Cafe Helo Helo Restaurant (Bintan)

Wondering what to eat or what to do in Bintan? Especially when you are in Nirwana Resort Hotel. Well, in earlier posts, I have mentioned for food you must go try Kelong Restaurant at least once. Well, if you have been there and done that, can try going to Pasar Oleh Oleh for some shopping and for food.

Shuttle Bus Schedule

There is a Pasar Oleh Oleh shuttle bus from that has stops at several resorts including Nirwana Resort Hotel. The pass allows unlimited rides for that day at a cost of $5.00 per Adult and $3.00 per Child.

The Pasar Oleh Oleh shuttle bus at the right.

Pasar Oleh Oleh

Pasar Oleh Oleh is a cluster of village huts on slits. In Pasar Oleh Oleh, you can find about 3 eateries, and shops that sells clothes, bags, snacks, BBQ stuffs, drinks, local Indonesian delicacies such as keropok and kueh lapis. In fact they have 2 shops that are like our supermarket selling almost everything and anything. Pasar Oleh Oleh is actually quite a small place, in total its length is about 150metres. If you have anything to buy (drinks, snacks, cup noodles) buying here or in Singapore will be cheaper compared to the resort. Opposite Pasar Oleh Oleh is Kampong  Lagoi.

Cafe Helo Helo Restaurant

If you look closely, in the background there is another separate compartment with round tables for bigger groups.

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Mie Goreng S$3.50

Mie Goreng (Mee Goreng) was delicious! Despite it being on the salty end, I finished it and would certainty have ordered another plate if it was not so salty. It was fried to perfection and each strand of noodle was coated with the gravy.

Bihun Goreng S$3.50

Bihun Goreng (fried bee hoon) was so so. It was not salty, but in terms of taste of the dish as a whole, something seems to be lacking. Not that it was bad, maybe the Mie Goreng was too good.

Stir Fried Tofu & Seafood S$14

Before we order the Stir Fried Tofu & Seafood, I was wondering why would this dish cost $14 when the Mee Goreng cost only $3.50. If there was a mark up, then the Mee Goreng should have been marked up too.
When the Stir Fried Tofu & Seafood was served I knew why it was so expensive. Look at the amount of ingredients! The gravy was also filled to the beam and was flowing out as the table legs was not even.  They were very generous with their ingredients. Besides fried tofu, there was prawns, squids, broccoli, fishballs and even pieces of fried eggs (like those you get in some fish soups). The ingredients were fresh but the gravy was on the salty end. The fried egg was good, but they were soak with gravy. Hence, we were pretty thirsty after the meal.

Overall, Cafe Helo Helo Restaurant’s food are reasonably priced and much nicer compared to elsewhere especially when you compare it to the restaurants in Nirawana Resort Hotel itself. But it might be a hassle going to Pasar Oleh Oleh.

Oleh Oleh Restaurant???

Saw this sign in Cafe Helo Helo. It dawn on me much later that Oleh when spelled backwards is Helo!

Cafe Helo Helo Restaurant (Bintan)
Pasar Oleh Oleh, Kota Sebung
Tel: (62) 770 692 488 

Sembawang White Beehoon (Sembawang 白米粉)

Good news, for foodies in the North! Sembawang White Beehoon previously was under-going renovation. Now the renovation has ended and the shop is now open for business! The shop is located directly opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre. It has been featured in several newspapers and magazines. This place is crowded during lunch or dinner time. And it is hard to find parking space.

Exterior (From Sembawang 白米粉 Facebook profile picture)

Interior

Look at the change after the renovation. Now it look so bright, clean and ‘white’.

Queue

Now, there’s a queue system. Waited about 20minutes in this queue. More orderly and fair, allowing customers to make an order prior to getting a seat. Its much better this way from the owners’  and customers’ point of view. For owners, turnabout time is decreased as customers no longer sit down and decide on what to order. For customers already sitting down and eating, no pressure of people standing next to you waiting for you to finish up.

Lime juice $1.50 per mug

Ordered lime juice. Do note, the drink stall is now located at the interior of the stall. So do not order from when you ordering the main dishes as they are two separate entity. Was told that many people tried to ordered drinks when they were ordering the dishes as they did not see the drink stall and assumed that it was now one entity.

Menu

Same old menu =) Glad there was no price increase despite the renovation. Waited for about another 10-20 minutes for the food to arrive after getting a table.

Close up of part of the menu

Seafood White Beehoon $7.00

Seafood White Beehoon $7.00

The signature Seafood White Beehoon. The $7 portion is just nice for 2 person to share. The beehoon was cooked with a rich wok-hei flavour, soft and delicious. With generous and fresh ingredients such as prawns, squids, vegetables and pieces of fried egg. The gravy was light yet tasty. Its a simple and light dish that was cooked to perfection. Have never eaten beehoon that was cooked in this way. This is a must order if you come here.

Sambal Chili Sauce (left)

Great Sambal Chili Sauce that is spicy and sour, is not the same as those that are available in the chicken rice. Totally love this sauce! This sauce complements the beehoon well! Of course, the beehoon taste great alone without any sauce.

Close up of part of the menu

Bittergourd Omelette (Wet) $5.00

I am  a huge fan of bittergourd. Most of my peers do not like that. I am lucky she do eats that too, hence we can order bittergourd =). This portion might be quite biased. The Bittergourd Omelette taste delicious. The bittergourd was cooked to perfection, it was not hard nor was it too soft. In some eateries, their bittergourds are hard, meaning that it was cooked too quickly. The egg as you can see was not over cooked, it was soft and in small pieces. Great dish, you can see effort was put into cooking this dish.

Close up of part of the menu

Egg Toufu with Mixed Vegetable $10.00

This dish was just average as the other 2 dishes were really so awesome that I do not remember any amazing about this dish. Do not be mistaken that this dish is lousy. But I would say that this dish seems abit too costly at $10.00. Making it the most expensive dish for the night.

We might have over ordered for 2 person. Was very full after finishing the meal. A great meal that was light, healthy and delicious. Similar to home cook food as the dishes are so simple and hearty. .In terms of price, it was not expensive, definitely value for money. This place is definitely worth a try for a shop house selling this quality of food, its a rare gem. After eating it, I am sure that you will be craving for their signature Seafood White Beehoon and wish you found out about this shop much earlier.

Sembawang White Beehoon
22 Jalan Tampang (opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Singapore 7899666
Opening hours: 11am-11pm (Closed on Wednesday)