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You have not been to Medan if you have not tried the coffee in Apek Coffee Shop, in front of Hindu market. A cup of coffee with milk or Tarik Tea, a toast with kaya, will warm your day. Plus, a warm welcome from the owner, Suyenti, 44 years of age.
“Since I was a little girl, I helped out my grandpa and dad here,” she said. Her Apek (grandpa) was the founder of the coffee shop. He opened it in 1919, a hundred years ago. “The building has not changed. It was his legacy, his mandate that we cannot change it.”
Opened at 6 AM to 2 PM, this coffee shop is always packed with people. There are 8 round wooden tables inside the shop. Each table has 6 to 7 chairs. “One table must not be monopolized by one person, everyone has to share with others.” This way, all the guests interact with each other. “Some people even become business partners. Some were dating, got married and have children.”
Just like the owner, who has reached the third generation, so is the customer. Suyenti knows most of her customers. “Whenever there is a new family member, they will bring them here, introduce them to me.” This kind of intimacy is nowhere to be found in modern cafes.
Apek Coffee Shop, just like any other typical Chinese stall in any cities. The owner only serves drinks, then other sellers in its surrounding will provide the food. The kwetiau from the stall across the street, for instance, is the favourite dish.
The kaya toast is also Apek Coffee Shop’s highlight. Suyenti toasts the bread on a traditional burner, not in an electric modern toaster. The result is delicious!
Even boiled eggs in this shop are special. They have a soft boiled egg and medium boiled egg served in a small cup sprinkled with pepper and soy sauce. How come it is perfectly soft or medium boiled? “Hehehe that is our secret. Everything is done by hands, no machines.”
Cold-handed, that is how Suyenti got the trust of her family to run the coffee shop, instead of her brother. “My brother has his own business.”
What is her desire? Suyenti fell silent for a second. “I want this shop to always have new customers, but the old ones also keep coming here. They are like my family.”
