Brunei Restaurant Review: Auntie Anne’s Pretzels

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels recently opened up in Freshco, Batu Satu (formerly Soon Lee, used to be Yaohan) along with other franchises such as Waroeng Penyet, Gloria Jeans Coffee, La Kaffa and soon to come Sushi Tei, as well as local halal Chinese restaurant All Seasons.

For Brunei, 2013 and 2014 will be the year of franchises. No longer are we laughed at by Malaysia for not having international brands or franchises opening up in Brunei. We will be expecting more to come – stay tuned folks!

 

So what’s the fuss abut Auntie Anne’s Pretzels? For starters, the demand has been overwhelming as people had to queue almost one hour plus in the first few weeks of opening!

 

Made fresh and piping hot from the oven! Say hello to Auntie Anne’s Pretzels!

 

Interesting news is that Auntie Anne’s had predicted their stocks to last up to six months but they’ve already ran out of some items within the first 3 weeks and already stock piling! Thankfully, stocks are arriving on time and they should be no shortages *fingers crossed*

 

Oh I can’t wait ~~~~ yummy yummy pretzels!

 

After almost one month of opening, I finally got the chance to try out the whole range of delicious morsels by Auntie Anne’s. Marul was busy taking pictures while I snapped this.

 

Auntie Anne’s is not a restaurant, usually for takeaways but we took over a Waroeng Ayam penyet table next to the Auntie Anne’s counter – so we could shoot the pictures.

 

So much pretzels and drinks ~~ so little stomach space ~~ but a food blogger’s gotta do his duty to try everything! Nom Nom Nom!

 

The three basic pretzels, original, cinnamon sugar and garlic ~~ these are the ones without stuffings – pretzels sprinkled with sugar or garlic powder. The Cinnamon Sugar one is a hot seller ~ gotta love the smell of fresh of the oven pretzels! Tip: EAT THEM HOT AND FRESH! Pretzels are best hot off the oven and they will be soft and delicious ~~ if you have a friend (like me) who would take ages to instagram the pictures – just bite into your pretzels once you get them – don’t wait for them!

 

Auntie Anne’s Pretzels are also popular for their dips~~ I tried Caramel, Chocolate and Cheese … the caramel dip goes super well with their original and sweet pretzels!

 

These two are Sesame Pretzels and Chocolate Chip Pretzels. I like the crunch and fragrance of the sesame pretzels while also liking the chocolaty chippy stuffing inside the chocolate sprinkles pretzels ~~

 

I love to them with the caramel sauce ~~ ooooooh heaven!

 

They also have cinnamon sugar bread sticks ~ hmm ~~ seemed more convenient to eat ~~

 

As always ~~ you gotta have some chocolate or caramel dip!

 

These round bread balls are stuffed with melted chocolate ~~ oooooh yummers!

 

Now let’s have a look at the more savoury pretzels! Look at these mouth watering peperoni and cheese pretzels ~~ they go really well with the cheesy dips!

 

Simple cheesy pretzels ~~~

 

Break them up and dip them in the special Auntie Anne’s cheese sauce~~ thick and satisfying!

 

I highly recommend their stuffed Jalapeno pretzels! Checkout these yummy chilies – don’t worry – they are not very spicy and are mild on the hot meter. I do love chili and cheese ~~ don’t you?

 

These pretzel hot dogs are their top seller as well! One of the earliest items to run out ~ but luckily they had restocked them and they’re back for sale! Delicious~~ I could easily eat two of these!

 

Pretzel sticks ~~

 

Cheese and bread sticks are match made perfection!

 

Now on to the drinks ~ Auntie Anne’s serve the best pairings to their pretzels with their old fashioned lemonades ~ there’s plenty of flavours to try ~ strawberry, blueberry and even mango flavoured lemonades! If you like frozen slushy goodness~~ go for their frozen lemonade mixes ~~ the one on the left is frozen strawberry and middle is frozen blueberry – with the classic old fashioned lemonade on the right.

 

I don’t know about you but on hot Bruneian afternoons – these are definitely a welcoming sight ~~ slurps slurps ~~ Four different Lemonade Mixers – Mango, Strawberry, Original and Blueberry. Ahhhhh yessss!!

 

So that’s my introduction to Auntie Anne’s pretzels ~~ again ~~ tips to enjoy your pretzels – eat them while it’s HOT! Don’t wait till you reach home to eat! Don’t take too long to instagram them! USE THE DIPS!! Lastly, enjoy them with the lemonades!

My personal favourite? The Hot Dogs, The Jalapenos ~~ the Cinnamon Sugar *swoons* – btw I did not get to try the almond ones as they’ve ran out ~~ hopefully they will be restocked soon!

Location: Ground Floor, Freshco Mall, Jalan Batu Satu.

Brunei Restaurant Review: Noralizah & Iskandar's House of Curry! Best Murtabak!

Roti Canai , Roti Prata or Murtabak; it is one of the staples in Brunei foods you must try. Every time I have friends coming from overseas, I will surely bring them to my favourite Murtabak store. In fact, I can say this is one of the rare restaurants in Brunei, where you might need to queue or wait outside the shop during peak hours. Yes – the ever popular Noralizah & Iskandar's House of Curry!

House of Curry is famous for having the most delicious Murtabak, which I would dare say, better than the ones I’ve tried in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, KK and Malacca. None of the roti I tried came close to the amount of satisfaction of their Murtabak or Roti Kosong.

 

Rotis are only available up till 6:55 pm so take note ~~

 

The most basic Roti Kosong is probably my favourite. Crispy Croissant like textures and pleasant buttery smell. That’s one of the reason they’re so delicious.

Look at how flaky and crispy this Roti looks ~~ Nom nom nom nom! When ordering their roti kosong – you can choose to have it just with the complimentary curry or dhall, or have it as a full set with condiments - their sardine goes super well with this dish!

Meet the four condiments of deliciousness! Pickled sliced vegetables, potato and spiced dhall (lentils), corned beef and corned sardines.

I strongly recommend you order the full set – in my opinion – having all those delicious condiments make this the most delicious experience – and you should always eat with your hands – get messy!

You can ask them to put the condiments on the side or just top your crispy roti with them!

My favorite is the corned sardines but I like to have a mix of everything. One piece of this roti with condiments is enough to fill you up!

R0ti BOM is filled with Susu Manis (Sweetened Condensed Milk). Most of my friends preferred this type. Crispy on the outside and sweet on the inside. It's Da BOMB! They'll say ;)

The Roti Bom is filled with sweeted condensed milk but crispy on the outside ~~ (Old Camera photo taken years ago: forgive the quality)

Roti Pisang is roti filled with bananas. Ask for the sweetened condensed milk to dip this with. It's simply delish! My friends who tried loved the creamy texture on the ripe bananas. Simply Yum! (Old Camera photo taken years ago: forgive the quality)

 

Delicious banana filled crispy flat breads (Roti Pisang) – How can you say no to these!? Eat with curry or with sweetened condensed milk!

Roti Tissue is a thin crepe like roti that is sweet and crispy. You simply 'peel' this mountain and eat the thin crispy sweet roti. (Old Camera photo taken years ago: forgive the quality)

I usually order Lamb Kurma to go with my Roti Kosong - especially when there's a big group but when it's a small group - the condiments are sufficient. (Old Camera photo taken years ago: forgive the quality)

They also serve a variety of other local Malay favourites such as Nasi Briyani, Nasi Lemak as well as Mee Goreng – which are pretty good as well. They are also popular for their Curry Fish Head but I’ve yet to try that – heard it’s a must try! Perhaps if I ever have dinner here!

Note: Service can be pretty slow and servers unattentive during peak hours – so bear with it ~~ don’t expect excellent service here.

The landmark nearby is WYWY and KFC Lambak – it’s exactly on the same block (next door to KFC).

Address:

Contact: 867 5781

Noralizah & Iskandar's House of Curry

No 15 Ground Floor, Kompleks Awang Hj Ibrahim,

Kg Lambak B, Jalan Berakas

Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei Darussalam

Brunei restaurant review: Kah Hiong Restaurant

Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap was one of the restaurants I visit when I travel to Sabah. It’s a Chinese restaurant serving delicious Ngiu Chap, which is different parts of the beef in yummy beef broth. It’s great that Kah Hiong decided to open a branch in Brunei a few months ago. Since opening, they had been very popular and normally it’s difficult to grab a seat – and parking can be quite troublesome to find. Nevertheless, one can say they have the best beef noodle soup in Brunei!

The Kah Hiong branch in Brunei is more comfortable than the Sabah branch, with air conditioners and comfortable seats unlike the original branch in Sabah, which is usually hot and sweaty especially during lunch time. You can come here in formal office wear and still be comfortably slurping the noodles and nom noming the delicious tender beef! Sorry my KK friends, our Kah Hiong rocks! LOL.

A secret recipe and a lot of work! Different parts of the cow, cooking in a beef broth for many many long hours until they are tender and delicious. I was at the restaurant one early morning and caught a shot of the boss in action. A good feature of Kah Hiong is that you can choose the beef parts you like the best, usually three types ~~ hurray for customized meals~

There are many ways to enjoy your Ngiu Chap. You can order just soup and beef parts (for those who avoid carbs), or you can have them with their in house kolomee tossed in dark soy sauce (yum yum), or you can order them the Sabah style – beef parts with bee hoon and soup, then add that spicy hot Sabah chili.

 

A word of warning – this Sabahan chili is HOT – yet so addictively delicious with the soup.

Some people like beef tripe, beef lungs or beef stew but my favourite beef part has to be the beef tendon – usually very tough but when cooked for hours – it turns into a soft jelly like texture! Collagen yummy goodness!

Those who love Kolomee, noodles tossed in dark soy sauce, can request to omit the soup and just mix the beef parts with the noodles ~~~ dry saucy version ~~ hmmm ….

For a good high protein meal, I would order beef tendon and beef brisket in beef broth – with a few droplets of the hot chili – and skip the kolomee (n00000000000!!). Recent gym reads shows that beef broth actually improves absorption of the animal proteins for muscle growth! So my hardcore gym readers – what are you waiting for? Kah Hiong for a post workout meal? Oh YES! NOM NOM NOM NOM!

At night, they serve a Herbal version – the Bah Kut Teh soup if you are into a more herbal taste! Quite a few of my friends, such as AnakBrunei loves this version!

If you fancy laksa~~ they do serve their version of Kuching Laksa, it’s not too rich and not too spicy. Suitable for those who prefer their laksa mild.

Fancy some laksa to go with that beef broth ~~ and some kolomee at the same time? Yes – Let’s go to Kah Hiong!

Kah Hiong is situated in Gadong and is in between a car workshop and a photograph studio PHOTOMAS. Other notable landmarks such as Seng Hoe Huat, CAC.A Mohammed restaurant and OSLAM restaurant are in the same simpang. The signboard will read Restoran Tamu Semerbak sdn bhd.

Opening Hours: 7:30 am till 3pm – break then open again from 5:30pm till 9:30 pm (Bah Kut Teh Version)
Address: No. 21, Ground Floor, Block E, Complex Hj Daud, Jalan Gadong,
BE2719, BSB, Negara Brunei Darussalam.
Tel: +673 244 3078