A Bintan resort lunch

I'm not sure what's the status of this place, but it is one of those pseudo kelong built along some rock outcroppings close to the shoreline connected to the beach via a bridge kind of place. Half the structure was probably concrete. There wasn't much options for eating out from the resort since the closest location for a food place (Melayu Square) was a 45 minute drive out of Bintan Beach & Agro Spa Resorts. It was definitely a place opened by the resort itself and the only live seafood available were crabs.


The food was passable with a pretty regular stir fried kailan, a fairly spicy tom yum soup that was heavy on tomato & lemongrass and a rather well done sambal kang kong which was crunchy and had a robust hit of dried shrimps. Of worthy mention, there was a sun and moon fried rice (woah!) and a butter oat squid.


The mentioned sun and moon fried rice was stir fried with coconut milk. That was probably the most distinctive thing about it, evident from the taste that was certainly more flavourful (and rich as well) than the the regular seafood counterpart which became quite boring by comparison. Speaking of seafood, there was barely anything beyond some small chopped pieces of shrimp in the rice. I had definitely expected better. Frutti di mare aside, the damp rice was quite enjoyable. Those butter oat squids were similar to cereal-ed seafoods that one can find easily in our local restaurants. The main difference was the use of quite a bit of eggs in the mix with the oats that formed the batter of the squids. And this is the first time I'm eating these cereal seafood done on squid. Nutty, sweet and mildly spicy, this was actually quite good.

Also, I now know that I can give their local beer a pass the next time.

Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger : Year Two

Another year has passed for Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger. And here I sit, wondering to myself what should I say for this marker entry that places a milestone of 2 freaking years of taking pictures with my trusty old camera phone. Some changes are surely bound. I cannot really say when and how, but it will happen. Just like it has all along. Sometimes behind the wheel - the machinations that drive this blog, and sometimes, the digital canvas that you read upon. Hopefully, the unchanging constant would be that - the show must go on.

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can..."

as sung by Gandalf the Grey

The Omnivore's Hundred

Andrew, an English food writer and also the co-author of the blog called Very Good Taste has come up with a list of food that he feels all omnivores should at least try once in their life. He calls this list The Omnivore's Hundred. Apparently the response to this list was quite good so I'm going to do this just for the heck of it. To join in the fun, one simply just has to...

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Here's mine with some commentary in italics where applicable.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros - I'm gonna count this in
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht - not the traditional beetroot kind though
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - I've always gotten the sweet one
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - ...but not together
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - assuming it's just the sashimi version
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Amsterdam's Maximator!
59. Poutine - this has got to qualify
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads - I'm not too sure of this but...
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - I've had churros
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - goreng pisang!!
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini - not together
73. Louche absinthe - not tried this version, only a less potent one
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

63/100

Redemptio

Awesomeness! The recent less than satisfactory experience in "thosaimediocrity" has been pushed away to be forgotten by this redemptive egg & ghee thosai and its onion counterpart from Sri Kamala Vilas. Needless to say, there was a whole world of difference to be found in this crisp and freshly griddled pancake. Served warm as should be as well. The buttery flavour of that ghee was quite cheesy tasting while those lightly cooked onions inside were sweet. Not to mention the tastier sambar and coconut chutneys. This meal felt so good that I followed up with a vadai. Despite that they were a little cold at the end of the day, the vadai remained soft and dense. I shall quest for some fresh vadai someday.

A trip down Kelantan Lane......

It's been a long while since I last ate here. Don't find myself in this vicinity very often. But since I was, there wouldn't be any reason not to grab a bowl of that famous Sungei Road Laksa sans the "hum" (Blk 31 Kelantan Lane, #01-12 Seng Chuan Eating House, tel: 9690 8184) and refresh my memory of how it actually tasted. That sounded like a good decisions for the recent cool and rain that's been the weather these couple of days, slurping thick rice vermicelli with that laksa gravy and all. In retrospect, I also noticed that this laksa gravy doesn't quite compare to the richness and viscosity of the various (clones of) Katong Laksa that's popping up everywhere these days. More generous portion of bean sprouts would have made it better as well. The side of mackerel otah that the stall was also selling wasn't very special.

Since I was there taking advantage of the cooler weather and eating stuff that I tend to avoid in the usual heat, I thought why not a steaming bowl of that Sin Min Rd Bak Kut Teh as well from the neighbouring stall. The bai kut wasn't too cheap at $9, but I thought it was worth it while tearing the tender rib meat dipped in the chilli padi infused soy sauce off the bone. These are the moments I enjoy using my hands. Enjoyed this steaming peppery and garlicky broth that I asked for refills.

Madam Saigon, Liang Seah Street

My confidence in Vietnamese food has been reinforced by this trip to Madam Saigon (30 Liang Seah Street, tel: 6333 9798). Was rather happy with what we've tried so far and a re-visit is definitely in order since I didn't get to try out their pho after being distracted by the rest of the menu.


We started off with some light and crunchy summer rolls which were accompanied by a sweet dip with crushed peanuts. Never realized that there were fried versions which were on the menu.


These are known as bolalot skewers; basically sticks of beef in betel leaves. I couldn't detect any flavour from those betel leaves. They came across like tasteless seaweed. Does anyone know how these are supposed to taste like?


This chicken and sweet potato curry was something that I didn't expect to see and never knew was Vietnamese. I've never associated chicken curry with Vietnamese food. This turned out to be interesting. In fact, I wouldn't mind eating them again since they were kinda nice. The sweet potatoes imparted a mild sweetness into the mildly spicy coconut laden curry. I wasn't sure but I thought some of that sweetness crept into the chicken as well. This dish made short work of the rice.


Their Vietnamese pancake was light and pretty crunchy beneath the slightly crisp skin, loaded with stuff like beans sprouts, spring onions, chicken and some shrimps. I could eat this again. It reminded me of a kind of poh piah. The accompanying dips were good with them.

If anyone's wondering about the coffee, I've tried it and I thought their brew was pretty thick (not Turkish coffee thick though), but lacked fragrance that might have made it great. I'll be back for the pho another day.