Uppercut is the steakhouse Milo Baldazzi — the Italian chef behind several of Indonesia's most serious fine-dining openings — built when he wanted to run his own room on his own terms. The dining space on Jalan Untung Suropati is deliberately moody: dark walls, warm pendant lighting, an open-kitchen pass that lets the dining room see every piece of meat going through the Josper grill, and a dry-aging cabinet built into the entry vestibule that sets the tone before guests sit down. This is the most architecturally confident steakhouse in the city and the kitchen's technical level is higher than anything else in the price bracket.
The menu is tightly focused: dry-aged Australian and Japanese beef across multiple cuts and ageing periods, a short supporting list of pastas and antipasti reflecting Baldazzi's Italian training, and a small seafood section that includes some of the best crudo work in Surabaya. The tomahawk and the bistecca Fiorentina cuts are the signature orders — both carved tableside — and the wine list leans heavily into Italian producers, with a decent Australian Shiraz selection for the visiting clients who prefer the familiar. Unusually for Indonesia, the kitchen takes doneness genuinely seriously — order rare and it arrives rare, which is not to be taken for granted in the region.
The occasion fit is deal-closing business dinners and birthday dinners for men who want a serious steakhouse. The room reads as grown-up without being stuffy; the tables are spaced far enough for private conversation; the service is technically sharp; and the bill at the end is high enough to signal the dinner mattered but not so extravagant as to feel performative. For first-date use, Uppercut works if the date is already confident about eating well — the menu is not vegetarian-friendly and the moody low-light atmosphere is more 'closing deal' than 'getting to know each other'.
Bookings are handled via Instagram DMs on the official Uppercut Steakhouse account — the kitchen has never fully embraced traditional phone bookings, and the DM channel is faster. Request a table in the main dining room rather than the bar area for a proper dinner experience. The dry-aged cuts sell out on busy evenings — call the day-of to confirm availability if you have a specific cut in mind.
Best for Close a Deal
Uppercut is the city's serious steakhouse and the default table for business dinners where the deal matters more than the decor. The menu is correctly focused on high-end beef, the wine list has weight, and the room is dark and private enough to talk numbers across the table. Surabaya's senior executives close deals here on a weekly basis.