This local seafood restaurant is situated along the edge of the island of Batam so customers can look forward to enjoying breathtaking views of the sea as they dine. My husband and I came here for dinner with our friends, and as one of them is acquainted with the restaurant owner, he managed to get us a table right by the sea with fantastic vistas!
- Our order:
- Steam hong kong kerapu fish (240,000+)
- Sotong goreng telur asin porsi (55,000+)
- Rajungan steam baba besar (175,000+)
- Ayam goreng bawang (80,000+)
- Kang kung tumis polos (45,000+)
- Hot plate tahu shangrila (65,000+)
- Fu yung hai (65,000+)
- Nasi putih (7,000+) x4
- Water (7,000+) x4
- Kopi susu panas (15,000+) x3
- Kelapa muda (20,000+) x5
- Es madu lemonade tower (90,000+) x2
- Spent: IDR1,217,000
The entire place had a really open and relaxing atmosphere, made even more enchanting with the abundance of fairy lights, especially when it got dark later in the evening. Most of the seating is open-air and sheltered, but you can book tables in the air-conditioned VIP rooms indoors. The staff were generally friendly and ever-ready to assist.
One of the iconic structures in this restaurant for that perfect instagram shot is this one at the end of the pier. It resembles a hot air balloon and you can actually climb up the stairs to stand inside the structure. They thoughtfully installed spotlights that will give you that much needed lighting when the sky gets dark. Thankfully with good weather, we managed to catch the beautiful sunset that painted the skies all sorts of colourful hues!
As for the food, it wasn’t as mind-blowing as I imagined it would be. However, just to clarify, it wasn’t bad or anything like that, it was simply of a typical decent standard that could’ve afforded to have a tad more flavour packed into it. The dish that did impress was the freshly steamed crabs that were soft, succulent and mildly sweet (they did have a slight hint of fishy-ness but we got used to it the more we ate). We had a number of off-menu dishes and drinks (like our 1.5-litre lemonade tower) so do check with the wait staff for more information!
For all the cat lovers out there, you’ll definitely enjoy a value-added experience as the restaurant has quite a number of docile cats that won’t hesitate to approach you. They will do adorable actions, like lie down for tummy rubs or meow at you, in a bid to get food.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. The open and breezy atmosphere, along with amazing views of the vast sea and horizon, really made for a lovely dinner ambience. It’s quite cool how they’ve tastefully created iconic photo spots like the hot air balloon that are instantly recognizable, a wise marketing move indeed. In terms of the food, it was pretty okay but it would’ve tasted better if it had a bit more flavour. All the staff were proactive and would approach us to offer help when needed, which was great. Also, I liked the fact that there were cute kitty cats hanging out with us throughout dinner (: A nice night out for sure!
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