Batam Bagus - Kelong Dinner

The kelong dinner was one meal that all of us were looking forward to. However, if you're a newbie to Batam taking a cab down to the restaurant, you'd think you had been kidnapped. The cab would suddenly turn off a bustling road into a dark and dingy dirt track lined by sporadic shanty huts. There're hardly any street lights and the road is illuminated mainly by the car's headlights reflecting off the luminous paint. Then suddenly, you emerge into a brightly lit carpark which flanks the kelong restarant.

As you enter, an efficient waitress leads you to the tanks by the side to select your seafood. 

After making our selection, we sat down and waited eagerly for the food to arrive.

First the mussles and dong dong. Don't know about you but I love prying the soft chewy flesh from the shells.

The best way to eat fresh prawns is to have them steamed in garlic and their own juices.

Ahhh...the highlight of the meal. Now this is what I call sambal crabs. Definitely not for the faint hearted.

There were more dishes, but by then I was too busy polishing off the crab.

Batam Bagus!

We’re back in Batam again! Woohoo! If you like fried, crispy food and tongue tingling sambal, then Batam is the place for you.

What did we do when we arrived in Batam? Eat, of course! Our first stop right after the ferry terminal was at a restaurant across the road. It’s a spacious, airy Kampong house located on a hill. Complimentary plates of tasty Thai coconut jelly and keropok are served as you mull over the menu.

In hot and dusty Batam, Ais Apucat or otherwise known as Iced Avocado Drink is the staple here. Nothing is Singapore comes close to what I've had in Batam.

Check out the belacan. Here in Batam, every restaurant is generous with the belacan.

One of my favourite vegetables – petai. The restaurant cooks it in a sweet, spicy sambal sauce that is sweetened even further by the prawns. Many people don’t like the taste of petai, finding it too strong and pungent. But it goes very well with sambal, and its slightly bitter flavour balances well with the bite of the chilli.

JT and FT wanted some soup, so we ordered a bowl of Soup Buntut or Oxtail Soup. This is a clear soup with fried onions and peppercorn, vastly different from the western tomato-based version.

Ikan Gurame is a must-have in this restaurant  (or anywhere in Batam for that matter). The fish is deep fried to the point where every part is transformed into a crunchy keropok, even the bones. When dipped in the sweet black sauce and belacan, the fish tastes like an out of this world cracker.

The waitress recommended the fried beancurd. Even though I’m not really a tofu person, I found the beancurd tasty and light. The Chilli Cuka (or chilli vinegar) that came with the dish was a great dipping sauce.

Ahhhh, the chicken. Don't they look like cute little coconut trees?

You know, there's so much interest about pairing the right wine with the right dish. Here in Batam, they have perfected the pairing between the sambal and the dish!

A good start to the holiday!

Secret Recipe

I’ve always liked going to Secret Recipe. The prices are very reasonable and the menu is stocked with familiar favourites such as Burritos, Pastas and Chicken. The one in Suntec City is tucked away in a nice little corner. It’s a great place with chill out with friends, which was what I did.

I wasn't too hungry, just a little peckish. Furthermore, it was freezing cold at Suntec so I ordered a bowl of Lobster Bisque to warm up. It was a nice, subtle-tasting soup with undertones of seafood. No sign of any lobster or crayfish though. But at only $4 plus per bowl, I shouldn’t complain.

One value-for-money deal is the main course with a side and a drink for an extra $5. WD ordered the Burrito which came straight from the oven with pools of melted cheesy and tangy tomato chunks. Interestingly, it came as a pyramid rather than a roll.

Here's the little Ceasar Salad that came with the meal.

The Seafood Aglio Olio was light and flavourful. It doesn’t sit heavily in your tummy and you feel satisfied, not stuffed, even after eating a large serving. The Olive Oil and Garlic served as a great complement to the mussels and squid.

Secret Recipe
3, Temasek Boulevard, #B1-005A/006
Tel: 633 36629

Jackie Beer Garden

Changi Village always reminds me of a laid back village in some ulu region of Malaysia. Quiet, peaceful and unassuming, it’s a refuge from the noise and crowd of modern Singapore. What could be more relaxing than taking a leisurely stroll along the boardwalk in the cool, breezy evening?

Now, located at one end of the hawker centre (near the famous nasi lemak stall) is a highly popular seafood stall called Jackie Beer Garden. The place is packed by 6.00pm so either be there early or make a reservation. Prices are not really cheap, considering that it’s just a zi char stall, but the food is good. Wash it down with a jug a Tiger and you’ll have a really tasty meal.

This is one of my favourite vegetables dishes – Sweet Potato Leaves Fried with Hae Bi and Belacan. This is a light and sweet-tasting veggy that softens up easily when cooked and goes very well with spicy sprinkles of Hae Bi.

The Sweet and Sour Pork, coated with a subtle tangy sauce, was so tender. It literally melted in your mouth. I could see FT chomping away at the other corner of the table.

Mmmmm…BBQ Stingray with Sambal. This can give the one in Chomp Chomp a good run for its money.

Another one of my favourite dishes – Crispy Calamari with Curry Leaves. I love the exotic and fragrant infusion of the curry leaves in the light crispy batter.

The Creamy Salted Egg Crab was the stall’s speciality and the highlight of the meal. The flesh was sweet and meaty and the creamy gravy was thick and rich. Some salted egg crab recipes come with chunks of salted egg coated over crab, which I like very much. This one was a smoother, more blended version and the richness of the gravy more than made up for the absence of the egg bits.

Though the food was tasty, it was a bit on the salty side and I was extremely thirsty after dinner. The cook was probably too liberal with the MSG, which was quite a waste as the food was good enough without the added salt.

Mad Jack

Mad Jack is a cosy, affordable family restaurant. The lunch specials are a steal and if you are down for dinner, the mains range from about $8.00 to $20. They have quite an extensive menu which includes pastas, steaks, burgers, fish, fried chicken and  a wide range of sinful cakes. Essentially, there's something for everyone. Now, this is the kind of restaurant I like. There's nothing better than sharing good comfort food with friends. There's even a vegetarian selection though it's such a waste (to me anyway) to order items like mock fish and chicken.

I was there for a quick lunch and zoomed in straight for the steak with brown sauce (about $14). The meat was well-seasoned and the sauce was light. Surprisingly, what really tickled my tastebuds was the mash potato. The sauce was really addictive with subtle flavours of chicken and pepper.

AS ordered the Grilled Chicken Cutlet. Doesn't it look juicy? It's on the top of my list of things to try the next time I visit Mad Jack.

Definitely a place that I'll take FT and JT

Mad Jack Cafe

242 Jalan Kayu

Tel: 6483 1202

Makan Wish List

There are so many eating places to try, yet so little time (not to mention so little stomach space too) to do so. As I plan the next eatery I wish to visit, here's a list of restaurants that I really want to try.

Cafe La Chateau - Valley Point
Tampopo - Liang Court
Tetsuya - Tanglin
Heart Bistro - Palaise Renaissance

Nara Japanese Restaurant

The gang and I were scouting around for a late dinner when we drove by Nara Japanese Restaurant along Maju Avenue at Serangoon Gardens. As PT had generously offered to give us a treat, we decided to give this place a shot. Parking in Serangoon Gardens is madness. It's almost impossible to find a lot and worse still, almost every lot is a parallel lot (shudder). Luckily, PT managed to grab a lot just metres from the restaurant.

Nara's a quiet, spacious place with warm cosy lighting and comfortable booths. Service was excellent, and a new waiter who served us was attentive and friendly.

Once we sat down, a raw veggy salad and a tasty miso dip was served. Not bad, I thought, until I realised that I was charged $4 for this dish. Kena conned!

PT, as usual, wanted MEAT and so ordered the Beef Bulgogi. These well-seasoned slices were lightly grilled to melt-in-your mouth tenderness.

I wanted something fresh and since PT was paying, what the heck, I ordered a plate of Sashimi Moriwase.
Even at 8 plus, the sashimi was fresh and firm and the tuna slices were fantastic!

FT ordered the Nara Ramen. It wasn't as good as I had expected as the soup was quite diluted, unlike the rich, thick stock we have come to expect. No pics here as all you would see would be whitish soup with several floating leafy vegetables.

The Tempura Soft Shell Crab was so-so. I tasted lots of batter but hardly any crab.

JT's chicken porridge was interesting and tasted quite different from the usual chinese congee. It was made from the Japanese sticky rice, so that alone enhanced the taste. It arrived bubbling hot in a claypot, which gave it a deep smoky flavour. JT complainted about it though, preferring the lighter flavour of the Chinese congee.

Nara Japanese Restaurant
10 Maju Avenue