Review: Santan

Santan, a Malay word literally known as coconut milk in English. Santan is a Bruneian made brand specializing in coconut ice-cream which they claimed to be “probably the best artisan coconut ice-cream you’ll ever taste”.

Santan happened to be doing a pop-up at the arrival hall of Brunei International Airport. Sister and I came across their stall as we were exiting the arrival hall. Being the curious me, I approached their kiosk and decided to get one for the both of us to share. There had been quite an amount of shops selling coconut ice-cream here in Brunei recently.

Santan offers their ice-cream in different types of servings. Cone, small cup and large cup. Sister and I went for the small cup as we will be heading for tea break with Jennifer at The Healthy Habit shortly.

Small Cup | B$2.50

All servings comes with complimentary toppings. You can have multiple toppings of your choice. I intended to go for Oreo but settled with Nestum and it was the right choice. Nestum went so well with the ice-cream. The server suggested that I can have Oreo together with Nestum if I like.

The moment when Sister had her first go of the ice-cream, she went “Wow! It really taste very coconut!”. The ice-cream ain’t as milky and smooth as the ice-cream we are used to, it’s more on the icy side. Nevertheless, it was still nice.

Santan is currently having a poll on their social media platforms asking the public if they should make their pop up permanent at the arrival hall of Brunei International Airport. What’s your say in this?

Review: Padi Mas Restaurant

Sister came home from Singapore yesterday afternoon. I went to pick her up from the airport as both parents were not around. As Mom was away, I told Sister that I won’t be cooking and we eat out. As usual, I always go with her preference when she’s home. She usually go for Japanese as it’s one of her favorite cuisines but she craves for Samgyopsal this time round.

The only Korean restaurant which serves Samgyopsal here in Brunei is Padi Mas Restaurant located at Warisan Mata-Mata Complex. I had never been to Padi Mas Restaurant before so it makes a good reason to try the place out. I didn’t bother to make reservation beforehand as I don’t think it will be necessary. True enough, the restaurant wasn’t packed at all the moment we walked in.

For your information, Padi Mas Restaurant is a non-Halal Korean restaurant as pork is served. When I first knew about the said restaurant, I asked Jia for review and she told me that she only likes their BBQ Pork but not their mains. I came across an Instagram profile that has pictures of the food from Padi Mas Restaurant. I contacted the person who posted those pictures and asked for her reviews. She recommended me their Bibimbap and Kimchi Jjigae.

Without further ado, let me show you what we had for dinner yesterday! We went slightly overboard with the orders and had to bring the extras home.

The complimentary Banchan that came with our mains. As we ordered Samgyopsal, lettuce was served as wraps. Their Banchan were average in my opinion. Their preserved Kimchi lacked flavoring but it’s entirely subjective to personal preference. I prefer spicy preserved Kimchi.

Samgyopsal | B$13.00

All their BBQ food come in two sizes – small and big. We went for the small portion. Samgyopsal is BBQ pork belly without any marinade. The restaurant offers BBQ pork in marinade – Galbi and Jumullock. Sister opted for the original flavor.

The waitress asked if we would like to cook them ourselves or they cook for us in the kitchen. We settled for the latter as we didn’t want to go through the trouble. As there were more leaner part than the fatty part, the meat harden after a while. All in all, both Sister and I were satisfied with their Samgyopsal.

Dolsot Bibimbap | B$8.50

Dolsot Bibimbap came served with a strongly flavored Miso Soup. Both Sister and I agreed that the portion was quite small. The Gochujang paste was served underneath the sunny side up and the portion was so little to bring out the taste. We had to toss in the preserved Kimchi from the Banchan. Both of us agreed that their Dolsot Bibimbap lacked something but couldn’t decide what it was. We had our Dolsot Bibimbap with pork.

Gimbap | B$4.70

They have several fillings options to choose from for their Gimbap. They have Tuna, Chicken, Beef and Pork. We went for chicken as we didn’t want to go overdose with pork. We prefer everything in moderation.

Kimchi Pajeon | B$8.90

The restaurant serves Kimchi Pajeon in two sizes – small and big. What we had was their small size. Their Kimchi Pajeon was pretty good in my opinion. It had a crunchy top and crust. Taste wise, flavoring was done nicely. At least it didn’t taste sweet like the one I had at Meogja last Sunday afternoon. I still prefer the Kimchi Pajeon from Koryo Restaurant despite this one is one of the authentic kinds.

Verdict: I tried out the restaurant with low expectation having heard quite a bit of mixed reviews from friends and reviews online. Kaylie commented that the marinade for her Galbi didn’t get through both the times she went Padi Mas Restaurant. I was tempted to try their Jumullock to be honest but Sister ain’t a spicy food person.

Among all the food that we ordered yesterday, I think I’m the least impressed with their Dolsot Bibimbap. However, I don’t mind returning again next time to have more of their Samgyopsal and Jumullock. I would suggest going before showering as you definitely have to shower again after dinner. The BBQ smokey smell was so strong that it lingered on both my hair and clothing.

Padi Mas Restaurant
Unit 6 & 7,
Block C, Warisan Mata-Mata Complex,
Simpang: 322, Jalan Gadong,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-2457644

12122017 / Tien Sing Restaurant

I frequented Tien Sing Restaurant yesterday for dinner before grocery shopping at Supa Save. My first intention was actually Flour & Butter Cafe as I wanted to try their newly launched Tom Yam Pasta but decided not to as I’m not sure if consuming seafood would again trigger the pain on my shoulder blade. So, off I went for dinner at Tien Sing Restaurant since I’m in the area.

Singapore Popiah | B$1.50

I don’t usually order this much for dinner but this tempted me when I saw another table of patrons having it. You can choose the level of spiciness and I requested mild spiciness. Their spicy sauce can be real spicy if you requested it hot.

Sweet & Sour Chicken | B$5.00

I was surprised with the portion given when this was being served in front of me. The portion was slightly too big for me but I managed to finish off the mock chicken but leaving out the pineapple and half of the rice. I think there were at least 10 pieces of the mock chicken. The sweet and sour gravy was sour enough to my liking with tad bit of spiciness.

Tien Sing Restaurant
21 & 22, Ground Floor,
Bangunan Haji Hassan II,
Pengakalang Gadong,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-2454988

Clara’s 30th Birthday Gathering

Clara’s birthday was last Tuesday and Chen Wei organized a surprise belated birthday gathering at Senja Restaurant. Clara will be moving to Labuan in early March next year to settle down early as she will be getting married in September 2018. So, we thought we do this birthday gathering before she officially moves to Labuan to be with her husband. She’s legally married by the way but wedding banquet will only take place in September next year.

The first intended date for the belated birthday gathering was set to be last Friday but it was postponed to yesterday as one of us couldn’t make it. Chen Wei prepared everything from scratch, venue’s reservation to decoration set up. Kudos to her hard work and effort in making this event a huge success despite that Clara was feeling dubious the moment the waitress escorted her to our private room. LOL!

Table set up by Chen Wei. She’s a full time interior designer but she can do freelance too. She brought all the props from home and set it all up by herself with the help of Shew Hiang and Kiaw Han. She even brought her own mini Christmas tree pot.

Earl Grey Chiffon Cake by @butter.n.eggs

Chen Wei ordered Earl Grey Chiffon Cake with cream cheese frosting and requested for gold drips. The drips didn’t look golden but orange in color. Surprisingly enough, the drips looked slightly more golden in picture than in real life. The cake was decorated with fresh flowers. The Earl Grey sponge layers were wet in my opinion. The cream cheese frosting was creamy and slightly salty but it was good. However, it can be a bit sickening when overdose.

Happy 30th, Clara!

We requested one of the waitresses to take us a group picture but the outcome wasn’t satisfactory. So, I used one of Chen Wei’s props to make do as my tripod. It took me at least four to five attempts to get this shot. It wasn’t the best one either but at least good enough as compared to the others.

Now that we are done with the birthday pictures, let’s get started with the food pictures!

Pot of Chips | B$4.50

Homemade Spinach & Mushroom Ravioli | B$14.00

with creamy Pomodoro sauce

Grilled Chicken Fillets | B$17.00

with lemon cream and garlic sauce

Traditional Fillet Steak (180g) | B$24.00

prime fresh tenderloin cooked to your liking, served with mushroom or black pepper sauce

Fish & Chips | B$16.00

served with salad and tartar sauce

I contemplated between this or Grilled Chicken Fillets and decided to go with the former. Before placing the order for this, I inquired the kind of fish they use for the fillet. The waitress informed me that they use a kind of fish which is similar to seabass. The fish fillet was deep fried to perfection. It was juicy and the batter was crunchy too! The chips were honestly good in my opinion.

Verdict: The overall dining experience at Senja Restaurant was a good one as we pre-booked a private room to ourselves. Food were decent enough for our liking. However, there is a minimum spending quota required for private rooms. We only got to know this when I approached the counter for our dining bill as no one came after pressing the bill button twice.

According to the waitress, our minimum spending for the room should be at least B$30 per pax totaling up to B$180. So, she suggested that we order a few more mains or desserts to cover the minimum spending quota. It was about 10PM at the time we asked for the dining bill. It was almost impossible to order that much when we were so stuffed from the meal earlier on.

The waitress who attended told us that one of her colleagues had informed about this minimum spending policy when Chen Wei called in to book for the room. Chen Wei claimed that she wasn’t being informed. If she had been informed, I’m sure she would have notified us through our group chat.

We then suggested that we will come back to make up for the minimum spending in another day. The waitress left the room to consult her other colleagues and later came back informing us that they had waived off the minimum spending limit this time and at the same time emphasized that there will be a minimum spending requirement the next time we book for the private rooms. Lesson learnt, do inquire about minimum spending when booking for private rooms at any restaurants!

Senja Restaurant
Ground Floor,
Seri Kiulap Complex,
Kampung Kiulap,
BE1318, Bandar Seri Begawan,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-7203734

19122017 / Flour & Butter Cafe

After dinner at Little Audrey’s Café, Andrea and I headed to Supa Save Mata-Mata for grocery shopping. We intended to go for desserts straightaway after dinner but we were too stuffed to do so.

As we were leaving Supa Save, I asked Andrea if she’s still keen for desserts. If not, we could head home and rest. Andrea chose to go for desserts so that we can catch up further on our stories. Despite the bad weather, Flour & Butter Cafe was pretty crowded at the time we walked in. We didn’t order any beverage but cakes only.

Salted Caramel Cheesecake | B$4.90

Being a salty food lover, Andrea went for their Salted Caramel Cheesecake. She suggested that we share this to which I politely declined as I’m not much of a fan of dense cheesecake. I tried a small portion of the cake and it was indeed not sweet but not salty enough for Andrea’s liking. All in all, this is still a decent slice of Salted Caramel Cheesecake in Andrea’s opinion.

Peanut Butter Black Forest Cake | B$5.90

This is one of my favorite cakes at Flour & Butter Cafe after Carrot Cake. Unfortunately, the sponge layers were rather dry this time round. The waitress asked me if there’s anything wrong with the cake as she was clearing our plates. She saw that the cake was deconstructed rather badly as I removed the frosting and ate the sponge layers and cherries only. It’s not because the frosting ain’t good but due to my personal reason I don’t eat frosting.

Flour & Butter Cafe
No: 29, Ground Floor,
Bangunan Haji Hassan Abdullah,
Menglait, Jalan Gadong,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
Tel: +673-2422323