Ramadhan Sungkai Series: Tarindak d’Seni

For those not in the know Tarindak d’Seni is located in the building of one of Brunei’s most important landmarks, the Pusat Kesenian dan Pertukangan Tangan Brunei. You can park either in front or at the back. I purposely parked in front as I wanted to enjoy the nice scenery on my way to the restaurant.

It was already almost badok time when I arrived. I really do encourage you all to park in front if you wish to have sungkai there. It really is quite the view. 🙂

Some foodie behind the scene photos. It may not apply so much for me because I have a pondan camera but photos taken are chosen very carefully and painstakingly processed before publishing. Then the article needs to go well with the photos, and they must compliment each other perfectly and not only that, words should be written and put down properly as so it would be as honest as possible yet will not offend. But despite all that, food reviewing is still, one of the best jobs in the world.

Everyone dining at Tarindak will be served a trio of sweets in a cute little dish lined with a banana leaf. I particularly like the one on the right, Kuih Sarang Semut, or honey cake. Was very sweet but sweet things go very very well with the spicy fare served at Tarindak.

First course: I am not particularly fond of kerabu dishes and unfortunately this was no exception. None of these particularly appealed to my tastebuds. The acar was nice and I can imagine it going very well with some CA Mohammed Lamb Briyani. Hehe. But just for your information, from bottom (anti clockwise): Kerabu Tauhu, Kerabu Lobak Putih, Kerabu Kentang Sambal, Acar, Kerabu Tauhu Pedas, Kerabu Sayur Pakis.

Second Course: Oh just looking at this photo makes me feel like going back to Tarindak for another bowl of ambuyat. I had my ambuyat with Cacah Campur, which is a mixture of Cacah Asam, Tempoyak and Binjai. All that’s missing is Cacah Pedada and it would’ve become the most perfect ambuyat dish ever. For protein, I had the Grilled Fish, which I know for a fact, is the most delicious grilled fish I’ve ever had in my life.

Third Course: Mee Hoon Basah. I’ve never had Mee Hoon cooked this way before. It’s quite different. Somewhat tangy, and very light. Not bad.

Fourth Course: Four Kinds of Lemang and Beef Rendang. The beef rendang was very good. Very rich and extremely tender beef pieces. Tarindak really does their proteins well. The lemang was so-so, I guess I’ve had better. Although the yellow coloured one was was quite soft and yummy.

Fifth Course: Bubur Pulut Hitam. Oh wow! Was ecstatic when I saw this on the buffet table. This is one of my favorite desserts in the whole wide world and I am pleased to report that it was executed very well. 😀

Sixth Course: When we were there, the corner where all the grilled stuff was placed was always packed with people queueing up. Finally at the end, when people started going home, did I manage to sneak some grilled chicken and beef. Beef was ok, but the chicken was awesome and tender. Both dipped in oriental spice rubs, and tasted charcoal grilled. No sauce was needed.I would’ve been happy just eating the chicken and rice alone.

Seventh Course: Cucur Kacang, Kuih Bom and Kek Kukus Masam Manis. Washed the sweets down with some extremely creamy teh tarik. Maybe too creamy for me. Cucur kacang was awesome though!

Overall, my experience at Tarindak d’Seni was very positive. I noticed that most of the more delicious food were of the traditional Bruneian fare like the ambuyat which was absolutely to die for! I’d really like to go back there on non-Ramadhan days to have their ambuyat ala-carte with all the sides. The scenery wasn’t that great as the Brunei Bay gets pretty dark at night, but during the day it is just breathtaking. Waiters and waitresses were very attentive and hope they stay that way. Totally recommended.

Tarindak d’Seni Restaurant

Sungkai Buffet @ $25 (adult), $10 (child)

Call 2240422

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s