Indonesian Japanese

We were in Bintan with friends on a golfing weekend, staying at the Bintan Lagoon resort. We were on the late ferry back on the Sunday night so decided to check out the resort’s Japanese restaurant, Miyako, before making our way to the ferry terminal. It’s an attractive space with a minimalist, zen-like feel to it and they also have a Teppanyaki counter, although we were a bit too early to be entertained by knife-wielding chefs on this occasion.

The meal started off quite promisingly with some lovely sushi – Tuna Maki and Tempura Maki.

We weren’t all that hungry following a late post-golf lunch so we continued with some nibbles but unfortunately these were all somewhat disappointing – a very greasy Mixed Tempura left the taste of the oil in your mouth rather than what was within the batter.

And a fairly bland Chicken Yakitori…

Never mind… we were there for the golf, not the food.... and there are several other restaurants to choose from at this resort on our next golf outing…

Miyako, Bintan Lagoon Resort - http://web.bintanlagoon.com/winedine.shtml

Lunch with a View

There was just time for lunch before we had to head back to the ferry and back to Singapore, so we decided to retrace our steps to Treetops, so that we could enjoy the view that we hadn’t been able to experience during dinner. I’m so pleased we did. As lovely as the restaurant was at night with all the candles and the breeze, it really comes into its own during the day when you have an endless view out to sea and can really appreciate being up in the treetops.

As we were about to leave Indonesia, we favoured the local options, ordering up a Chicken Curry and a Beef Rendang and the chef kindly complemented our theme with an amuse bouche of a mini beef sate in a peanut sauce, served in a shooter glass.

The curries were beautifully presented on serving trays with accompanying pickles and chillies and the curries inside were just delicious - one of those meals when you know you are full and should just. stop. eating. but you keep going back for just one more mouthful. Although they could have done with a bit more heat... we can handle it!

A great end to a great culinary holiday…

Treetops, Banyan Tree, Bintan – http://www.banyantree.com/

A Mediterranean Meal on an Indonesian Island

Our last night in Bintan and the last restaurant we had yet to try – The Cove at the Banyan Tree. After another strenuous day of lying on the beach, we were pretty hungry and ready for a large bowl of pasta washed down with a chilled bottle of white wine.

Not wanting to ruin our appetites for the inevitably large servings we were about to partake in (bowls of pasta always manage to defeat me), we decided to share a light starter of Baked Summer Tomatoes and Mozzarella Cheese with a Balsamic Glaze and Fresh Basil, which was fancy-schmancy in presentation but unfortunately rather average-schmaverage in taste.

Undeterred, we continued to the main object of our evening’s desire – pasta dishes. I plumped for the Chef’s Signature Dish – the Home Made Ravioli filled with Prawns and Sun Dried Tomato in a White Wine, Double Cream and Fresh Basil, which was nice (I'm not really inspired to upgrade the adjective here) but a little heavy on the cream and I have to admit I was rather envious of Mr Greedy Glutton’s choice when it arrived – a simple and tasty Seafood Linguini with Mussels, Calamari and Shrimps in a Spicy Tomato Sauce with Fresh Basil.

Ah well, you win some you lose some…. and I’m afraid my holiday disengagement led me to completely forget about photographing the main course…

The Cove, Banyan Tree, Bintan – www.banyantree.com

Lunch at the Lotus Cafe

We normally avoid eating any other meal at a hotel restaurant where breakfast is served, but we made an exception for the Lotus Café. Its high ceilings, open windows with birds flying overhead and large menu focusing on local Indonesian dishes made it worth breaking the rules for.

I love a good Nasi Goreng and this one was as good as I’ve had – and not only for the presentation. It came on its own cast iron serving unit that allowed for the main rice dish and several accompaniments – namely (from the left) Vegetable Pickle, Chicken & Beef Sates, Prawn Crackers, Fried Chicken and Chilli Sambal.

The problem with a big lunch like that though is it does make you very sleepy… ah well, lucky we were on holiday and had a sunlounger to snooze on…

Lotus Café, Angsana Resort & Spa, Bintan – http://www.angsana.com/

Bintang Beer

One of our favourite things we like to do when we go travelling is to sample the local beer. Vietnam was the best place for this, where every town we went to seemed to brew their own version.

This was our first visit to Indonesia, and whilst there is very little to identify the resorts of Bintan as being in Indonesia, we did get an Indonesian visa in our passports (a full-page one at that) and the chance to drink Bintang beer on the beach - hurrah!

Treetop Treats

Wednesday evening and we once again headed back to the Banyan Tree for dinner, this time taking the buggy further up the hill to Treetops. As the name suggests this beautiful, breezy restaurant is spread across wooden decking up in the treetops, looking out to sea – dimly lit and incredibly romantic.

The menu was an eclectic mix of Indonesian, European and Grill items, so plenty to choose from. For starters we shared the Lumpia Udang Karang – crispy lobster spring roll with fresh vegetables, glass noodles and sweet chilli sauce (I mean, lobster in spring rolls? - did I die and go to Heaven?!) and the slightly less exciting Fried Scallop-Crab Meat Cakes which came with a jalapeno mayonnaise, snow peas sprout salad, diced mango and peppermint oil.



From main courses we both opted for Australian Black Angus Beef Sirloin Steaks from the grill section, served with Potato-parmesan Gratin and Ratatouille. Now, we normally have a rule against ordering the same dish - usually opting for different dishes so that we can sample as much as possible off the menu – but having spent the morning playing golf and the afternoon playing tennis, our appetites were large, and big juicy steaks were in order. And we did slightly differentiate our orders through our choice of sauce – Red Shallot Glaze with Port Wine for me, Champignon Crème with fresh herbs for Mr Greedy Glutton. And our cooking requests were also different although unfortunately my 'rare' was slightly more well-done than Mr Greedy Glutton's 'medium'…but I was on holiday, and sufficiently mentally-horizontal not to care too much.



No dessert tonight as (it rarely happens) we admitted to having eaten sufficient not to require one… instead treating ourselves to another bottle of full-bodied Aussie Red…


Treetops, Banyan Tree, Bintan – www.banyantree.com

Fine Dining at Saffron

After a hard day of lying on the beach, we hopped on the back of a golf buggy and were whisked over to the Banyan Tree hotel next door and to their 'fine dining' restaurant, Saffron. I was welcomed at the door with an orchid to put behind my ear and we were shown to our window-seated table with a view down over the rocks and the crashing waves below (there is only a few seats in Saffron so all tables are window-seats and are therefore afforded the same view). While we enjoyed perusing the large menu and even larger wine list, we were brought an amuse bouche to tantalise the tastebuds (or to amuse the bouche, I guess)- a truly delicious, if a little strange, pumpkin cappuccino in a mini coffee-cup.

Saffron offers two sides to its menu - Asian Fusion and Thai. We opted for Thai, having realised we hadn't had a good Thai meal since we arrived in Singapore. As seafood was still very much the order of the holiday, we went for the Yum Talay - a spicy seafood salad with tomato, onion, celery, chilli and thai parsley - and, on the recommendation of our informative waiter, the Gai Hor Bai Toey - fried marinated chicken with coriander-garlic and sesame marinated in pandan leaf (and all kudos to the waiter, it was a winning dish.)

For the mains, we got stuck into Kaeng Phed Pet Yang - roasted duck breast marinated in in five spices on red curry and coconut milk (ie. Red Duck Curry to you and me) and Pla Samlee Dad Deow - Crispy fresh water fish with spicy mango salad and cashew nut.

We were feeling fairly well-fed by this stage, but there's always room to share a dessert. We once again went on the recommendation of the waiter as he'd come up trumps with the starter and ordered up the deliciously sticky banana fritters and ice cream.

So the hero of the evening... definitely our waiter... who recommended the two top choices of the meal.

Saffron, Banyan Tree, Bintan - www.banyantree.com

Sun, Sand and Seafood

I have a confession to make... last weekend I fell off the Junk Food Wagon and went to (and I'm going to whisper this)... McDonalds!

I know, I know, you can't say anything to me that I haven't already said to myself. In my defence though, I was mildly hungover and delirious from lack of sleep from staying up the night before until 5:30am to watch the Rugby World Cup final. Anyway, it's done now and to make up for it we indulged ourselves in lots of fabulous food during a four-day break at the Angsana Resort and Spa in Bintan.

Having just arrived from the 'big smoke' of Singapore, we made our way to the Pantai Bar and Grill for our first evening where we could eat on the beach with the sand between our toes and to the sound of the crashing waves. And what else could be more appropriate than a seafood-fest?

We opted for the Thai Seafood Salad with Shrimp, Snapper and Squid in a Cilantro dressing to start with, which was fantastically zesty and spicy

and followed it up with barbecued mains -

Tiger Prawns for me

Red Snapper Fillet for Mr Greedy Glutton

both marinated in Garlic and Lime, chargrilled to perferction and served with Chargrilled Vegetables, Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream, and with Cafe de Paris butter and Barbecue Sauce on the side.

Sun, sea, sand and barbecued seafood on the beach... life doesn't get much better than this...

The Pantai Bar & Grill, Angsana Resort & Spa, Bintan - http://www.angsana.com/