Borneo Food Hunter

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2008-08-17T02:26:00.002+08:00

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Miri Food Hunt

2007-12-18T08:31:00.000+08:00

Like I said, I'll post something up about Malaysia since I bash it up so much recently. I'll cover Miri today. I've been there studying for 3 years for my undergrad studies. Those were the bittersweet days. Sorry no pictures since I haven't been there recently.

If anyone ask me about the Miri food scene, I'll say its the worst you'll ever be in. The portions are ridiculous, prices going up like rockets, food don't taste like food, service sucks big time and a visit to the foodstall will most likely get you food poisoning. It is not uncommon to see cockroaches and rats. Even fast food don't taste as nice as they should be.

But like even the dirtiest lake and swamp, lotus grows (Lotus symbolise purity, hence the traditional depiction of the buddhas on a lotus.) I'll cover some of the very, very, very few food stall and restaurant in Miri that I will likely to introduce people to, if anyone ask me where to eat in Miri.

First up is Sultana Cafe. It is located in the Pelita region where the Servay department store and Grand Palace Hotel is. It faces the main road towards the hills. The cafe is on the ground floor beside Alfresco and opposite of Cheerie Berrie and Balcony. Anyone that goes clubbing often will most likely know the place. For non-Miri resident, this is the area frequented mostly by Curtin students and transexuals. In the middle of chaos and sin, stand a cafe that is a beacon of good "taste" hehe. The specialty of the cafe (cafe in Miri isn't exactly a cafe as you and I know it. Its just the name.) is traditional Kelabit food. The Kelabits are highlanders and the reside in the famed Bario highland in the middle of Sarawak. The food I highly recommend if you go there would be the "Nuba Laya" (RM8.00) it is suppose to sound like Nu-bak La-yak. Nuba means "wrap" Laya means "rice". Hence Nuba Laya is wrapped rice. The dish comes with a small bowl of porridge, beef floss, a piece of fish, a service of vegetable of the day and of course a wrapped rice. It sounds like there is a lot to eat but its just that. The portion is ridiculously small just like most of Miri. The porridge are really good especially a type which are slightly bitter. The beef floss is what I really love most in there. The taste is undescribeable, I'm not poetic enough. Nothing special about the fish and vegetable. The rice is pretty different though, it is Bario rice that are somehow grounded before cooking so it is almost like porridge without enough water. Usually I would order "dessert" since the portion is small. The dessert of choice is "Lubak" or something like that, it is black glutinous rice "kuih" that are fried. Yummy, it has a crispy skin yet is soft and chewy on the inside. (For cheaper Nuba Laya (RM1), go down town to a place called "Atun & Endai Cafe" beside Tien Tien Restaurant (nope, not chicken rice place) located behind the Lorenzo furniture place and the area with the only HSBC)

The second place I would recommend is Warung Najua. It is right after the last roundabout from town and is situated beside the Petronas petrol station. They serve Malay food. Which I actually find sub-standard but they is one thing I really like from them. Their "Tom Yum" (RM4++) it is the most sour tom yum I have ever tried and it simply delicious. For those that can't stand sourish or spicy food, you can always order burger, satay or "niang tofu" from the stalls. The "niang tofu" they serve is very different from the one we Chinese have. The original Niang Tofu is actually tofu (several varieties), chili and bittergourd stuffed with seasoned meat and cooked in soup and served with "tang hoon". The Malay version is more like "lok-lok" which are tofu, fish balls, crab balls, prawn balls, water spinach and stuff boiled in water. One interesting thing is that they are served with rojak sauce. But you must be careful, its been several times that they serve food that is already partly rotten. If it taste slightly sourish, don't eat.

The third place I would recommend if you have a craving for Chicken rice. It is called "Zheng Chicken Rice" (RM3.00)it is located right beside the Krokop market or "pasar". To find the place, you just turn in from the small roundabout with a Rotary International sculpture and then go left on the traffic light and then turn right on the smaller traffic light. The chicken rice is the best in Miri but pitiful compared to our very own "Tien Tien Chicken Rice". As usual, the portion is small, so don't be afraid to ask for second serving of rice.

Another place I would recommend is the "Taj Tandoori" restaurant it is in Lutong, the old one. It is right before the brigde and a landmark there is a small mosque or masjid. It is on the shop lots on the right and at the corner. Here, you can find some of the very best Indian food in Miri. And the boss actually get excited when we asked for Tandoori chicken. He would personally come out and ask about the orders and will personally cook it eventhough he is wearing his smart business casual. Interesting ain't it? The tandoori chicken is very good but it cost pretty expensive though. RM7 for a quarter of a chicken, and I usually would ask for the leg part. This is actually one of the few places in Miri where the roti will be made by an actual Indian not a Malay or Iban fellow.

The fifth place I would recommend is one of the "pasar" in the old town area. The bigger one with more stalls for vegetables. This place has very good Chicken Kolo Mee (RM 3.00) available day and night but to stay out of the dinner crowd, we usually go at around eight pm. This is the only place in the whole of Miri that I would order Kolo Mee. It taste very, very good and is actually very different from the foul tasting Miri version of Kolo Mee. Oh yeah, it comes with a serving of steamed chicken ala chicken rice. Oh yeah expect to wait a long time and do order a second serving. The portion is very small. They serve respectable porridge also. The pasar also is a great place to buy "Kuih" but you usually have to wake up before dawn can get there by the time of sunrise to be able to get what you want before they ran out of stock.

Speaking about porridge, ther is a great place for porridge in Lutong. It is located behind Taj and is located in "Lutong Cafe" which, of course is not very cafe like. They serve very, very good porridge(RM2.50) with egg. It is cooked with minced meat and huge pieces of bones to enhance the flavour.

For those looking for Japanese food, stay out of Shiki! Instead, go to Nikko Japanese Restaurant. It is located behind Valenci Park car showroom. To get there just turn in to the junction sandwiched between the park and Saberkas Commercial area in the Boulevard roundabout with the new flyover. From that road just drive down and you'll notice the big glass building ie the Valencia Park and turn in on the junction between Valencia Park and the White apartment like building. Then turn right on the next junction and go to the second last building. This place serve really good Japanese food and the service is pretty good. But one warning! IT is very, very pricey! Many of the food cost almost twice their Bruneian counterpart. Be prepared to spend almost RM100 each time you go. Beside Nikko, there is this Slippery Senorita owned by the same owner serving western food. Never been there but I heard the Tiramisu is great but the place is said to be more expensive than Nikko. Bring RM200 with you, just to be safe.

For the people that don't want to end up hungry after each meal, you can go to Pong's Cafe the portions they serve is huge and usually almost twice the amount typical Miri restaurant serve. The food taste bad but I still go there when I am especially hungry. Hunger makes everything taste nicer they say. It is located behind Apollo Inn or Hotel, whichever and its on the left and there is a small park there beside Pong's.

And of course the best restaurant of all. Drumrolls please. Fratini! It is franchise from Brunei and they have two branches in Miri (and one in KK). This is where I go to when I miss the quality of Brunei's food. Here you get the cleanest environment, friendly service (found out some actually used to work in Brunei's Fratini, no wonder), tastiest food and acceptable portions. Fratini serves Italian food (duh!). The price is almost like Brunei's conversion-wise. To find Fratini just use the other big road behind Boulevard Commercial Centre and it is beside the yellowish Courts Mammoth building. The other one, smalller and called Piccolo Fratini is in town on the new commercial area after Tamu Muhibbah. It faces the road that leads to the Chinese Temple.

That sums it all I think. Basically Miri sucks but they do have some pretty nice finds. But do be careful when you eat in Miri.

Unexpected Treasure

2007-12-10T09:45:00.000+08:00

Brunei Darussalam, the Abode of Peace. A very fitting name considering the ultra-low crime rate and rock solid political stability. The country is pretty much like its famous neighbour Singapore, except we aren't so harsh with punishments. The name Abode of Peace have been around since the 3rd Sultan centuries back since he added Darussalam to the name. It is only until recently that the Tourism department started marketing Brunei as the "Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures". Truthfully, Brunei is a very small place and you shouldn't expect much. Maybe that's the reason for the tag. Dr Becker did said "No expectation, no disappointment."

I have lived in the country for more than 2 decades and I thought I have seen it all. It isn't until last Ramadan that the Kingdom of Unexpected Treasure decided to reveal to me an "Unexpected Treasure". It is an unassuming, restaurant lost in the middle of Kiulap. Kiulap is truly the best place for culinary experience in Brunei. Even though it is a relatively new urban area, it has top restaurants for different types of Cuisine. Most noticeably, Pan-Asian cuisine like Saffron, Japanese cuisine like Misato (A.K.A. Edo Ichi in other countries), Indian cuisine like Le Taj and many others including Chinese, Thai, Korean, Italian and, of course local Malay cuisine from powerhouses like Aminah Arif and Aneka Rasa. The restaurant hidden by these titans is in fact a restaurant offering Pakistani cuisine.

The restaurant is called Seri Damai Restaurant located in Hau Man Yong Complex. It is at the end of the block that has Chong Hock and Easy Way. If you go to De Fountain and Dreamcones often you would have passed through it without a glance. The restaurant proclaims that is serves authentic Pakistani, North-Indian and Kashmiri food. That seems like an awful lot of cuisines but if you look at the menu, the choices are surprisingly few. 90 percent of the names of food are unfamiliar to me even though I love Indian food which I assume to be pretty close. I stumbled upon it when we were looking for lunch and many restaurant are closed and we are not in the mood for over-priced food in de Fountain. We walk into the deserted restaurant and the waitress are actually surprised!

So far, I went there only twice but those two experiences are pretty positive. Great food, good service. The most important thing they seem to lack are customers. Which are pretty sad because their food is very good and the portion are huge. In fact the portions are so huge that I have to take away part of it which is as rare as the alignment of all the solar system's 8 planets and 3 dwarf planets!This here is the Lassi that I order 100% of the time I were there. It taste marvelous and just as good as Zaika's. There is nothing better than yoghurt drink to cool the tongue and the stomach especially since the food it going to be hot and spicy. By the way, the lassi they serve costs only $1.50 which are very cheap.This here is ... I can't remember the name but I remember it is in the set meal section (3 choices only and $6 each) and it the only one served with supposedly pulao rice. When they served it, it does not come with the rice I expected. Anyway I am not super disappointed because they replaced it with Basmati rice. It ain't no normal rice. If you look closely, the grain is extra long and they are all (or 99%) unbroken and don't really stick together. You put some in the mouth and you can taste the richness in the rice with a nasi lemak quality even though there are no coconut milk in it. That is the reason why Basmati rice is considered the best rice in the world. (Bario rice is also considered one but I think it is a false claim) Oh yeah, other than the rice, it comes with two other dishes (similar colour), a nan bread and mint sauce. The dishes are delicious with the intense spicy flavour that I absolutely love. The nan they serve are pretty different from the normal fare because these have sesame seeds and very thick. The mint sauce are pretty nice and sourish but it is not minty enough.The second time I went there, I ordered another set meal. And this time I order a more familiar food. This comes with the absolutely delicious basmati rice, a piece of papadum, shish kebab and chicken tikka. The Shish kebab is delicious with many spice and unlike some, this is pretty soft and not a toughie to bite. Good. And the Chicken tikka is utterly delicious. Nice and juicy when you bite and oh, so flavourful. The thigh (my favourite part for chicken) is heavenly!

So, if you want to try something new like Pakistani food, you can drop by here. But you have to prepare for long waiting time.

Nanning Adventure Part 3

2007-12-08T08:34:00.000+08:00

Hello, got nothing to do yet so I'll post the last of the series on my trip to China for the 4th CAEXPO. This time I'll focus on the supermarkets there, specifically Wal-mart and Parkson. One thing about them is that they are pretty big, like Brunei's Supa Save in Beribi. They are many choices from all over China but very few from other countries. However, they have everything you will ever need and things that non-Chinese wouldn't touch like...The "sea treasure" which have ingredients like starfish, some kind of reptile skin, seahorse and many more ingredients I can't identify.And this is the demo jar showing you what it will look like properly done. Eew.
And these cute turtles are not in a pet shop but is in the seafood area of Wal-mart. Kinda sad when I think about it.And of course, Wal-mart do have normal seafood like crab. What's interesting is that they are tied-up in some form of seafood straitjacket so they can't pinch people... but that is no fun, I'll love to see someone got pinched lol.As you can see, Wal-mart have an amazing array of dried meat. My mother would really love this. One thing about Teochew people is that they love this kind of salty food especially salted fish, salted egg and salted vegetable.Wal-mart also have an amazing selection of ready to eat local food and I actually bought some(more on these later) and queued up on this long line for the 9.90 yuan black pepper chicken. When so many people queue up, it must have tasted very good... but we ran out of patience 30 seconds into the queue and left hehe...Bought half-a-jin of these (roughly 250g) dumpling. The last time I went to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, I fell in love with dumpling especially the fried version. So I'm curious whether the Nanning's version is nicer. It turns out, Nanning's dumpling smell really great and the taste is much more complex than KK's. In the end, it is good but I still prefer KK's. My friend that introduced me to the wonderful world of dumpling would certainly be glad to hear this. He is very proud of KK's food and think it is the most superior of all Borneo. Kuching's people would certainly disagree lol. What I think is, why compare these food when each city's specialty is different. Let's compare food that we all have like Italian and Japanese Cuisine. If that is the case, Brunei is the best! LOL.Let's go back to Nanning's food. This picture here is Wal-mart's barbecued "lion head" meatball (half-a-jin). I have observed it under different angles and different lighting conditions and still don't know why it is called by that name. Maybe I lack the imagination of a Chinese poet. As for the taste, the flavour is intense and it leaves a very strong aftertaste and slightly too salty. That night, I can't finish my half-a-kilo of supper so I have to throw them the next morning... hey it not my fault, I don't know any Chinese measure smaller than jin and I don't know the Chinese word for gram... I don't really read the signs hehe.Since I mentioned supper, these 2 cup noodle are my supper for two nights. They are all from Wal-mart and purchased on the first night there, just in case. Its 2.50 yuan each making them cost around 50 cents only. Seriously I would pay several time more for them because they are very very delicious especially the ginseng chicken flavoured one. Of course, we should not have too much of this stuff since they are very unhealthy.

Now let's move on to Parkson. Parkson's supermarket is smaller but they have some pretty interesting things on sale like pearl, freshly out of the oyster (yup they have unopened oyster with pearls still inside, sorry no photo), Chinese paintings and one thing that astonish me is that they sell over-priced Olitalia Extra Virgin Oil (encased in a glass showcase), which is the cheapest olive oil in Bruneian market. But of course the best thing about Parkson is that they have more ready-to-eat food.Don't they look delicious? One thing I noticed is that many of the food have chilies and there are a lot of "kimchi" type of food. Those people in Nanning really love spicy food. Wonder what food they have in Sichuan that is so famous for spicy food? Raw chili, fermented chili and chili puree?When I was in Parkson, I have a sudden craving chocolate and head for the chocolate section. When I reached there then discovered they have a pitiful selection of chocolate. This is all the chocolate they have in Parkson. I can't even find Cadbury. Brunei in contrast have so many chocolate that this shelf shown above would only carry 15 to 20 percent of the chocolate in a typical Bruneian supermarket and mini-marts would occasionally carry more chocolate than Nanning's Parkson. Maybe this is why 99.9% of the Chinese I saw is slim. The "curse" or "blessing" of chocolate deprivation.Nonetheless, I still bought a chocolate made in China. I actually expect it to be not that good, that because I have tried many Swiss, French, Belgian, Australian and British chocolates which are superb. It turns out that this particular brand taste pretty good, not as nice as those from the aforementioned countries, but much much nicer than Malaysian chocolate. To tell the truth, the worst chocolate I have tried is a New Zealand brand. Yuck! Good thing I have people in the house to finish it. My favourite chocolate now is a Swedish brand commissioned by the Royal Swedish Family. The Dark Chocolate with coaco bits are simply delicious.I bought this Coca-Cola Zero from a convenience store selling imported goods and they even have the same Pringles that we have from here, the ones made in Mexico. About this Coca-Cola Zero, it is a new formula said to replace Coca-cola Light. It has no sugar and calorie but taste exactly like Coca-Cola Classic. Or so they claimed. I bought this and after examination, found out it is manufactured in Hong Kong (one of the few test market I assume). I tried it, and it just taste different. Still pretty much like Coca-cola Light and less like Coca-cola Classic. Its all just marketing hype. I'm a marketer, I know. It no biggie. Stick to Coca-cola Light.

So, this ends the China series and I'll move on to a post I always wanted to post up since Ramadan, boy, I miss Ramadan. Maybe after that I'll post something about Miri to make up for the what seems like anti-Malaysia rant.

Nanning Food Adventure Part 2

2007-12-07T15:13:00.000+08:00

Hello welcome back, now let us look at the food available on the street side. A destination's street side food usually is the most important on one's food journey. It is because, this is the food the locals eat occasionally, be it as breakfast on the way to work, while binging or even for a cheap meal. Here are the stuff I have seen and/or tried in my trip to Nanning, China.
Found this stall on the 2nd night when we decided to wander around the streets behind the hotel. All of this is fried food and the there are a lot of varieties from drumstick (bought one, taste good), prawn, "stinky tofu" (bought this also, interesting taste), chicken wing, chinese sausage (bought this, taste normal), tiny crab and more.Let's zoom in. The skewered black things at the top is the "stinky tofu" for 1 yuan. Yes I know, it looks different from the famous ones shown on Hong Kong tv series but I soon discovered there are in deed different types of "stinky tofu". I actually expect it to smell and taste as disgusting as the Blue cheese but it turns out alright. It is just that the spices (the famous 5 spices) they use are really strong. You well get sick of it once you are on the 3rd or 4th stick. Good thing I bought a drumstick to fight the dominating taste. When I tried the drumstick for 5 yuan, I was surprised that it is spicy. But it taste really good. It is actually quite filling cause it is pretty big and the batter is very thick. The other thing I tried from the stall is the chinese sausage (1 yuan). It is interesting that they can eat it as snack cause the thing is very salty and we in South East Asia usually cut them up first and eat them with rice.
We moved on and found this mini night market with many peddlers selling fruits and small rundown shops. Amazingly, this place still feels very safe like the rest of the city. Unlike Malaysia, if you come across a place like this, the chance something bad happen is 50%. Nanning is pretty much like Singapore and Brunei. Maybe that's why I feel comfortable there.On Saturday, the day before the exhibition starts, we have the only chance to shop around during day time. It is the time we can actually see way more food stalls around. There are food stalls in between blocks and at the alleys. This picture is from one alley beside the "walking street" which is like Singapore's Chinatown but no cars allowed on the street. The food here looks interesting and lot's of veggie for the diet-minded but I didn't try it because my friends don't seem to want to stay and is walking very fast. By the time I finished taking this picture she is at least 25 meters away.
Anyway, I still take my sweet time taking photos. That is because I know she won't go too far. She needed me since I can speak Chinese and none of the Chinese understand English except those working in hotels and volunteering in the exhibition! As you can see, the food there is ridiculously cheap that range from 1 yuan to 2.8 yuan. None of them goes past 60 cents! Other than that you can actually get your food in different sizes from 2 tael to 3 tael that's roughly 100g to 150g. Oh yeah, other than food you can actually get your denim made there also.More pictures from the alley. They seem to sell food that is almost alike except the last one where we can see some Chinese "Kuih".Got thirsty and bought this pearl milk tea. Its 1 yuan only. The portion is pretty small and it taste plain. When I say plain, it doesn't mean that it taste normal, it means that it is not sweet and tea is just a trace element in there.

This is another place with several food stalls but it looks cleaner and pretty popular where the seats at the back seems to be all taken.Around the corner of a mall, we found this. Fried food on skewer again. I'm wondering why 99.9% of the Chinese are slim when they eat so many fried food? As you can see, it is evening and the stomach is growling but there are a lot of people so we head back and look for food elsewhere.After dinner (the duck meal) on the previous post, I bought this corn juice for 2.5 yuan. It taste pretty good. And it is very, very thick and creamy. Nice, could go back and buy again if I have a chance again (trust me, I'm praying for that!).This is the picture of a woman cooking another variation of "stinky tofu". It is taken at the side of the South Lake "NanHu" Garden. This variation is certainly very, very tasty. My favourite food stall food so far. It is spicy and flavoured with curry, yup curry. It is salty but its really nice. I don't mind losing some hair for it. Oh yeah its 5 pieces for 1 yuan. I actually ordered it first then ask what is it when I pay. Feeling adventurous. Maybe its because of the nice cool air, beautiful sight of the lake and a really nice more-than-30 minutes walk. Yes, I dare to walk at night on dark pavement even though it is past nine at night (looking touristy with shopping bags and a very un-chinese belly!). Need I say more about the security in the city?

Borneo Food Hunter Goes To China

2007-11-14T11:21:00.000+08:00

Hello, I am fortunate enough to have the chance to go to China for the China-ASEAN Expo. Food there is certainly interesting. The following blog posts will chronicle a Borneo Food Hunter's adventure in China. (You'll notice that I hold a Malaysian passport but represents Brunei in the Expo. That's because I'm a Malaysian born Bruneian bred Chinese)
We fly there on chartered flight that takes us directly from Bandar Seri Begawan to Nanning City. Normally, to get there, one would have to fly to Hong Kong first and then to Guangzhou then Nanning. The direct flight is 3hrs+ and the food sucks since it was cooked at least 4 hours before! They could have ordered food from Royal Brunei Catering!
So this is the first meal I had on Mainland China. Its a value meal with a Zinger burger, a piece of chicken, a soft drink and a Garfield key chain. I guess it is pretty common one would eat fast food first because it is something familiar in a foreign land... Anyway, the food taste exactly the same as in Brunei therefore have maintained the food quality unlike the branches in Miri! (More about the godforsaken food disaster town of Miri in upcoming blogs)
One thing they always say about China online, and by other tourists, is that China is one big giant dirty place. It certainly is different in this city. The people wear gloves when eating in KFC! Interesting isn't it?
This is the restaurant where we have breakfast everyday in China. Its on the 8th floor. They serve a mixture of western and Chinese style breakfast. The breakfast is not spectacular except the potato cooked with butter, cream and cheese and the cute, yet tasty mini beef sausage. Every morning with about 150 Bruneians squeeze into the restaurant, it kinda feel like Brunei at times. Occassionally you will hear "Awu" and "Ia tah tu".On the second day, we decided to have some local food, which happen to be very cheap. This is the stall in an open air food court nearby the hotel... but there aren't anymore seats left so we have to go else where.

Just round the corner we found this place with lot's of meat. As a meatlover, nothing interest me more.
I ordered this duck drumstick with rice for RMB14 (B$2.80), which is the most expensive thing on the menu (argh that's cheap!). One of the specialty of Nanning is lemon flavoured roast duck. Sadly, there's no guide so I'll have to make do with this sour plum flavoured duck. It taste pretty good but the meat is a challenge to bite. What I really like is the pickled mustard plant that comes with it. That certainly taste better than the ones we have here.
How do we eat a drumstick that is not chopped-up with a chopstick or without getting our hands dirty? Have no fear, the Glove is here! This is the first time i eat anything with a glove on. It feels funny, or maybe its just that my hand is too big. Hehe...
The next day, we have dinner in this cafe at the corner of a mall. What caught my attention is the very cheap steak at RMB 42 (B$8.40) on the announcement board. In the end, I ordered a RMB101 (B$20.20) sirloin steak. I think it is worth it because...
It comes with a glass of red wine,
A serving of Russian soup, or something like that, a piece of bread,
and not to forget the main course with an extra order of spaghetti tossed in butter. That would have set me back at least B$35 if I'm in Brunei. My friend on the other hand ordered
Spare-rib with rice wrapped in lotus leaf. The portion is seriously huge and did you notice the soup, vegetable and pickled mustard plant. It seems like these side dishes always come with an order of rice. Anyway, that meal is very satisfactory with a good environment, tasty food and very friendly service .
We went to try some truly local food. If you research on Nanning cuisine, you will find out that they love these rice-rolls and rice noodle. In fact, they are in most menu, second only to rice. The one up there is mixed sauce rice noodle. Tasty with a strong flavour due to the fermented black beans. The other one is rice roll, or if you are familiar with dimsum, the cheong-fun. What's different here is that they don't eat it as a snack like dim-sum but like a main course hence the larger portion. It comes with a piece of fried egg and vegetables with minced meat inside. It is very soft and certainly tasty. The sauce taste pretty much like Maggi Seasoning Sauce.

We went to a dinner at a big seafood restaurant with whole of 150 plus Bruneian delegates and visiting Minister of Communication. The restaurant smells fishy. That's because they have a huge section of aquariums , cages and baskets of still living seafood. That's the thing about them, seafood have to be as fresh as possible. They have way more types of seafood housed in the restaurant than all of the fish markets in Brunei combined. I think there are at least 15 types of shell fish here. But the most interesting thing I saw here is...
Sea snakes!
Another unusual thing is that waitress will go around putting on seat covers to cover handbags. Its funny that my immediate boss have a struggle with the waitress over her bag. Good thing I can speak Chinese and defuse the situation.
This is my last dinner in China, so far. Yes, you guessed it right we're back in Biz Cafe. That's because we brought along two friends and we took the conservative route and bring them to a non-native restaurant. Now let's guess what is this?

It's frog meat! This is the first time ever I tried eating frog. It looks like chicken and certainly taste like chicken.This taste very, very good actually. But it is kind of oily and the piping hot!

This here is my last supper in China, so far. I did make sure there aren't 13 of us. LOL... Anyway, this premium grilled chicken is the best chicken burger I had. It taste so great and I think Brunei should have this. It taste like chicken steak with some kind of special barbecue sauce. The fries taste just like the one we have here.After breakfast and frantic last minute shopping, we are on the way home to Brunei. Check out the next 2 posts, one on street-side food and one on supermarkets.

Sad Day Today

2007-10-12T08:22:00.000+08:00

It is a sad day today... the last day of Ramadan. With it, all those cheap and yummy buffet promotion would be gone also. Food lovers will have to wait another year...

But it ain't so bad, at least I can look forward to the kuehs when visiting my Malay friends and relatives.I especially love "Tapak Kuda" with all the chocolatey goodness. The "KeK Durian" is nice also with the powerful flavour and smell.

Let's get on with business, Since this is the last day of Ramadan, this post should be the last Ramadan Special posts. I'll cover Al-Ahmadia Restaurant and the Gerai Ramadan in the Stadium parking area.

Al-Ahmadia
Visited the branch in Serusop. Was going to have lunch in Ayamku, but past through it and saw the menu on buffet... seems nice and tried it later that evening. It is one of those $5 buffet and the food served are predominantly Indian, with food like Tandoori Chicken, Briyani, Papadom, Mee Mamak etc. The food quality is not that nice after all :-( What disappointed me is that they use normal rice for Briyani when they should be using the long-grain Basmati rice... I think it is understandable since the rice is pricey and they use saffron, which itself it the most expensive spice in the world, and they only charge us $5 when just having a Briyani at normal times would be $4.50 or so. Verdict: Nah, don't think about it.

Gerai Ramadan, Stadium
As in every Ramadan, there would be stalls set up in the Stadium parking area selling all those really yummy food. The thing I really like about this Gerai Ramadan is the wide variety of delicious cakes, the sweet "Air Tebu" or sugarcane juice, and I get the chance to sample different food on offer. What I noticed this year is that there are a lot more Indian stalls, of which I think is really great. Didn't really buy much this year though, so can't really tell you about what's hot and what's not.

But I'll cover my most pleasant discovery. It's Shish Kebab! It is compacted minced meat with lot's of spice and grilled over charcoal fire! Like I said, nothing can go wrong with BBQ. By the way, the drumstick on the right is Tandoori Chicken if I am not wrong. Not that red though, not sure since I'm more interested in Beef lol. The giant tub is Briyani. Maybe since today is the last day, I'll go buy all three! Verdict: It won't be a meaningful Ramadan if you don't visit any Gerai Ramadan. Must go!

That's all for today's food hunting update. It's very short but I foresee a longer blog next time. It's because I'll cover a great discovery!

(P.S. The great discovery is postponed until the China adventure series is through-added 14/11/07)

Ramadan Update

2007-10-09T09:00:00.001+08:00

Hey, sorry for the late update. Have been busy lately. So here are some of the Ramadan exploits in the past few days:

Nyonya Revisited

Went there several times, 3 more if I am not wrong. As expected, the best halal dim sum ever tried. Went to the Serusop branch and a detailed review would put it in a bad light. Several incidents happened: 1) a waiter broke a plate while clearing the table 2) I saw a used diaper left at a corner 3) tea cup with a dried grain of rice stuck to the inside of it 4) Flies, flies and more flies 5) a waiter told us to settle the bill ourselves downstairs. Verdict: Change or you'll be in trouble!

Lil'Hub

Was gonna watch a movie in Q-lap mall but nothing good is on. But stumble upon a small sign promoting Sungkai Buffet for $5. The Lil'Hub is what I assume to be the smoking-area. It is nestled right in between of the ticketing counter and the snack counter. It is a pretty good deal for a $5 meal because they actually have BBQ and the view on the 3rd floor is great and the sunset just makes it better. The waitress is very attentive and the place's outdoorsy feel reminds me of a garden party especially with the decorative lights on. The only downside is that the otak-otak is one of those mass-produced cold storage kind. Verdict: Good place for a simple Sungkai.

Unknown

This place in between the Serusop commercial area and Maktab Sains right beside a car workshop. The place is one of the cheapest place for Sungkai Buffet. They only charge $3.50! That's very, very cheap considering the types of food they have and food there is pretty nice. Of course, we can't expect much of the ambiance. The fried noodle is actualy very good and kind of special since they add sesame oil which makes the the smell rating go up, up and beyond. Verdict: Great place for the adventurous ones or the cheapskate.

Mutiah

Located in one of the isolated buildings between the new Palm Garden Hotel and Taib bank. This place is one of the most well known place for buffet in Brunei since they charge $5 at all seasons... maybe except for Ramadan where the price goes up to $8. That's a 60% price increase! They try to make up for the increase in price by offering more food... but to tell you the truth it's not really worth it. Food quality is as usual. Good thing I went there for a "high school reunion" or else I would be disappointed. Verdict: Not worth it, go only in non-ramadan month.

Zaika

Mmmm... love Indian food, how they play with the different spice. Zaika's buffet is around $16.80 range. The food is very good but there is not much choice and there is only one desert! One of the "Big Eaters' Gang" member actually don't eat much since she is allergic to half of the food I think (ie. fish and chicken). The atmosphere is excellent, the place looks really great and the much beloved Lassi is served and no extra charge for refill! I really like the daal they serve and the fish of the fish curry comes in the form of fish ball... that's very interesting and the best thing is that it is not one of those manufactured fishball, but this one is more like those homemade meatball with the very good texture and meaty feel. The tandoori chicken is very good also. Verdict: Good food but limited choice, not recommended unless you love Indian food.

La Mee

Didn't go for their buffet but they do have 15% discount on regular food items. La Mee is actually one of the very good place for halal food since they are one of those selling non-Indian or Malay food, which I dare say is 90% of halal food outlets. La Mee's signature dish is of course the "La Mien" hand pulled noodle. If you go before 2pm and after 6pm, you will most probably see a Chinese chef pulling the noodle with a straight face. It would be nice if the chef has a bit of showmanship, smile a little would be nice... but don't grin because it would look like he is enjoying torturing the noodle! Their soup for their la mien, is very good and they also serve very good dumplings (KK's is the best I've tried though). Another food they excel in is their butter nestum chicken rice, which comes in huge portion. Verdict: Yummy!

Red Chilli

This place is in Kiulap on the same block as the Apple Store. It serves $9.90 BBQ and Steamboat buffet. I believe that is the normal rate but this time they have extras like dessert. Can't really comment about the food, because most steamboat taste the same unless you are having the yin-yang steamboat or the tom yam steamboat. As usual, nothing can go wrong with BBQ except if the ingredient is not fresh like the thai-style pandan chicken they have. I saw a disturbing thing though. There are several flies hovering around and I actually saw some flies layng their eggs in the fishcake. I immediately alerted the waiter standing there and he promptly took it away. I am relieved that they didn't wash it and bring it out again. I'm curious as to why they don't use the fly-zapper that they have hanging there... Verdict: Nice but watch out for flies' eggs

The Millenium

Saving the best for the last, The Millenium is in the same building as Supa Save's Beribi branch. It is $16.80, which of course is kind of expensive for Ramadan but I assure you that it is worth it! The choice is amazing and it is a meat lover's paradise! I love mutton and beef, which of course is the main ingredient in Middle eastern food. The roast lamb is heavenly, and they have a lot of my favourite Middle eastern food like hummus, shish kebab and skewered meat. They even have falafel (which is like "cookie" made of meat and spices). For your information, I think Saffron's cooking is much better. But I still love Millenium's Middle Eastern buffet. In fact, it is so nice that i filled myself up with just the appetizer and main course... I have to skip dessert. What echoes in my mind all that night is "Meat! Meat! Meat!". It truly is a meat lover's paradise. Verdict: I crave for the buffet every single moment ever since...

(Ramadan almost ends, hurry try the different buffet in town!)

Matadoe Cafe and Restaurant

2007-09-15T09:44:00.000+08:00

14/9/07, Midnight
Matadoe, Mata-Mata

Just finished watching 'Hairspray' at the Mall, great movie by the way, and going for a little supper. Was thinking of going to the Sing-U-Me at the corner but Matadoe just suddenly caught our eyes. I have noticed the place before but didn't go in before. Feeling adventurous, we ventured forth into a 'journey of discovery' LOL.

The place is great with really good ambience and decors. The staff served us promptly as expected. Looked through the menu and the prices are reasonable. Then come the ordering.

Sadly, my first choice of Spicy Wing is not available... then I decided to have Swedish Breakfast at midnight... hehe or should I say it's my sahur? However, after awhile the waitress came back and told me it is not available also... Ok, and I changed the order again to Tacos. Lo and behold, it is not available too! Am I being punished for thinking of eating supper!

Seeing my frustration and maybe a vein throbbing on my temples*, the waitress recommends chicken burger or beef burger, which she thinks is certainly available. The beef burger's picture did caught my when I look through the menu but it seems very heavy for a supper and I am theoritically on a weight lost program. (Eh, I know I am not suppose to have supper but...) *Just kidding, I am in good humour most of the time and I just finished watching a fun movie.

The beef burger came and as expected, the portion is big with lot's of fries. The burger looks different, the bun seems out of shape. Looked at the inside and saw really green lettuce and thick slices of tomatoes and cucumber. Think I am gonna like it...

Then the moment of truth comes.

I took a big bite.

!!!

It is very, very, very delicious!!! Totally yummy!!! Much, much better than McD's Doublecheese Burger. It is a good thing they ran out of spicy wings, swedish breakfast and tacos! Think I used too much ! in this paragraph... but I LOVE MATADOE'S BEEF BURGER!!! It's heaven on a plate. I really love the perfect marriage of the cheese and beef patty.They both have very strong taste and they make such intense couple.

(Damn, getting hungry writing this blog...)

Other than the utterly-delicious beef burger, I also ordered Earl Grey, ah, my favourite tea of all times. The tea they served is nice but not really hot enough. But the pot is huge. Its exactly, 4 and one-fifth cups of tea.

This restaurant is gonna get a fantastic review.

BUT, there's a big but.

Some inconsiderate, babaric, suicidical-and-wants-everyone-else-around-them-to-die-early-as-well-like-a-suicide-bomber-in-Iraq, big, gigantic idiot started smoking indoors! INDOORS! That just ruins the whole atmosphere. Was waiting for the waiters to stop them and started counting the mili-seconds...

NO ACTION TAKEN!

Can't stand it any longer with my suffocation and eyes irritated by the burning, acidic smoke, I cut short the stay and proposed that we leave to save our own life.

Rating
Ambience: 3/20 (Could have been a 18 but the smoke took 15 points away... and I am being kind. My health is at risk here)
Presentation of Food: 12/20 (Looks great but the burger bun just looks weird.)
Smell of Food: 15/20 (As it should be)
Taste of Food: 19/20 (!!!, enough said)
Service:2/20 (very good waitress, helpful and quite pretty also but 15 points off for not stopping the smokers from smoking. Not professional enough, you got to care about the well beings of your other patrons!)

Total Marks: 51%
Verdict: Contrary to the "almost-gonna-boycott" marks, this place is a must go, but do bring along a gas mask just in case brain-dead smokers visits again.

Of Yayasan and Nyonya

2007-09-14T15:34:00.000+08:00

13/9/07 Evening
Yayasan Complex, BSB

I was in Yayasan Complex last evening for the Gerai Ramadan there. It is very special considering even fast food restaurants like KFC and Ideal Cafe and Grill took part. It even have Indian food and dim sum. There are tables and chairs set up so the patrons can just break their fast there.

Was checking out the stall when the the cannon fired. BOOM! That marks the start of Sungkai and a call to prayer follows. Thousands of spoons must have met dinner plates simultaneously at that particular time period!

Back to the stalls, it is very small compared to those set up all around Brunei. My most notable purchase would be Zaika's combo meal. That meal is damn expensive. I ordered Chicken Masala ($3) and the person just scoop in one piece of chicken and a lot of sauce. I was alarmed! I thought it would at least come with some rice or even a plain roti. A $3 piece of chicken! This better be good!!! In the end I ordered that with plain briyani($3), dal ($3)and a cup of lassi ($1.50) all for the price of $8 since it is a combo. This is so far the most expensive food I bought from food stall considering the portion.

So was the purchase worth the price? No. I think it is worth only $5. The masala is tasty but too small. Think it is worth $1.00. The dal just taste weird (worth $0.50), the briyani is nice but too plain as the name suggested but I still love the Basmati rice (worth $2). The lassi is great(worth $1.50) Should give the lassi a try.

Verdict (Zaika's Stall): AVOID. Only the Lassi is reasonable.

Overall the Yayasan Gerai Ramadan is pretty good, some variety but try to avoid Zaika. So, schedule a visit to Yayasan one of these evenings, but I want to emphasize again... Avoid Zaika!

14/9/07 Noon
Nyonya Restaurant, Gadong

Kinda forgot about the profound disatisfaction of buying from Zaika... must be the lassi working its magic! This lunch time I manage to go to Nyonya's to try the $0.99 dim sum.

In Nyonya, there's a lot of people there and I remember the last time I went there we are the only customers. Think they are not used to handling more than one table of customers because the service is so damn slow. It turns out we have to wait for the waiters to serve us. Waiting for waiters, twisted isn't it.

About the dim sum, the siew mai looks over cooked, the skin of shark fin dumpling is very dry and we have to eat dim sum with fork! By the time the dim sum is in our mouth, it is ruined! Sounds like a bad reveiw coming eh?

Truthfully, it is the best halal dim sum I have ever had!

And I love the ambience in Nyonya, especially the place for washing hands. It has a nice mirror and decorated with flowers and other decorations. It feels like a sacred altar for self-worshipping.

Now back to the dim sum. I really like the chunky, meaty feel without it being a challenge to bite. Really like the shrimp dumpling but can't really rate it because the most important part, the skin is ruined everytime I pick it up with a fork, and don't even expect me to pick it up with my hands!

(Talking about shrimp dumpling, I firmly advise against the ones in Foodzone Yayasan. Looks great and that's it. The skin is too soft, and the prawn in the is mushy!!! You aren't suppose to chop up the prawn you idiot! Sorry for being emotional... but its about food!)

Now comes the part for rating Nyonya' Dim Sum offer:

Ambience: 18/20 (Very good especially the "altar")
Presentation of food: 10/20 (Points off for the dry skin in shark fin dumpling)
Smell of food: 15/20 (Nothing special, just mediocre)
Taste of food: 13/20 (Best halal dim sum I ever had but a tad too salty. Marks off for the weird tasting plain water)
Service: 15/20 (Points off for slow service but gained some with the very beautiful cashier)

Total marks: 71% (very good considering my picky-ness)
Verdict: Good and definitely will go again sometime during this season.

My Favourite Time of the Year

2007-09-13T16:25:00.000+08:00

Greetings, today marks the start of the Holy month of Ramadan. It's my favourite time of the year... It is not because more than 1 billion people around the world will be starving... , I am not that evil yet! LOL. I love this time of the year because this is the month of FOOD!

All around Brunei, there are stalls being set up for this special month. You can literally smell food in the air! I'm wondering how can those fasting people stand this, it must be a torment. Better yet, there will be tonnes of food promotion this time of the year.

The best things about Ramadan are:

1) There are 50% discount from RMS group... they own my favourite Italian restaurant Fratini's (also available in the Miri branch). They also own a classy American diner and authentic Indian cuisine.

2) Nyonya restaurant offers Dim Sum at 99 cents each! That's freaking cheap! But it is for lunch only... Was thinking of going today ... but my sister slept till 1pm. Well, may go tomorrow.

3) One of my favourite: Japanese food buffet at Misato (called Edo Ichi elsewhere) at $12.90 only. A very rare move for a franchise restaurant especially for Japanese food. I think it's a great deal considering my typical expenditure per visit to a Japanese restaurant is at least $20... and I'm not even full yet.

4) As usual, there'll be Ramadan stalls selling huge variety of local and not so local cuisine. Read from the newspaper today some stalls are coming up with new secret recipe such as Thai style bbq chicken... the picture sure looks great. Think will give it a try if I can find this Awang Ali. Wonder from which are is he in? Gadong? Stadium? Bandar? The news also said some stall will introduce their secret recipe in a few days time... how I love competitions. Capitalism rules!

Millenium Restaurant is offering a Middle East buffet but its at $16.xx Kinda pricey considering all the food promotion around. There are also a lot of $5 buffet around also but this is not that special since we do have some restaurantthat offers $5 buffet all year round.

Will be going to Yayasan Complex tonight for their Gerai Ramadan. Found out there are some really good restaurants like RMS's Zaika are taking part.

That is all for the special update from Borneo Food Hunter. Bon Appetit!

Welcome to our world of delicious food

2007-04-06T17:33:00.000+08:00

Hello, in this blog we'll do food reviews and write on past experiences. We'll primarily focus on Miri and Brunei. It is because we all study in Miri's Curtin University of Technology and our hometown is Brunei and we go back often.

We'll try to cover on other areas of Borneo such as Kuching, Labuan and Kota Kinabalu if we happen to go there.

(Update: The primary blogger just graduated and is based in Brunei. The other one, whichis yet to blog is still in Miri))