

#Pink and #Undecided