Brunei Restaurant Review: The FuChow Restaurant

There’s quite a number of Fu Chow people in Brunei and if you’re wondering what’s Fu Chow cuisine, and you asked around – most people would say – just go to Sibu and you will see plenty of Fu Chow cuisine. Recently, there’s a restaurant that specializes in Fu Chow cuisine that’s opened in Brunei and I had the privilege to try the food before their opening day together with Mei Ting, Radio DJ from Pilihan FM Brunei, who did the food talk show with me every Saturday morning at 10:30 am.

 

Located just next to R & T Electronics, and same row as Guardian in Kiulap, the restaurant name speaks for itself – the FuChow Restaurant. Finally, one can savour the cuisine from the famous food town of Sibu in Brunei, don’t need to fly or drive all the way there to satisfy our cravings! It’s a non-halal restaurant as they serve plenty of pork dishes.

 

Kong Pia – or known by many as the Asian Bagel, these are actually imported all the way from the famous Kong Pia bakery in Sibu and fried at the restaurant. I have to say ~ even when it’s plain – it’s very delicious! The slight chewy texture, the crispy crust and most importantly – the fragrant smell ~~ ooooo yes!

 

Kong Pias are usually served with a saucy minced pork, and can be eaten as a snack or breakfast ~~ they are one of my favourite food from Sibu and also available in Kuching. So happy I can get good ones here in Brunei!

 

They also have various flower and herb tea blends that goes very well with the FuChow cuisine ~~

 

Rose and plum tea ~~~ ahhhhh ~~~ refreshing ~~ it’s good to order a pot to share ~~

 

KAM PUA MEE!!! The FuChow/Sibu version of kolomee ~~~ is a must try! One plate is never enough for me ~~ *cough* Remember to add the chili vinegar to heighten the taste! *cries* Yay ~~ no need to go so far can enjoy this in Brunei! W00h00!

 

The Fu Chow Style braised noodles with bittergourd is pretty good too ~~ my other friend who doesn’t like bittergourd actually enjoyed this dish ~~ the addition of chopped crispy pork cracklings adds an extra dimension to this noodle dish ~ a bit like Singapore Hokkien Mee ~~ yet different ~~

 

They also have Pak Zhen Herbal soup, with pork knuckles ~~ Pak Zhen usually means 8 treasures but the boss divulge a secret and says there’s actually ten treasures in this soup – just that 8 sounds more traditional and nicer! A hearty soup that is bound to warm the hearts of many ~~

 

Another interesting dish is this special pepper and pig stomach soup ~~ which has the strong kick of peppers and tender pork stomach ~~ my two friends enjoyed this soup very much but some others find this too peppery for their taste ~~ for me ? I LOVE IT! *slurps slurps* This is not shown in the menu – so you need to request for this ~~ Hei Jiao Zhu Du Tang please!

 

Cao Cai Mee Fen – a special picked vegetables soup with slightly thicker rice vermicelli is their specialty too ~ the owner tells us that the rice vermicelli and pickled vegetables are specially from Sibu itself! Mmmmmm ~~~

 

If Pan Mian is your thing, this would be a good dish to try – what’s special about this Pan Mian is that the rice flat noodles are actually pretty soft and silky as you slurp it together with the soup, harmonizing well with the light soup and fried anchovies ~~ adjust seasoning to your taste with soy sauce, chilies and garlic!

 

How can we forget this Sibu iconic dish!? Ding Bian Hu, which essentially means wok side paste. The slurry batter is cooked on the sides of the wok, then scraped into the soup to cook ~~ then additional ingredients will be added.

 

Usually, the soup would be full of vegetables and other condiments but the boss was demonstrating to us how to cook it ~~

 

Let the paste cook on the hot wok side – then scrape it down into the hot water to cook further and soften ~~

 

Have you seen these dried flowers before? They are usually tied up to look like a ribbon and added to Ding Bian Hu soup ~~ is actually related to Lilies ~ it takes quite a big amount of work to tie these flowers into ribbons just for the dish!

 

It’s very cool to watch the boss do it step by step ~~ to show the essence of a proper Ding Bian Hu ~~

Here’s a youtube video of the process ~~~ Less than 15 second cuts ~~ *drools*

 

*slurps* After watching the boss prepare the traditional Fu Chow Ding Bian Hu, it has really worked up my appetite again! Let’s EAT!!!!

 

They also have stir fried Wild Boar (San Chu Rou) in their menu ~ oooo these would go so well with some fermented tofu (fu yee) ~~

 

For snacks, they also have braised intestines, pork bellies and other goodies ~~

 

They even got – Pig’s Tongue ~~ oooooh tenderlicious ~~ do you dare to try my foodie followers?! *nom nom*  ~~ don’t worry ~~ it doesn’t feel like French kissing a pig ~~~

 

Mmmmm ~~~ pass me another plate of Kam Pua mee to finish my meal ~~ LOL! Be sure to check out The FuChow Restaurant in Kiulap ~~ they are still new so be patient if service is slow due to a packed restaurant. I’m just so glad I can have my favourite Fu Chow/Sibu food in Brunei! More Kong Pia and Kam Pua Mee please ~~~~ *om nom nom nom nom*

 

The FuChow Restaurant

Next to R & T Kiulap, Same row as Guardian Pharmacy

Opens 7am to 10 pm.