The Tutong Food Guide

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

When I mentioned that I wanted to do a Tutong guide, a friend joked that the best place to eat in Tutong is to drive to Belait. After asking around on both social media and whatsapp, I’ve decided to drive down to Tutong to do a blog post and radio recording for my Mandarin food talk show on Pilihan FM. These are the most popular places to eat in Tutong town, and also marks an emotional moment for me having finally covered all four districts in my blog for Brunei.

Mei Fang Restaurant

Mei Fang has been around since the 1950s as a Tutong kopitiam opposite the river, selling their famous Tutong Pulut Panggang and stir fried noodles. This traditional kopitiam is still attracting the locals all around Brunei to enjoy their pulut panggang, which can sometimes run out even at 8:30am!

Besides Tutong Pulut Panggang, they also serve good char kway teow and some kuih ~

They have an interesting version of ‘ang gu kuer’ but this is green version – inside is stuffed with crushed peanuts filling.

mmmm ~~~

Their Char Kway Teow is pretty good so give them a try!

Be sure to tapao some back for your friends in BSB, Belait and Temburong ~~

Mei Fang Kopitiam

Jalan Enchi Awang, Tutong, Brunei Darussalam

Puteh Restaurant

Puteh opens as early as 6am and is a popular place for Malay comfort food such as kuih, nasi lemak and of course pulut panggang!

According to some old uncles having breakfast, the original owner was a Chinese Muslim convert and was given the nickname ‘Puteh’. You can see her picture in the shop as well. The recipes are passed down to her children and grandchildren.

The Pulut Panggang here has a softer texture compared to Mei Fang’s and tends to be more generous in terms of the filling and slightly more to the sweeter side. My personal preference is the panggang here as it has a slight smoky flavour to it.

The samosas they have was pretty unique ~~ with potatoes and hard boiled egg inside ~~

Traditional Malay Kueh can be found here ~~

Last but not least is their kuih kusui/kasui which has a melt in your mouth texture and good gula melaka flavour ~ a really foodgasm moment for us and super highly recommended!

Puteh Restaurant

Spg 14, Tutong

Right behind ROS Foto, opposite Tutong Chung Hwa’s basketball court

Ho Yuen Restaurant

Ho Yuen restaurant is located on the same stretch of shops as Mei Fang and is popular as the only traditional non halal kopitiam in Tutong town. My friend strongly recommends their kolomee as well as their wet fried noodles.

You can see quite a lot of Chinese style stir fries for noodles and rice on their menu but what won me over was their fried pork kolo mee poh ~~ pork marinated using fermented tofu (nan lu) and deep fried to perfection to be served with quite good kolo mee poh! Thumbs up!

Ho Yuen Restaurant

Jalan Enchi Awang, Tutong, Brunei Darussalam

K.K. Koya Restaurant

I have memories in my childhood of stopping by the KK Koya in Telisai on the way to Belait to visit relatives. They are famous for serving Indian-Malay cuisine and are very popular throughout Tutong.

They have quite a variety of curries and rendangs for you to enjoy with their Nasi Briyanis ~~ drools ~~ oh did I mention they have Indian style sweet desserts too?

Perhaps one of the most iconic dish for KK Koya has to be their rojak ~~~ you can choose to have Sotong or Ayam or try out their Special which is a mix of Sotong and Ayam (chicken and squid)

The rojak is slathered with their signature sauce which is sweet and a slight spicy kick to it. The chicken is actually their tandoori spiced fried chicken which is well cooked and seasoned (not too dry). They also have sliced cucur (fried fritters), fried tofu, pineapples, turnips, potatoes and cucumbers in the mix. Quite yummy and some friends of mine actually have strong cravings for this rojak!

oh ~~ did someone say Mee Mamak? They are famous for their Mee Mamak Kambing but I forgot and ordered beef instead ~~ it’s still pretty good though and I’ll come back to try their Kambing version!

K.K.Koya Restaurant

Jalan Enchi Awang, Tutong, Brunei Darussalam

Tamu Tutong

The last time I visited Tamu Tutong was almost 10 years ago when there weren’t relocated to this new establishment yet. Despite a very hot morning, the place doesn’t feel so hot as there’s lots of fans to keep us cool ~~~

Fried Noodles and Kway Teow at Stall Number 1

The stall number is pretty popular with the locals for having char kueh teaw and fried noodles or indomie/maggie goreng here ~

oh my char kuey teaw ~~~ I wanted to tried indomie goreng but was pretty full so I skipped ~~ haha

Stall number 4 – Nasi Ayam Muhd Zuki Bin Abdullah

Someone recommended the Chicken Rice and Bakso from stall number 4 Zuki.

Rice is fragrant and the chicken moist with a signature chicken rice gravy ~ more to the sweeter side.

Bakso is recommended here as well and I saw quite a few people order this

NOTE: They are now located behind Pizza Hut Tutong at B12, Bangunan Hj Abdullah, Kg Sengkarai, Tutong. Look out for Nasi Ayam Muhd Zuki Bin Abdullah

Stall Number 5 Soto Hj Tuah

Soto Hj Tuah has a long history and has been serving soto lovers since 1964. They are the most popular stall here.

We wanted to try their special 5 in 1 Soto which is supposed to include beef + chicken + hati buyah + berubut + urat but they ran out of urat so we had a 4 in 1 instead!

I like my soto kahwin ~~ a mix of yellow noodles and white rice noodles ~ be sure to try their lada rindu which gives the soto a big kick!

Kompleks Pasarneka dan Tamu Tutong (Tutong Market)

Kampung Serambangun; TA1741 Tutong, Brunei

Mawar Emas Restaurant

People speak high praises of a famou roti daging at a restaurant at Sungai Basong. We had trouble finding this place because they forgot the restaurant name but called it Roti Daging Sungai Basong instead. Fortunately we managed to track it down to Sungai Basong Recreational Park!

While the roti kosong wasn’t to our liking – their roti daging really hits the spot! Chunks of beef and egg wrapped with roti (murtabak) ~~ ahhh sedap la!

A lot of people were enjoying the nasi lemak, nasi bungkus and nasi campur here ~ breakfast with a view ~

This sambal ikan masin was pretty interesting and yummy! Goes well with nasi!

Mawar Emas Restaurant

Taman Rekreasi Sungai Basong (turn in at the first traffic light otw to Tutong)

Tanda Kasih Restaurant

We were very impressed with the decor at Tanda Kasih as it looks more like a garden restaurant ~~

It is ultra spacious and despite not being air conditioned ~~ there’s enough fans to keep you cool ~~

Really love the decor of this place la ~~~

seriously can OOTD here ~ haha

Friends recommended this place for their Nasi Ayam and Cendol ~~ I ordered their interesting Gula Melaka Teh Si Special

Enjoying their nasi ayam with a view ~~ the nasi was more to the sticky side but has a good fragrance ~~ while the chicken gravy was more to the sweeter side ~~

What won us over was their iced cendol ~~ which was really good ~~ we actually tapao some back for our families! HAHAH!

Tanda Kasih Restaurant

Jln Tutong, Kampong Keriam TB1141 (right after the bridge)

Cocofinas

Cocofinas actually originated from KB and now has a branch in Tutong and Berakas. Cocofinas was quite easy to find as its along the Pachor Papan Tutong road. Just look for no.152 and you will see a banner for Cocofinas ~~~

Mmmm coconut shakes anyone?

I like how they serve them in coconut shells and has a choice of toppings! I especially love the shredded fresh coconut flesh~~ OOOH YES!! Slather all that with some gula anau and crushed kuih sapit please!

Ahhhhh is this love? Mmmmm ~~~ yes ~~~ coconut ice cream is LOVE!

Cocofinas

no.152 Kg Panchar Papan Tutong

Soto Hj Jamuddin

Another soto place that is located along the old Tutong roads at Kg Luagan Duduk near the Masjid.

Here they serve soto special which includes chicken, beef, bakso and hati buyah ~~ the soup is more on the saltier side and we did have recommendations to try another soto place where you look for Batang Sentul sign then turn all the way in till you see a small in house restaurant (unfortunately it was closed as they went on holiday for two weeks)

What wowed us was their crispy hati buyah which is actually deep fried till keropok like texture! Talk about an expensive snack! Delicious and I tapao some home too ~~ service can be pretty slow here though so you will have to be a patient foodie and not get hangry ~~

Soto Haji Jamuddin

no. 843, Kg Luagan Dudok, Tutong

So that concludes my Tutong food guide and you can listen to our food hunts on Food Talk Mandarin Program on RTB Pilihan FM every Saturday morning 10:30am where we talk about our food adventures! An emotional moment for me to cover the four districts of Brunei!