…or otherwise known as Blue Eden.

When reviewing a restaurant, there are a few things that I look for. Those things are namely the overall taste and presentation, the restaurant’s supposed theme and how the owners stay true to it, style of cooking and choice of ingredients, ambience, and also the efficiency of both the kitchen and the waitstaff.

I usually come in at a desired time, and always at an informed date, so the owner or manager of the restaurant would usually be there playing host. This is important so that I may ask questions, regarding the restaurant and the food, its aims and objectives, its vision and also I can find out how the relationship between the management and the kitchen is. This is a window for me, to see from their perspective and eyes so I can make accurate and valued judgments.

Of course, this post is not about me, it is about our not so newly established restaurant Blue Eden– with tagline, “where everything is exotic yet affordable”. Team Turquoise and Roses were treated to a variety of interesting dishes. The warm host Zali and wife, ordered and they were quick in selecting the restaurant’s best. (Truth be told, the wife almost ordered the whole menu before we stopped her. Hehe.)

.

For entrees we had the seafood tang hoon salad, as recommended by Mrs Zali. Eating the seafood tang hoon salad was like eating a tangy strings of clouds on a sunny day. It was just so cold and light and was a delightful start to the meal.

.

Of course I insisted on the famous what-is-it-doing-in-a-Thai-restaurant-BBQ Chicken. Reviewers who came before me raved about it after all. It’s dark and sticky, and is most definitely made to be a finger food. When you eat it, it falls into a gooey mess on your fingers and if you’re not careful, on your face too. I’m not entirely sure what the dark caramelised stickiness is actually coating the said chicken wings is made of either: it’s mild, with a hint of sweetness. But I did remember wishing that it came in breast portions.

.

We also had the clear tom yam seafood. It had a nice tang, and was not hot at all. I recommend this if you have a particularly weak stomach. It felt delicious and simple, filled with humble ingredients, dressed in the usual tom yam condiments. My only complaint would be the squid, which was rather rubbery from overcooking.

.The stir fried kailan in oyster sauce was easily one of the star dishes of the night. A restaurant that gets this mindlessly basic food item wrong should close down immediately. Tonight.

.

Don’t be fooled by the angry crimson of the sambal squid. It is really quite tame, with its sweet and somewhat nutty flavour. I didn’t have more than a spoonful of this as it was a bit on the oily side and I felt that the squid was again a tad overcooked.

.

Five glistening stars for the dish of the night: chicken cashewnut! When it first arrived I was rather intrigued by the colours, which reminded me of autumn, with the maroons of dried chilli, jade from the greens, golden-yellow from the cashews and the biscuit-like beige of the tender pieces of chicken, all drenched in this scrumptious caramel sepia liquid. It did also help that I am a huge fan of cashews, but I definitely recommend this dish!

.

Beef green curry. This was quite the spicy dish! I only had a spoonful of this as well. Partly because I only generally eat spicy things when I’m sick and partly because one of the Turquoise and Roses foodie crew, a certain Dr. A, wiped it out!

.

Let it be said now: I love corned beef with potato. It is one of the dishes which I have unbelievably high standards of, not because I’m picky, but because my Wa Agun (my Tua Laki) makes the best in BRUNEI and it is just simply one of my favorite dish of all time. Did Blue Eden’s corned beef with potato met my high expectations? Unfortunately no. However, very few actually do. So until then, the search continues.

Yum! Homemade Oreo ice-cream served in a blue triangular martini glass. Nothing wrong with that, nope, nothing wrong with that. The fans of Lina’s Mickey Mouse Ice-cream in Beribi will find the flavour familiar. 🙂

While Zali retained the chefs from the previous management, he did hoped that the current Blue Eden will be an improvement from the old one. I’m quite impressed with the waitstaff, particularly the pretty waitress who took our orders. We were barking drink orders like mad and changed our minds every 3 seconds (“Size L lah, eh no, size S, regular, eh nda jadi, bla bla bla kensel juice, this one that one“) but she remained calm and unperturbed and got every drink order right.

As far as their food goes, if you’re looking for authentic Thai, you won’t find it here, and they don’t make claims of authenticity, so I do beg to differ on the “exotic” part of the tagline. I’d describe it more as homely and familiar, and with their use of simple, humble ingredients, is certainly affordable.

By no means is this a complete and comprehensive judgment. Zali’s vision for the restaurant is after all, by no means complete, over the next few months you will see changes, especially physically as renovation and refurnishing will start to create a more subtle and spacious environment for the Bruneian eater. So perhaps then, when the new tables are dusted and the paint has dried out, we’ll meet again?

***

Blue Eden
Unit 5, Ground Floor,
Bangunan Hj Abd Rahman Bin Awg Hassan & Anak-Anak,
Kampong Kiulap.
Phone: 2239476