Brunei Restaurant Review: Sushi Tei Brunei

Friday, May 03, 2013

In Brunei, Sushi Tei has a very funny story in Brunei. Years ago, a restaurant in Gadong took the name Sushi Tei and received many complaints from unhappy customers. It’s subpar quality Japanese food was no match for the other Japanese restaurants. Many of my friends who actually fans of Sushi Tei in Singapore when they studied or worked there, were disappointed with this restaurant. The restaurant was so desperate to improve their sales that they even served $7 all you can eat buffets at one time! It’s no surprised that this Sushi Tei restaurant closed down and it’s since became Grazie Mauri – an Italian restaurant. Since then – the mere mention of Sushi Tei has always raised eyebrows and disappointing memories.

When there were news of Sushi Tei opening it’s branch in Gadong Central – some were thinking or saying – oh ~~ Sushi Tei is making a comeback?! I felt I need to mention this fact: The first Sushi Tei which opened in Brunei was never an official Sushi Tei branch. It merely used the name of a popular Sushi Chain from Singapore. A lot of people did not know that the previous Sushi Tei – was a FAKE Sushi Tei.

This was not the first time this happened in Brunei as many would remember there was a FAKE Coffee Bean back then in Gadong.

After exposing the pretender, it’s my pleasure to introduce the real deal! Sushi Tei, which was started in 1994 with a Japanese as one of the founding member with humble beginnings in Singapore and has now spread it’s wings to Australia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and now in Brunei. To date – Sushi Tei has more than 50 outlets spread across the Asian Pacific.

Sushi Tei Brunei is located at No. 42 & 43 Ground Floor, Block C, Bangunan Gadong Central – the same row as Mr Baker’s Cafeteria, Babu Kitchen and opposite Yugo BBQ and Shabu Shabu.

The restaurant is designed with warm, contemporary and Japanese-style interiors that accommodate both private gatherings and lively crowds. You can sit near the Kaiten – self service conveyor belt sushi station – or have more privacy in partitioned areas of the restaurant.

The chefs prepare the food live in an open kitchen concept for diners to see – a common scene and concept in Japanese restaurants in Brunei.

It was my pleasure to be invited to try out some of the menu for Sushi Tei – in one of the private sections of the restaurant – very suitable for group bookings.

Wakame seaweed appetizer

Chuka Idako – marinated octopus – Lovers of Japanese food will be no stranger to it’s sweet flavours and chewy texture. Yum yum ~~

This is the Spicy Hotate – baby scallops marinated in a Japanese style sweet and spicy sauce

For those who want to watch their weight – this Sashimi Salad – consisting of various chunks of sashimi with salad leaves, drizzled with Sushi Tei’s in house dressing – provides a good source of protein and fibre! This Is one of their popular items and I can see why.

Salmon Sashimi ~~

My favourite part is always the Salmon Belly ~~ ooooh yes~~

Hamachi – Yellow Tail – One of my must order sashimi in every Japanese Restaurant. I first heard about Hamachi in Top Chef – where Hung managed to beat two other chefs in the appetizers challenge. The other two chefs served quality foie gras but Hung’s Hamachi Carpaccio won the challenge hands down!

Sushi Tei offers a huge range of choices for their Sushi Sets. We tried out the Kirishima set – a set of 18 pieces of sushi.

Now somebody grab me some wasabi and soy sauce please! NOM NOM NOM!

Everybody loves Mini California Makis!

This is their Golden Roll – which has fried prawns, prawn roe and thinly sliced mangos! Gotta love that combination of fruit and seafood!

The Phoenix roll – featuring fried prawns, Ungagi (eel) and avocadoes ~~ hmmmm ooooh yes please!

Kani Mentai Mayo Roll – Fried Prawn sushi roll, topped with Mentai Mayo~~ delicious!

On their Makis rolls, what I liked about them is how they are in perfect bite sizes, unlike certain sushi restaurants who like to supersize their sushi rolls with too much rice and making it difficult to fully enjoy the sushi – the problem with trying to make the customer feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. I also like how they don’t break apart when you pick them up with your chopsticks – a typical problem of inferior Maki or rolls. I must give a big thumbs up to Sushi Tei’s Maki Rolls.

One of their modernistic creations is this Crunchy Tuna Rolls, tiny size cruncy tuna rolls.

This crispy fried chicken served with Mentai Mayo and potato wedges is very tasty.

Ebi Tempura ~~

Another noticed that heart shaped foam on my tempura sauce?

This Ebi Mentaiko – grilled prawns with Sushi Tei’s special herbs and sauce – was indeed delicious! We wished we didn’t have to share!

Soba Noodles with fried salmon ~~ Salmon Chasoba

Teppanyaki Salmon Head – a favourite for some!

Kaisen Ramen which means Seafood Ramen!

This is the Kani Ikura fried rice – a Japanese style fragrant fried rice – served with a huge dollop of Ikura (salmon caviar) – that popping sensation as you bite into the caviar while nom nom-ing the fried rice – priceless! This will go into my list of favourite fried rice dishes in Brunei!

This don (rice dish) is served with a tuna tartare and topped with onsen egg (slow poached egg) – I really loved the tuna tartare and it goes very well with the egg and rice!

On to dessert! Now what sets Sushi Tei apart from other Japanese restaurants is their strength in desserts! Usually – I don’t really care for desserts in Japanese restaurants – but one simply must sample their wide range of creative desserts!

This is their sorbet balls – a bowl of mini sorbets – each with a unique flavour of its own! Defnitely a good dessert to order for sharing … or …. ALL MINE!!! NOM NOM NOM!

The frozen pineapple is a clever creation – it’s pineapple sorbet shaped like pineapples – refreshingly good!

Green Tea Ice cream in cute bite sizes – for easy sharing … or …. ALL MINE AGAIN!! NOM NOM NOM!!

Their Eskimo Pino is kind of like a chocolate coated vanilla ice cream – like a Magnum ice cream – but in mini bite sizes, in good quality chocolate and I must say – very good vanilla ice cream as well – make sure you let them defrost a little bit before popping them into your mouth – and let them melt inside – moving it around with your tongue – kinda like French Kissing ~~ but in a delicious way ~~