Dining With Jewelle

When the Fratini Restaurant opened a branch in Seria, local folks were understandably excited.

But not us.

Having a number of expats in his office, my husband is used to office functions catering from its Kuala Belait branch and have only one thing to say about this place - expensive. While my friend and I had lunch once at their Kota Kinabalu branch last December and although we enjoyed the food, we were staggered by the prices - RM10+ for drinks!

Needless to say, we were not one of those who practically lined up outside the door of the newly opened Seria branch - raving for its authentic Italian fares.

But of course, having no other fancy restaurant (that does not serve Japanese) less than 20 mins drive from home, we had dinner there last week. We had sort of expected that one month since it was opened, the novelty of being new had worn off and we could just walk in without reservations.

We did get a booth and that was only because we arrived early and the next party was due in 45 mins time. All the other empty tables even sported the reserved signs.

Perhaps because of this, our food came extra speedy - and we did have a large order of mixed grill, lasagne, kiddie spaghetti and seafood salad - which costed us a whopping $75!

Of course, the service was fine and the atmosphere was great - but frankly, it is not a place we can afford to have in our list of favorite.

My husband and I thought of having a late night supper at the new Fratini Restaurant in Seria town earlier. But although the kids cooperated by turning in early, the babysitter was not ready and we could only leave home by 9pm.

Since it took 15 mins to drive to Seria, we decided that even if Fratini was still opened, they would not be able to prepare our food in time before their closing time.

And so we decided to drop by Kaizen instead.

My husband had a craving for the “chewing gum of the orient”, a nick name for these dried octopus snacks sold in most stores. So since he could not get the processed ones, we had the fresh sliced octopus instead.

I tried it once at the other Japanese restaurant and did not fancy its rubbery texture.

I was not crazy about these either although they seemed easier to eat and the generous slices of lemon masked any smell which it may have.

But if you asked me, this is not something I will order anymore.

A few weeks ago, we decided to have lunch at the Hua Hua Restaurant in Kiulap.

This is one of those places which suit our taste buds when it comes to Chinese dishes and especially dimsum. The only reason why we are seldom here is because we rarely come to Kiulap.

Besides there is the attraction of the Escapade just a few blocks away.

I knew that Hua Hua is one of the old restaurant in Brunei as it is one of those chicken rice place frequented by my family in law in the olden days when making shopping trips to Bandar Seri Begawan (from Belait) - besides another restaurant called Thien Thien which according to my husband, still at the exact same spot since 20 years ago.

But I never expected that Hua Hua restaurant has actually been around since 1953 - as printed on their blind!

This Kiulap branch is of course only several years old and despite their basic Chinese non-fancy decor, the food is good and weekends is proof of its popularity.

These last few months, I am especially partial towards fried noodle and I adored theirs. Even the look of it could already make me salivate.

The carrot cake which we ordered was delicious but it was spicy. Eu loved the “siew mai” dimsum and I don’t remember what Qi-the-picky-eater enjoyed - if any.

I do however remember her, as usual, monopolizing the waitresses attention without doing nothing more than smiling at them and saying “hello” once in a while.

If only she eats as much as she flirts, I know that she will surely be one bouncy fat little girl.

Last Friday we had a family dinner in Kuala Belait to celebrate a birthday and a “birthday”.

These two birthdays were actually my mother in law’s birthday and my father in law’s anniversary since he retired. While at first my mother in law surprised me by suggesting that we have Japanese, she then changed her mind and decided on Jolene Restaurant.

The only Chinese restaurant in Kuala Belait which they approved of - and where we had my father in law’s birthday dinner last year.

I am beginning to think that we are the only family who always dine out early as everywhere we went - especially in Bandar Seri Begawan - the restaurant is always empty when we arrived. And when I commented on this, my husband will always replied, “What time is it now…” - and true enough, an hour later there would be more people.

But is 6.30 - 7.00 pm really that early for dining out?

Anyway, this time I requested that we pre-order some herbal chicken soup. And later at the restaurant, the two birthday couple ordered sizzling deer meat, winter melon shoots and bean curd.

The vegetable was not popular though because I thought they were a bit old and tough. Also it’s more sayur kampung than typical Chinese dish so the others were not very keen on it. The bean curd was good.

And I am still amazed that we can get deer meat so easily here in Brunei as this is one of my favorite dish.

But these days, I have extra cravings for noodles and maybe that was why although the customary noodle dish for birthday very delicious, my portion was seriously pathetic and I could have eaten much more.

As for the highly anticipated herbal chicken soup. Total letdown. There was no herb smell and no herbal taste - basically it was not brewed long enough. Did not deserve a picture at all.

Well, it had better not disappoint because this was the most expensive dish - for those two slices of steamed cod fish!

Our total bill this time was below $150 (after some birthday voucher of 7% off) and was actually cheaper than last time - which was a whopping $200.

Because my two girls were so ready to sing the birthday song - I was told that while I was in the loo with Eu - Qi had been warming up with her songs a few times as soon as the cake was on the table.

So it was no surprise that their voices were the loudest when we finally had the sing song - and do you need to ask who helped to blow the candles? My nephew did not stand a chance - and luckily it was not his birthday!

We would like to think that the staffs were “entertained” by the girls antic - especially Qi who was tired and was extra boisterous…

It was another good birthday dinner outing.

I have a very Asian palate when it comes to tea time.

Although I do enjoy the idea of scones, brownies and such pastries to go with hot coffee, I would take banana fritters or goreng pisang any time over them.

Back in Sabah, we have our dinner late at usually after 7 pm. That is why, we would always have some heavy tea and my mother would sometimes fry local cakes and everyone would usually be munching on these snacks as we chat or watch whatever is on TV around 4 pm.

But the thing about being in a Chinese family is that our dinner time is early. So in Brunei, we very rarely have heavy tea except perhaps some biscuits or fruits.

So one afternoon, as we made our way to the beach, we dropped by a local store for some ice creams. When I noticed that the next door snack stalls were frying some goreng pisang, I immediately bought some. But the girls have taken their father’s taste and I ended up eating this bag all by myself.

By the way, after I read some forwarded emails about hawkers who allegedly coated their goreng pisang with melted plastics, I’m not sure about buying anymore soon.

The thing about attending a dinner function where you are served is that you are limited to the amount that the waiter puts on your plate.

It’s much easier for men to demand second or third helpings but for us female, unless you want to appear uncouth or greedy, you have to expect to be left hungry as if there is one thing I noticed about fine dining is that the quantity is pathetic.

So, come prepared.

And that what was we, the fans of NON-fine dining, did before we went for our Saturday night function.

From the privacy of our room, we ordered the Empire Hotel’s beef burger and we were thoroughly satisfied with it.

We were impressed that although our room was on the other side of the hotel, our order arrived reasonably fast and come to think of it, we should have ordered the steaks!

At $22 (inc charges), it is recommended.

Because we are more familiar with the Chinese restaurant next door, we never thought of visiting the RMS Diner until a few weekends ago.

And the only reason was because they were having an irresistible offer of 50% their steaks and burgers.

Because the inner restaurant was relatively very small, it was full and so we had to sit outside - which was fine as fortunately there were no smokers around.

The menu selections were standard.

Our dish looked very presentable and I enjoyed the garlic bread from my husband’s Caesar Salad. My lamb was good but Eu enjoyed it more and she probably ate it more than me as she kept asking for bites.

Her spaghetti was yummy too but she did not quite fancy it and she did not touch the fried chicken nuggets at all.

Qi, as you may have guessed only consented to the fries and even those were only for her to chew NOT swallow (I fed her packed lunch from home).

Because of the 50% off for both my lamb and the burger, our lunch was reasonable at $30+.

Not a bad place for a change.

Because I was quite taken with the Kaizen’s fried dumpling a.k.a. Gyoza during our last visit to the Seria branch, and I remembered that I didn’t quite fancy the Excapade’s Gyoza.

So I decided to compare them again and a few days ago, I got my husband to take away one serving of the Excapade’s Gyoza.

Even from the looks of it, you could tell that they were prepared and cooked differently. The Excapade’s gyoza were quite soggy but that could be from the fact that they had to spend 30 mins on the road (!). But again, even the sauce was different.

I thought the Kaizen’s Gyoza was very much like the Chinese dumpling that I am used to - so perhaps the Excapade’s version is more authentic?

For that, I need to go to Japan to find out.

But at this point, I can safely conclude that I prefer the Kaizen’s.

*Read more on Gyoza if you wish*

I first heard the news of the opening of a Japanese eatery in Seria town from the most unlikely source - my parents in law who gave me vague information that it will be a “branch of some restaurant in Bandar Seri Begawan“.

The other men in my household were excited - nevermind which restaurant it will be as long as it’s Japanese - as the nearest one is at least 30 mins drive away.

While I, not being a sushi fan, was busy speculating on which restaurant it will be and guessed that it could be another Excapade or perhaps Sushi Tei or maybe Misato or even Kaizen - the only 4 Japanese places that I’m familiar with.

That was until we got a confirmation from someone who was involved in the project that it will indeed be a Kaizen Sushi.

So last weekend, since it first opened its door last month, we took the whole family and my youngest brother, who was in town on route his way to Miri, for dinner.

One thing about Japanese place that I don’t like is the menu can be confusing - all the food looks the same and the selections are so many, I had to forced myself to focus on the pictures and quickly pick before I lost interest.

My husband ordered the vegetable tempura as he knew that I liked the one that I had in Bandar’s Kaizen but for some reason, the one that arrived was nothing like the type that I wanted. We also had the sushi party set, salmon salad, seaweed soup and fried rice.

I also ordered a plate of Japanese dumpling called Gyoza - which tasted as good as the “Wo Tek” (Chinese fried dumplings) that we sometimes have for supper in Keningau and KK after whatever night activities we had then.

For some reasons, I find that the Kaizen’s gyoza are more to my taste than the Excapade’s and I will definitely order this again next visit.

And even though there were only 5 adults and 3 kids, the food finished so fast that I didn’t even managed to try some of them!

My in laws verdict was that they prefer the other place when it comes to taste and that could be due to Kaizen’s no-use-of-MSG policy (as I was told). But my husband and I actually like this place and I found a couple of things that I enjoy here and next time I’d have to try their curry range too.

In case you’re wondering about the price, it is slightly pricier than Excapade but definitely no outrageous RM400 for a 4 persons lunch here.

And Sis Caneeliea, why don’t you come over so you can try this and compare it with Umai

Courtesy of some $20 worth of redemption voucher which was about to expire tomorrow, my husband came home and gave me a 30 mins notice to get ourselves ready for a family dinner at the Buccaneer. Despite this near-impossible task, we managed to leave the house only about 5 mins late for our second visit to this restaurant for this year alone!

Today the whole place was nicely decorated for Chinese New Year and when we arrived, only two other tables was occupied.

They were having some promotion for Australian Black Angus Beef and hubby decided to get their $25 Sirloin Steak.

I thought it tasted good and he approved of it too. We also had the Caesar Salad and Calamari Rings for starters and although he said the Salad was alright, I didn’t think it looked very inviting - of course, I’m not a salad eater and I didn’t even bother trying this, so what do I know.

I got Eu the fish and chips from the kiddies menu and she surprised me by finishing both fish pieces, very very quickly! If you know how slow she usually eats, you’d be impressed too. Not only that, she even polished a small plate of spaghetti which I set aside in case she wanted to eat - which she did.

In case you’re wondering, Qi only slightly enjoyed the bun with butter and although she made a big show of dipping her french fries into the sauce, she actually fed her father most of it. She spent more time somersaulting, getting me to take her pictures and tried to attract the attention of the patrons who sat behind us.

Besides us, a few other tables were occupied by mostly Caucasians tonight and I think this has been one of the busiest nights that we’ve ever been here for dinner.

And with the $20 voucher, we ended up paying an extra $30 but since everyone enjoyed their food, I thought it was well-worth the money and as usual, the service was good - besides, how can they not be charmed by my kids who flirted with every single ones who passed within a metre from our table.