Mixue in Batam

We took notice of Mixue while heading towards our lunch place just a few doors away at Rumah Makan Irama. To be honest, I had never gotten the chance to try them out in Singapore. Despite the long queue, we joined it to grab something cold just to beat the scorching hot weather outside. 

Mixue

I quickly made a choice from their new menu featuring Chocolate ice cream. We waited quite a while for orders to be ready as it was really crowded.

Favourite & New

Yeah! This is my first try in Mixue. 

Boba Chocolate Sundae - 16k rupiah

The chocolate Sundae was good enough to cool me down on a hot day. Overall the texture of the ice cream was good and not too creamy. Most importantly, the sweetness level is suitable.

Let's Boba Boba

Mixue

Location: Komp Penuin Centre, Jl. Bunga Raya, Batu Selicin, Kec. Lubuk Baja, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29444, Indonesia

Barelang Seafood Restaurant

Going to Barelang Seafood Restaurant has always been in my mind for my visits to Batam but it was always "out of the way" for dinner and our packed itineraries. During the last round, we visited Rezeki Seafood Restaurant and yes finally, we had set foot here. 

Barelang Seafood Restaurant

We did not make any reservations and as a first-timer there, we were impressed by the large-scale dining area. There was no electronic bells to call the server from a far distance. We either waved frantically to get their attention or simply walk all the way back to somewhere near the entrance if we need their service,

Dining Area

There were simply many seatings facing the sea and we chose the seat with a view of the Barelang bridge, hoping to get some shots of the blue hours.

View of Barelang Bridge

Ocean Blue! What a beautiful drink made of syrup with Nata De Coco and Chia Seeds.

Ocean Blue 蓝色海

We also had a Coconut Drink to cool ourselves amidst the hot weather. 

Coconut Drink 椰子水 

We were not in the luck of ordering Lobster and Crayfish and were told sold out. We took the alternative to order their Butter Prawns. They were medium in size, similar to what we usually have from a basic bowl of prawn noodles. 

Butter Fried Prawns

Having tried the Mantis Shrimp in Batam before, I was reminded of its tough shells and springy meat.

We ordered a plate of 3 pieces and opted for steaming cooking method. These shrimps were seasoned with soy sauce, chilli, garlic and ginger.

Udang Belalang Mantis Shrim 螳螂虾

The style of Petai was a culture shock to me. The stinky beans were generously accompanied by fried crispy Ikan Bilis and spicy chilli. There were simply too much spice and Fried Ikan Bills that we could not finish .

Petai Bilis Stinky Beans Dried Fish 臭豆小鱼干 

The salted egg fried crab was well coated but not as savory as compared to what we had in Singapore. Nonetheless, freshness of their seafood was assured.

Salted Egg Fried Crab 咸蛋炒螃蟹

I will be back for Lobster and Crayfish.

Barelang Seafood Restaurant
Location: Jalan Trans Barelang City, Tembesi, Kec. Sagulung, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29472, Indonesia
Website

Rumah Makan Irama

While time is tight before leaving Batam, we resorted into something quick for lunch as recommended by the locals from Batam Nest. Rumah Makan Padang Irama was bustling and popular among the locals, with a full house environment packed with diners in the queue as well as food delivery men all geared up in their motorbike suit waiting for orders to be collected.

Rumah Makan Irama

There were quite several dishes for us to select from. I had Fried Chicken, Fried egg as well as their Fried Potato. My rice was drenched with curry gravy.

Nasi Padang in Batam

A friend who enjoyed eating fish ordered this fish in Assam. It was appetizing and yummy.

Assam Fish

The dishes are not what we get to see in Singapore and here we have their Bagedil and some chips.

Nasi Padang

No doubt that I do not eat Nasi Padang back in my home country, but it was an experience enjoying local food outside the touristy malls and tourist-recommended places in Batam. 

Rumah Makan Irama
Location: Jl. Bunga Mawar Jl. Komp. Penuin Centre No.12, Batu Selicin, Kec. Lubuk Baja, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29444, Indonesia

Batam Nest

While colleagues was mentioning about having Bird Nest in Batam, I thought it was a good idea as this will be my first time having Birdnest in Batam. We proceed to this BatamNest after our massage session nearby for it was a walking distance away.

Batam Nest

The birdnest menu was rather straight forward with 6 kinds of options. Staff are friendly and we dined in house.

Menu

I had the Birdnest with Honey Rock Sugar and refreshingly good in its natural sweetness as well as the jelly texture of the Birdnest. Despite visiting this wholesale place, we did not "taobao" back as it was already our last day of the trip and our baggage was very full.

Honey Rock Sugar

Now that I have visited this place, I bet this won't be the last time savoury such nutritious dessert down my stomach. We will be back again!

Batam Nest
Location: Blok R BCS Shopping Mall BLOK R NEAR Jalan Kompleks Penuin Centre No.2 Kepulauan Riau 29411 Indonesia
Website

Anchor Cafe & Roastery

A friend of mine introduced one of her favourite cafes in Batam as a local and without much hesitation,  we had Anchor Cafe & Roastery listed in our Cafe to Visit while in Batam. 

Anchor Cafe & Roastery

If you love outdoor dining, they do have some tables outside the premises too.

Outdoor Area

It is a huge cafe that takes up to 4 shop units at the corner of the shop house opposite a nursery.

Photo Corner

The atmosphere was good, and so was the hospitality from the staff.  Since Anchor Cafe is made up of Roastery too, do give their coffee a try!

Filtered Coffee

Preparing Coffee

Considering weekday lunchtime, the place was bustling with people, locals and foreigners like us.

Dining Area

Environment

We started off with sharing plate. These Fried Chicken tenders were yummy and served with their house honey-chipotle sauce and a side of ranch. Portion was big for 2 pax.

Chipotle Chicken Tenders - 95k

Simply Delicious!

Here's one of the recommended burgers on the menu. It has a Premium all beef patty on its homemade bun, piled high with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, mayo, mustard, ketchup and pickles. It was served with skillet potatoes & coleslaw.

Big Boss Burger - 135k

We enjoyed the burger with the soft sesame burger buns. The beef patty was moist and savoury in its sauces as well as ingredients.

Cross Section of Burger

On a side note, the server shared that their candles were handmade.

Here's our glass of cooler with Strawberry Lemonade & a cup of cappuccino to wash down the food.

Strawberry Lemonade - 48k

Cappuccino - 42k

Service is friendly and the portion is big even for 2 pax sharing. The price paid is justifiable for the quality. I am okay with returning back for some other food on the menu. Hoping to have the chance again.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Anchor Cafe & Roastery
Location: Dermaga Culinary Paradise RF No. 11, Sukajadi, Kec. Batam Kota, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29444, Indonesia

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

Many trips made to Batam but I never have the chance to travel to Rezeki as it is located at one far end of the Island and often far far away from our accommodation which is usually near Batam City Center.

The restaurant is big and spacious, deck up in part of the sea.

Restaurant

Having said that, this trip will not be successful without our chauffeur. In fact, in order to go around Batam Island, it will be best that we hire a day or two chauffeur service so that we are mobile. Though GRAB service is available in Batam, there is still a limitation of their service due to some constraints.

Outside the restaurant near the parking area

For every fresh seafood restaurant, we will just get to see this corner whereby the live seafood is being housed here.

Seafood Pond

Shortly after we had chosen our seats, we were given a menu. Menu was extensive and they list the cooking method for each seafood in English, Malay, Hanyu Pin Yin language, illustrated with some pictures.

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

There were not many local customers or foreigners but just 3-4 tables of us in the dining section.

Dining Area 

Comparing to Singapore where our currency is about 10,00 times ($1 to 10,000 Rp), these dishes were more than affordable as compared back home.

With Petai as our favorite dish, we see no reason skipping this dish. It was stirred fried with Sambal sauce and some yellow onions. Not too spicy for us as requested and taste-wise, it's quite similar to our home.

Petai Sambal - 35,000 Rp

These prawns caught our surprise as we did not encounter such prawns in Singapore where the shell is as hard as crayfish. There were many styles of cooking of their seafood for selection and each prawn cost 50,000 Rp. We have them steamed and with their shell being so tough, we have to be careful removing them as it can be very sharp. The texture of meat did not taste like the usual prawn meat we had, it's more towards the crayfish quality. It was a good experience though.

Udang Belalang  螳螂虾 - 200,000

The recommended style of cooking of Lala will be their Spicy Lala. Although the chinese description on the menu sounds different, the dish was well executed in their Sambal sauce. It was not too oily and these Lala were definitely fresh and suits our tastebuds.

Lala Sambal 调料拉拉 - 75,000

With 1 Kg at 60,000 Rp, we ordered half of it. We have a no-brainer choice, since their signature and recommended Clam (Cockles) dish is stirred fried we garlic.

Kerang Tumis 大蒜蛤 - 30,000

These clams were gigantic to those we have in the market back home. Together with yellow onion, green pepper and some chili, its simple and delicious. Better of all, the gravy was sweet and good pairing to the white rice.

Big Size

To be honest, before going to Rezeki, I have not much expectation. The style of cooking and standard suits us pretty well.  Their Seafood was fresh and most importantly was not too spicy. The staff was friendly and approachable. Though location may not be of advantage if we are staying in the City Center, I will still recommend these to my friends who are looking for seafood treats in Batam.

Rezeki Seafood Restaurant

Location: Pantai Batu Besar Jl.Haji Muhammad Saleh RT 002/RW 001 Pulau Batam Kepulauan Riau , Indonesia

Website

Chemistree

One of the hipsters and recommended cafes to visit will be Chemistree Coffee & Eatery in Batam.
The facade of Chemistree looks woody and decorated with greens.

Facade of Chemistree

The interior is not filled with any fanciful design like what we have in Singapore. Instead, their furnishing was rather humble and kind of rustic with the industrial containers and sea ropes wrapped about the beams in the Cafe.  Even the lamp that was hanging from its ceiling was kind of make up of recycled material

Environment

For a hot afternoon, I find that the environment was laid back and quite relaxing. At least it let us have some moments of slowing down ourselves and spend time as if there was no rush.

Furnishing

Menu was printed in A4 papers and inserted in a ring folder.

Menu

Chocolate was frozen in ice cubes and served in a glass while a small jug of milk was served separately, allowing us to slowly pour them over the chocolate cubes.

Milky Choco Cubes - 35,000 Rp

It was a little surprise to me as I did not expect that we have such an "up-to-trend" drink in Batam. The taste was ordinary just like a cup of ice chocolate.

Pouring the Milk into cubes

Hot Mocha was served with latte art and a piece of cookie.

Hot Mocha - 40,000 Rp

Tomato Puree cooked with creamy mushroom soup served with waffle bruschetta. Waffle Bruschetta taste like a small piece of pizza though.

Tomato Polivka - 40,000 Rp

Their signature chicken steak was served on a hot plate with fries and vegetables as a side. The serving portion looks a bit smaller than what we had back in our country, however, during then, we were not too hungry too as we still have some places to visit.

Chemistree Chicken Steak - 70,000 Rp

The cafe was very spacious with more than just the 1st floor as the dining area, as for a returning visit, I would not see it coming as with so many options of Cafes around, I will be looking forward to visiting other Cafes in Batam the next time. For Chemistree, I will describe as "been there and done that" on my list.

Chemistree
Location: Jl. Raja H. Fisabilillah No.12B, Tlk. Tering, Kec. Batam Kota, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau 29444, Indonesia