The Kelong Restaurant (Bintan) (2nd Post)

This is my 2nd post on ‘The Kelong Restaurant’ in Bintan, Indonesia. The first can be found here.

Went over to Bintan over a weekend again. Things at Bintan can be expensive even food. Most people will be wondering what to eat in Bintan? What is delicious and yet value for money? Well, I have the answer for you… The Kelong Restaurant!We like it so much that we went back there again.

Shuttle Bus schedule to The Kelong Restaurant (sorry for blur photo)

There are free shuttle buses within the Nirwana Group of Resorts that will make a stop at The Kelong Restaurant.

The Kelong Restaurant is set up on stilts in the sea. It has a open concept so that the breeze from the sea will blow in. This time, the breeze blowing in was continuous and strong. So strong that we felt cold and turned our food cold within a short period of time despite it arrive pipping hot!

Menu Cover (newly redesigned)

Menu (Soup)

We ordered the Tom Yam Soup again. Small one for $14

Tom Yam Soup

Tom Yam Soup

The waiter served the Tom Yam Soup for us into 2 smaller bowls (which you see in the pictures above), yet there was still half a bowl(big) of soup remaining filled with ingredients. Consistent taste; same as what it tasted like 6 months ago. Right amount of sourness and right amount of spiciness that was perfect for me. Prawns, mussels, carrots, mushrooms, squids and even flower crab! The prawns were very fresh, the meat was firm and can be separated easily from the shell. The flower crab despite it being small was equally fresh too. The meat was easily separated from its shell and was sweet.

Menu (Chicken)

Crispy Chicken (Half Portion) $13

We had to order Crispy Chicken again. Again the quality of food was consistent! The outer chicken skin was so crispy and delicious that it would have been a waste if we did not eat it.

Menu (Sizzling & Clay Pot)

Sze Chuan Tofu $12

Thought that this the Sze Chuan Tofu will be very spicy. Surprisingly, it was not. There were lots of toufu, mushrooms, squids, prawns and carrots. The toufu was deep fried and there was a layer of egg at the bottom of the hot plate. Some slices of salted fish might enhanced the taste more. Quite a decent dish of hotplate beancurd that is much better than those at restaurants and coffeeshops in Singapore.. But due to the first 2 ‘stars’ this was an average dish that day.

Menu (Fresh Vegetables & Beancurd)

Baby Kailan with Oyster Sauce $12

Kailan is one of my favourite vegetables. Crunchy and taste great with oyster sauce. The vegetable look so green and taste so fresh! Well cooked!

Damage to the wallet: SGD64.13. Singapore dollar is used here, so Singaporeans do not need to change currency to Rupiah.

We were looking at the next table with 5 person (4ladies and a guy) and we realised that we ordered a similar amount of food as them. Only then did it occur to us that we have ordered alot of food for 2 person! Are we that big eaters I wonder..

If you are going to Bintan. Most of the prices there are similar to singapore prices and you might feel rip off if you insist on dinning in the resort itself. If you are willing to spend, why not go to Kelong Restaurant. At least, you get great tasting food instead of paying more and yet getting lousy food. Considering what we ate, $32 per pax was value for money. Worth it! Moreover, despite the place being filled to the brim, service was very good as they had many waiters and waitresses.

The reason why the food is so fresh:

(sorry for blur picture)

If you are in Bintan, this is a ‘die die must try’ place. Wish that it was located in Singapore.

Tip: If you are going there for dinner on a weekend at around 7pm to 9pm, do ask the hotel to make reservation for you.

The Kelong Restaurant
Nirwana Gardens, Jalan Panglima Pantar
Lagoi 29155, Bintan Resort 
Tel: (62) 770 692 789
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 – 22:30
There are free shuttle buses within the Nirwana Group of Resorts that will make a stop here.

Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant 北腾泰国小食

This restaurant has been here for quite sometime. Used to eat there long ago (4-5years ago) after that stop going there as it start getting very crowded. At that time it was called ‘Bei Sheng Lou’, not too sure the name is now lacking the word ‘Lou’

Decided to go there during weekday dinner. The indoor; air-conditioned seating was full despite being it a Thursday night. So we sat outside, as it just rained, it was quite cooling and this place is well-ventilated.

Menu cover page

Menu part 1

Menu part 2

Menu part 3

Menu part 4

Pineapple Fried Rice $5

The dishes was served quite fast, about 5 minutes after we ordered (the reason is because they had 6 chefs in the kitchen whipping up the dishes).  Last time, the pineapple fried rice came in a pineapple. Well now it comes in a place. The pineapple rice was delicious! Fragrance of the pineapple was even mixed within the rice. Pork floss added a crunchiness twist into the dish. Moreover, there were pieces of Chinese sausages that enhanced the taste of the dish.

Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight $12

Another recommended dish to try. The deep fried fish was very crispy, the surprising factor is that it is not oily at all. I wonder how they did that, normally in other restaurants, the sauce will be added over the deep fried fish just before serving so as to prevent patrons from seeing the oil dish. In this case, you can see from the picture that there is no trace of oil! Is the fish fresh? I have no idea as the fish was fried. But the meat was tender and crispy. Drip it into the spicy and sour sauce was a match made in heaven. This is a finger licking dish, virtually ate every single portion and even the meat stuck to the bones.

Fried Chilli Beancurb $6

We asked if they had any beancurb dish to recommend. They recommended us the fried chilli beancurb. Nothing really wow me in this dish, it felt as it all the ingredients were cooked separately and they were added to the hotplate just before serving; none of the flavours got fused into each other. In fact, it was disappointing as it was a recommended dish from the person who took our orders. And the fact that a nearby coffee shop zhi char is serves this dish and taste nicer.

Tom Yam Soup $3

The dish that I was anticipating. Their Tom Yam Soup was disappointing. The worst dish of the night. I thought a thai restaurant should serve a decent dish of tom yam soup. Well, this is way way below decent. The soup was not spicy as a result the soup was just sour and also on the salty side. Moreover, there was a strong hint of ginger taste. So its like drinking a soup that is sour and salty with ginger taste. Ingredients in it include prawns, mushrooms and squids. Ah Loy Thai and The Kelong at Bintan certainty serve better Tom Yam Soup.

After all these dishes, the 3 of us were still hungry. Decided to order another Pineapple Fried Rice $3 and Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce $3.

Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce $3

Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce, the vegetables were well cook, crunchy taste. However this dish is on the salty side of the spectrum after all its with oyster sauce.

The stars for the meal are the Pineapple Fried Rice and Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight. The misses are Tom Yam Soup and Fried Chilli Beancurb. I am very puzzled about how the tom yam soup turned out, as i just searched the internet and everyone is saying how nice their tom yam soup is. Maybe its a weekday and their regular chef is present.(came up with this excuse as this place has been around for a long time and business has always been good, its hard to believe that they survived so long if they screwed up a dish like tom yam soup). I must say that their items are real cheap, its quite value for money and I am quite certain this is one of the cheapest thai restaurant in singapore. However, to recommend it to your friends or even foreign friends or not is a big question mark. I guess its safer to recommend Ah Loy Thai for now. Unless you do not care about taste and only care about value, then this place is for you.

Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant 北腾泰国小食
701A Yishun Avenue 5 #01-01
Singapore 761701
Tel: 67564883