Christmas Eve Turkey Dinner

A little burnt on the skin on top, but the meat is still tender, juicy and oh-so-delicious~! :d

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Happy New Year~!!

Terrace Hotel Restaurant

My hubs' cousin's wife had decided to have a company dinner to show her appreciation for all the hard work the staff had done, and we had it at the very little known restaurant within Terrace Hotel, which is located downtown just right next door to its competitor, the Raddison Hotel

Random shots leading into the hotel and the dining area

Terrace Hotel is considered a 2-star budget hotel for not-so-long-term guests and their restaurant specializes in steamboat dinners (especially so on the sign outside their hotel, which I couldn't take due to the rain). I've heard a lot about it, and had been here once or twice to pick up a guest during my tour guiding days, but never really actually stayed inside or dined inside before, so it's an interesting chance for me

More random shots

First we were served the fried appetizers, which included:

Deep fried tofu...

Chopped long bean fritters...

...as well as some chicken drumstick and wings that I totally forgot to take photos of. Drinks were the usual random juices or soft drinks, so no need for me to take photos of them

The main event

Steamboat ingredients are the standard seafood, vegs, noodles and eggs, but at least they look pretty fresh and whatnot. And we had the yin-yang pot where one side is tom yam soup and the other side is chicken soup (for the spicy faint of heart LOL), but majority of us aim for the tom yam instead, since it's the best soup of all to have seafood in. Only my hubs and his cousin's pregnant maid and his kid had to settle with the chicken soup

The Full Monty

Dessert

Our dessert was an assortment of Malay traditional cakes, and it was a no-brainer that us ladies who love our sweets were the ones to have a go at the most delicious ones first, especially the kuih that has gula melaka in it. Any kuih that has gula melaka in it is bound to be awesome-tastically delicious.

It was a satisfying meal, and boy, were we full! I don't think they do ala carte dining here, so it's best if you go in a group on an occasion to enjoy this.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Senja Restaurant

For me and my hubs' 3rd wedding anniversary (Wow~! 3 years! Who'd've thunk??), we decided to try out the new restaurant at Kiulap area called Senja Restaurant.

Location: Kiulap area, the same building as the Baiduri Bank Kiulap branch and Le Taj

It was technically originally a hotel-exclusive restaurant in Riverview Hotel, but ever since the hotel kinda sorta went downhill in business, Senja had left the building, so to speak, and just recently resurfaced as its own standalone restaurant, so we definitely needed to give it a shot.

Setting: Quite steakhouse-ish kind of setting, definitely brighter and cozier than the one they used to have at Riverview Hotel

This lot they occupy to set up shop was originally Saffron, but apparently Saffron decided to move shop across the street of Seri Q-lap Mall, which was surprising since I thought it was doing pretty well. But hey, business is business, they come and go, it's all about the money

Steak knife is a little too big though

My super tall glass of chocolate milkshake

Looks and tastes absolutely frothy and delicious, just the way I like my milkshake to be

My appetizer of mushroom chowder (I think)

Very thick and creamy, lots of flavour in there. Every spoonful was a delight. Was tempted to add some more pepper in it, but it would ruin the perfection

My hubs' appetizer of grilled mushroom with stuffed cheese

Also very delicious, juicy as you bite into it, easy to cut through, and the cheese that just melts in your mouth is just to die for. The salad was great too. Doesn't have the bitter aftertaste that most salads have, which means it's pretty fresh and thoroughly washed. Can't remember for the life of me what the actual name of this dish is though

Our steaks

My hubs ordered their in-house steak while I ordered their black pepper steak with corn sauce. Our steaks basically taste the same, the only difference is that he has black pepper sauce for his dip, while my steak is already marinated and cooked in black pepper and the corn sauce is to compliment the spiciness (prolly neutralizes it, since I don't feel the overwhelming burning pepper sensation). Though maybe one of these days, I should consider having my meat medium well since while it tastes awesome well-done, it's also a little tough and a little hard for me to finish it in time for dessert.

Our dessert of chocolate mousse with whipped cream

We were afraid that one chocolate mousse wasn't enough for us to share, so we ordered one for each of us instead. The creaminess of the chocolate mousse was to die for. It was heaven in every bite, though you have to eat the whipped cream together with the mousse because this is one of those non-flavoured whipped cream. Eating it alone just leaves a weird taste in your mouth.

Again, you have to feel rich or have a fat wallet to go to this restaurant, but it is a perfect place to go to during special occasions. Highly recommended.

Overall rating: 9/10

Sui Heng Restaurant

My buddy and I couldn't really decide what to have for lunch, and we wanted to have a quick one before we catch the movies, so it was only natural we ate somewhere nearby, and we picked Sui Heng Restaurant

Location: Towards Berakas area, in a building across the street from Times Square

Setting: Old school kopitiam style, with patronage that consists of mostly construction workers

The age-old economy meals

Thought of ordering economy meals at first but then again I wanted to try what they have in their own menu, so I decided to leave that thought for another day

My order of sambal kangkung with rice

Nice and crunchy, shows that it's really fresh, and the sambal sauce is just right too, though prolly need a little more, but then again, I'm the kind that loves quite a bit of sauce in my rice

My buddy's pai kut wong with rice

My buddy's fake!pork ribs with rice looks pretty delicious, with the nice red shine of the deep broiled fried ribs, but I didn't really try it, since I was enjoying my kangkung, but I'll take his word for it that the food is good, since he has a more sensitive pallete than mine.

Nice quiet place where you can have a peaceful get-together with some friends to chow and spend the day. And the food is reasonably cheap too. Recommended to try at least once

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Ho Chak Restaurant

Occasionally, on Sundays, we go out for a family breakfast, and on this particular Sunday we decided to eat somewhere new rather than our usual breakfast dim sum, so we opted to eat at Ho Chak Restaurant

Location: Menglait area, where all the big shot restaurants like FunShabu-Shi and all others are

Setting: Typical Chinese kopitiam, though it's really kinda small and cramped

Viewing through the menu, I was a little disappointed that the food choices were so limited. This was supposed to be one of KK's (or Sarawak?) famous kopitiam branching out a franchise here in Brunei. Shouldn't it meet a little of our expectations at least?

Fried mixed noodles, which is almost everyone's choice

Wantan soup

Kolo mee with char siu

My lor mee

As usual, I order something different than everyone else, and again, I was a little disappointed with the taste. It had a constant sour taste to it and the texture of both noodle and meat wasn't all that flattering. I didn't get food poisoning and neither did my princess (coz we shared a bit), so I think they've been using a little too much vinegar in the sauce.

Sadly I couldn't enjoy my food at all. Edible, but not satisfactory.

Overall rating: 3.5/10

Kausar Cafe

Went out to lunch with my in-laws during my lunch hour and we decided to eat at a restaurant across the street called Kausar Cafe

Location: Kiulap area, same row with Misato (I think), just across the street from Seri Q-lap Mall

Setting: Simple and clean, nothing too fancy, almost like a regular Malay restaurant

First course

I can't remember for the life of me what is the name of this dish, so I just call it "the first course". It looks like fried rice, but in reality, it's actually shredded and chopped murtabak/naan/roti canai and fried with the mixed veggies and eggs, and complimented with curry sauce. It's something new, and very interesting, and tastes great too

Chicken masala

Plain naan

Butter naan

Fish head curry

This is what I ordered for myself to eat with my plain naan. I was actually expecting a small fish head and none other, but apparently they used a big-ass fish sliced in half to give off the illusion of having two heads in there and it's completely drowned in the curry sauce. I should've ordered rice to go with it instead but I didn't want to get too full, so I just ate it as it is. The curry was also not too spicy either. In fact, it doesn't really taste like curry at all. More like a mild tom yam

Dessert

I dunno what's the name of this dish either, but apparently it's a Sri Lankan dessert that is similar to one of the Malay kuih where the outside is glutinous dough while the inside is filled with gula melaka. It's pretty tasty, and the sweetness really spreads in your mouth. I actually liked it very much, and would've asked for seconds if I wasn't so stuffed

A very satisfying meal and a great place to be. It's nice and quiet, great if you want to have undisturbed lunch, and the price is very cheap as well.

Overall rating: 8/10