Padi-Mas Restaurant Sdn Bhd

Finally another new entry after so long. My buddy and I had our usual dinner date and we decided to go for something Korean. Since we've already been to Kiulap for Korean too many times, we decided to go somewhere new, which is Padi-Mas Restaurant Sdn Bhd

Location: Mata-Mata area, opposite the store (Super Star? Not sure what's the name) that sells Ikea products

Setting: Feels rather restaurant-ish, but doesn't feel like a Korean restaurant. Just restaurant-ish

 

My buddy made the comment that the seats that are being arranged in cubicles reminded him of cattle cages. I didn't know what he was talking about until I actually entered and took pictures that I realize what he meant. They somehow really do looked like some kind of cage-ish design. I'm not sure if cattle cages look like that, but it does look confined. The private room also didn't really look too much impressive either. The private rooms in Ko-Ryo looked much better.

Appetizers

Tools for the eating

My buddy's Jajiang dish

His dish consists of brown rice and seafood and meat and potatoes with a hunka load of black sauce. It's so black I couldn't make out anything until I tasted one of the food. LOL

My dolsot bibimbap

I went for the tried and true original foods just to test the waters. The portion was alright, and the egg was sunny-side up runny just the way I like it, though they could do with slightly more vegetables, but at least they kept the stone bowl serving style to keep my food nice and warm, which is pretty good.

The only beef I had was the ambiance and the patronage. We were the only ones there and it felt kinda lonely in a sense eating in the place. Even Mamih had more patronage than this place and the food here is actually much better than Mamih. I suppose this place is only when people had to come here as a last resort to eat, but honestly, it's not too bad.

I wouldn't say I highly recommend this place, but it's definitely worth the try. And it's actually easy on the wallet too, sorta.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Insha Jawed Sdn Bhd

Another day, another lunch date with my buddy since we forgone our dinner date due to plans on my part. He was craving Indian, and we didn't want to eat at Rajah's again, so we went to a different, smaller quaint restaurant called Insha Jawed.

Location: Batu Satu area, same row with Sui Hing and Golden Leaf Chinese restaurant

Setting: Typical Indian kopitiam style type of setting

My order of set lunch, with custom order of fish curry

Close up shots of my food and its side dishes and condiments

My buddy's chicken masala, which takes about 15-30mins to make, with nan

Close up shots of my buddy's food

The food is pretty good, actually. Quite spicy that made my nose sweat like a fountain, but ultimately satisfying. Technically I wanted to just eat fish curry masala with nan, but unfortunately their masala takes too long to cook (15-30mins), and I was on the clock, so I ordered their curry instead. Then due to the waitress' recommendation, and my growling super hungry stomach, I decided to take the set lunch.

Overall not bad place, worth the money and worth the food quality, but if you're vying for their masala dishes, it's best to call them ahead to make before you enter their restaurant.

Overall rating: 6/10

Pancakes in Brunei~!

Pancake House International has made its way to the Brunei market! And of course, we definitely want to give it a shot.

I forgot to take picture of the front store, but it's pretty much the same as the one in KK anyways.

Hustle and bustle of people going in and out serving customers, and the setting almost reminds me of a cramped version of the restaurant in KK

Le tools of the trade

My hubs' waffle with ice-cream

My chocolate chip pancakes

My pancakes tastes almost exactly how it tasted when we first had it in KK. The quality is pretty good, and this time I made sure that I didn't think the butter scoop is ice-cream and eat it. While they're pretty generous of the scoop of butter and peanut butter, they were not exactly generous on the ice cream for my hubs' waffles coz the scoop is the exact same size as the scoop I got for my butter and peanut butter.

Price is also a little dear, and our suspicions maybe that it's direct price from RM to BND. LOL! But other than that small nitpicky issue, there is not much that I can find too much fault with it, so I suppose anyone who is curious can go and give this place a shot.

Overall rating: 5/10

Sushi Tei

After a rather hissy-fit row with my hubs, he tries to buy my heart with sushi dinner, and to be honest, who could resist sushi? We decided to try something new, and it led us to Sushi Tei.

Location: Menglait area, same row with Dr. Yong's Pediatric Clinic

Technically it had a branch originally in Gadong area where The Mall Gadong is, but unfortunately it wasn't exactly the original branch and it kinda shut down before I had the chance to really go blog about it when I got my camera, so yeah.

Setting: Pretty authentic Japanese-themed design, and way to go with the bamboo colour and theme as well, though to be honest, the one in Gadong looks better in design though

Le tools of the trade

Ocha, anyone?

Once we settled down, we decided to order some familiar food to test the waters as well as a couple of new ones to give it a shot. Here's what we ordered:

Soft-shell crabs

A rather unique taste, and it's really its namesake: soft-shelled to the point where I can just gulp down the whole thing. It's actually quite delicious, and convenient since I don't have to worry about needing to peel the shell and all that. The dipping sauce that goes with it compliments it pretty well too.

Sashimi, tamago sushi, and salmon belly sushi

They're technically all separate dishes, but are all arranged together in one serving plate, just like Kitaro does when you order a certain amount of sushi dishes. I'm not sure if it's just me, but the salmon tastes slightly richer and thicker than the ones served at Excapade, and the salmon belly sushi was just so fatty and rich and delicious, it was an absolute taste worth dying for. No wonder Japanese people LOVE salmon belly.

Chawan mushi (egg pudding)

Just felt like ordering this to see how they fare. Apparently unlike other chawan mushi I have tasted, this one maintained its consistency as a pudding and doesn't turn too soft and watery towards the middle. I actually kinda like this chawan mushi more.

Chicken Gyoza

The gyoza tastes like pretty much standard gyoza, nothing too different. Though I do detect a slight crunch to it, but not much

Beef udon

My hubby's udon doesn't look too bad, but surprisingly it tasted sweet somehow when I sipped on the soup a little bit. I didn't really try the beef, but judging by my hubby's reaction, it tastes alright.

Oyakodon

I have always been curious about this dish ever since I read something about it in the XXXHolic mangas. It's also known as the "Mother and Child" Rice because of the ironic combination between chicken and egg, almost like a bit of a cannibalism in play. The chicken was cooked pretty well, and the egg complimented the chicken rather well too, though coz of the chicken and the egg, it made the dish pretty filling that I couldn't finish the rice.

Overall, it's a pretty decent place to enjoy some Japanese cuisine. It's slightly on the dear side, so be prepared to burn a little hole on your wallet to eat this. The taste is more or less worth the money, so it's worth giving it a shot.

Overall rating: 7.5/10