Solitude Cafe

I wonder how many people know that the Solitude bookstore (3rd floor) at The Mall has a nice little cosy cafe tucked behind all those shelfs of books? Not many I think. Only those who dares to venture into the shop which is walled-up with Islamic religious books will know.

The cafe has a nice modern deco and a wonderful view too of Gadong, Jame`Asr mosque and also a little bit of Kiulap. It is a pretty quiet place, even at lunch time. Recently I was there with Saz and Jd for a light lunch. Well I guess 'light' ain't the right word for it considering what I oredered. I had a heavy breakfast earlier in the morning, so I only ordered the Chocolate Fudge Cake with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. Overkill? Probably, but that's how I like'em. The cake was a little frozen (I guess I should've asked them to reheat it first?) but it was quite tasty and rich. It's not cheap, a little over B$5+, typical "cafe cake pricing". Oh, the ice cream you pay extra.

Saz had the Hot Pot Potato (or is that Potato Hot Pot?) which was kinda yummy. I guess its that cheesy topping that got me hooked and eventually helped her finished it. My petite little friend Saz also ordered the Corned Beef Toast Sandwich, which I really liked because the beef is just different, I'm guessing its home made. For drinks I had a mineral water (no freebie), Saz & JD had the Ice Lemon Tea.

Overall, we liked our food. My "i'm just gonna have a bit" plan didn't work as I ended up finishing most of what Saz ordered. Well Jd had some too, so it wasn't that bad hehe... The only thing I wasn't happy about was that when I asked for the password to their WiFi, I was told that I need to pay for it, $5 I think because its only for members! Now that's not nice right? I'm already sitting there, spending money on food and they still wanna charge me for WiFi? I was only planning to use a few minutes really. Its not like I'm just sitting there and having a glass of water right? I hope the management could ease-up on this and offer it complimentary once you order something form the menu.

Oh also, I think the waitresses need to be friendly and to speak-up a bit and know whats on the menu. It's not nice making the customer repeat their order a couple of times. So my first time there was just so so. I certainly will come and visit again though, and hopefully this time it will be a much more pleasant experience.

Here is another Solitude review by Ihsan, she reviewed it like over a year ago. Only found it after I posted this review.

RMS Diner, Gadong

An unedited review sent in via email from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

A friend and I decided to visit RMS Diner in hopes of catching the 'Happy Hour' promotion, where selected meals were given a 50% discount.

As soon as we stepped inside the restaurant, we already felt unwelcome. The waiters and waitresses were hanging around ('lepak-ing') on the stools near the bar, looking lazy and just plain not bothered. Nobody came to greet us, not even a 'Welcome' or 'Hi' was said. None of them got off the stools to seat us. All they did was stare at us.

My friend decided to order Chicken Caesar Salad and Blue Moon, by far the best mocktail I've ever tasted. I ordered Cajun Chicken Pasta and Chocolate Milkshake.

When we gave our orders to the waitress, she seemed like she had no clue about anything inside the menu. In the end we had to point out which meal we wanted and she had to take a second and third look at it with the other waitresses. (She even pronounced Blue Moon, Blue 'Noon').

Luckily for me, my meal turned out to be alright, and only that. The pasta was not as satisfying as the last time I tried it.

As for my friend, she claimed her Caesar Salad was much too salty. And when the waitresses were about to make the Blue Moon drink, they had a little discussion in Tagalog about how to make the drink. They were obviously clueless. (Perhaps the bartender wasn't in?) We witnessed two waitresses combining anything liquid and green into the blender. When they served the drink, it was avocado-green in colour, extremely frothy with a soggy slice of lemon on top, almost like a vegetable milkshake. What the Blue Moon is suppose to look like, is clear (clearly made from Sprite), with a tint of blue at the bottom and a fresh slice of lemon on the rim. We were astonished. I quickly said, "That's not it." The waitress hurriedly took the drink back to the bar, had another discussion (one of them said, 'You try it!' in Tagalog) and came back with something that looked much closer to the actual drink.

While we ate our meal, the waiters and waitresses had a loud conversation over the bar. As it was only me and my friend, we ended up having to speak much more quietly. The waitress that served us was lazing around on a stool, playing with her phone. The male workers dressed in maroon Fratini's uniforms watched the TV in a loud volume.

All in all, the ambiance was distracting, their ignorance was intolerable, and their hospitability terrible.

RMS, you serve one of the best burgers in Brunei. Your interior is unique and modern. Please live up to that image of a trendy, welcoming restaurant. Please do not neglect customers, no matter how young they are or how much money they seem to have. Treat all customers with respect and treat them equally. Can't help but think if I was an older middle-class male, I would get better service.

Ayam Penyet Rules!

Probably the best Ayam Penyet meal in Brunei is served at Syarikat Perusahaan Haji Sulaiman Bin Haji Abu Bakar. I've tasted quite a few Ayam Penyet places but nothing beats this little roadside stall. The place is nothing fancy but the home-cooking style dishes of mostly Indonesian origins are very tasty and cheap too! I always frequent this place for its Ayam Penyet, most of the time for lunch.

Now as you've probably noticed from the photo of the above, the roof is the old-skool zinc ones. And that is it. So when your sitting under the roof under the hot midday sun, it feels like you're in a sauna! Actually the walls are not wood or concrete too, its roofing material too! But thank god for the many standing fans they have. So with the wind blowing in your face, it feels like your dining at the beach! Boys, don't forget to take off your tie, ladies loosen up your tudung.

The Ayam Penyet meal you see is just $3.50, which part of the chicken you want, just tell them. The chicken is roasted and I always go for the thigh because I think it's simply juicy. It is served with rice and plain soup. Now the most important thing to tell them is which paste/sauce (sambal) do you want. The normal one is just nice but for those who wants tears in their eyes, sweat flowing down their temple/nostrils and temporary swelling of the lips, I dare you try the extra hot sambal. At about 12:30pm in the afternoon!

So yeah, do visit the place. They have other items on the menu, like Bebek Goreng (Fried Duck) and Bakso (Indonesian "Soto") amongst others but I've never tried them. I'm simply a slave for their Ayam Penyet and also their Cincau (original not the Yeos canned one). Service is prompt and they even provide free mineral water! Best $5 you'll ever spend I guarantee ya! Well actually you'll have change to buy some ice cream to cool your flaming lips! Hehe...

Oh, one more thing, they're gonna install WiFi soon too! How cool is that?!

Italian Culinary Promotion

This is an occasion not to be missed. The authentic Italian cuisine is really value for money and best of all, diners will be entered into a lucky draw for a 4-night stay at Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan. A couple of us food bloggers got invited by The Empire to try out some of the dishes offered on the A La Carte menu. It was simply mind-blowing! You can read our reviews here.

Matadoe Cafe & Restaurant

Having been to Matadoe at least a dozen times, I headed there today for lunch with 5 others fully expecting to enjoy my food as I had my heart set on the signature Matadoe spicy fried rice. Service was competent enough by a waiter who seemed to be new. We ordered 2 sets of the abovementioned dish, American Fried Rice, Wet Fried Kway Teow with beef, Lasagna and Baked Macaroni.

Lunch took more than half an hour to arrive, which was rather long but it wasn’t too big a deal as we were all enjoying our conversation with each other. The Matadoe Fried Rice was the first to arrive and was looking good! But as soon as the waiter put the plate down in front of me, I had a whiff of ‘bangas’/’basi’ rice. I thought I was mistaken and bent down closer to smell the rice – I wasn’t wrong. Wanting to give the benefit of the doubt to the chef, I gingerly ate a bit of it. There was something that wasn’t quite right. The taste of the rice was pretty much ‘off’ and the dish just wasn’t palatable at all. I’ve had this dish quite a number of times previously and have always enjoyed its tangy and spicy taste from the lime and chillies. The other person in my group who ordered the same dish was having a problem eating it as well. So we called the waiter and I explained the problem.

He brought my plate into the kitchen and upon coming out conveyed the message from the chef that the rice was freshly cooked and that the taste could have come from the combination of lime and santan. I didn’t really agree with this. If it wasn’t the rice that was at fault, then it must have been something else that was used. But the waiter very graciously offered us the option of ordering an alternative dish, so we chose the Light ‘Nudel’ Soup and the Matadoe Noodles with Curry Gravy.

In the meantime, the Wet Fried Kway Teow ordered turned out to be Wet Fried Noodles and the chef had used soya sauce in the cooking process resulting in a dark brown gravy and noodles. So off it went back into the kitchen to be replaced by Kway Teow as originally ordered and strict instructions not to use soya sauce. The American Fried Rice and Lasagna turned out fine, which was a relief. The Baked Macaroni on the other hand, although visually looked really nice and was well presented with a sprinkling of herbs and sprig of parsley, was a disappointment tastewise. There was just too much flour used for the white sauce making it way too stodgy plus it was pretty tasteless as well. More than half was left uneaten.

Fast forward to another half an hour later, our new orders arrived. The ‘Nudel’ Soup I ordered smelled great in contrast to my first dish and I started tucking in. A mixture of meehoon and Angel Hair Pasta was used, with 2 small chicken balls, a bit of green veggies and a few chunks of chopped boiled chicken breast thrown in; and some fried shallots as garnish. It would have been a lovely light dish if not for the super salty soup/broth. I was really put off by now but just couldn’t bring myself to complain again for fear of the chef storming out of the kitchen to throttle me, so I just made myself eat as much as I could of the meehoon and pasta. The Wet Fried Kway Teow was okay but the beef slices were as tough as leather – totally unchewable. The noodles with curry gravy wasn’t too bad BUT the fish cake slices were not fresh and had a strange sour taste to it.

By this time we had already been there for around 1½ hours and really couldn’t wait to leave our nightmare lunch. It really just wasn’t our day today. The bill came to $40ish dollars, which was money NOT well spent.

Verdict: Please spend as much effort on maintaining the quality of your food as on what you have already done on the restaurant. The décor is impressive and has character, which sets it apart from other local set-ups.

Disclaimer: The opinions I’ve expressed are my own based on what I experienced at your restaurant. Take any criticisms as constructive and I mean no malice. Don’t sue me.

Food Zone (Yayasan)

Review by Ihsan. Read it after the jump.