Batam Info Thread

[Lao Er Ge]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

If I want makan fish, I go for ISTIMEWA fish restaurant. Quite a picky eater when comes to fish, for me

Are you referring to Yong Kee aka Restaurant Istimewa? Was there two months ago. CMI liao though used to be quite good a couple of years ago. They used too much dry flat fish for their soup. Fish also not as fresh as compared to Ping Kee. Their otah quite good though.

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by Lao Er Ge

Are you referring to Yong Kee aka Restaurant Istimewa? Was there two months ago. CMI liao though used to be quite good a couple of years ago. They used too much dry flat fish for their soup. Fish also not as fresh as compared to Ping Kee. Their otah quite good though.

Yes, yong kee. I still like it. IMHO, but prices are abit ex. Yes, their otah is good. They use the salted fish as seasoning.

Usually, food, is up to personal, kind of like choosing of gals. But generally, people have a consensus of what food is good n where is not.

There is another place that has good food, but not known to many outsiders, also in permata Baloi, Near Baloi garden Hotel. It is called Djo Djo. Very good bawang puteh Ayam( garlic chicken), but the waiting can be disastrous. At evening time I go there, the bloody bitch worker will act for the boss to say it is fully booked. Gave up going there.

Recently, I heard that the IRAS of Indonesia went to give trouble. Probably too "good" business n stuck up

[hottip]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

If I want makan fish, I go for ISTIMEWA fish restaurant. Quite a picky eater when comes to fish, for me

Oh, I know where this place is. Come out of Newberry, turn left and its infront of you. Did not realise its that good, so never tried. Whats the specialty there? I love a good ikan bakar. Know where to find a good ikan bandeang bakar?

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by hottip

Oh, I know where this place is. Come out of Newberry, turn left and its infront of you. Did not realise its that good, so never tried. Whats the specialty there? I love a good ikan bakar. Know where to find a good ikan bandeang bakar?

For good ikan bakar, go to Ikan Bakar Acia, the original branch.. If u stand facing Billiard Centre, Acia is abt 50m to the left of BC..

Apart from Ikan bakar, the orh luah (oyster omelette) & Chinese style fried kway teow is very good..

There is another Acia next to Citywalk shopping centre, but I understand that it's not as good as the original outlet..

[hawkeye007]

Originally Posted by hottip

Oh, I know where this place is. Come out of Newberry, turn left and its infront of you. Did not realise its that good, so never tried. Whats the specialty there? I love a good ikan bakar. Know where to find a good ikan bandeang bakar?

Imo, only the famous Yong Kee fish soup is nice... All their other dishes are somewhat overrated and definitely overpriced...

Strongly recommend Marine Live Seafood behind Pagoda Hotel if u wanna have seafood... Best in town area...

And no, I don't have shares in the restaurant... Lol... Just wanna share a gem & help the very nice boss Denny...

[hottip]

Originally Posted by johnkhb

.... Ikan Bakar Acia, the original branch..
Apart from Ikan bakar, the orh luah (oyster omelette) & Chinese style fried kway teow is very good..
There is another Acia next to Citywalk shopping centre, but I understand that it's not as good as the original outlet..

Thanks for your suggestion. Been to both. Yes, The original Acia is much better becos the coffee shop opposite provides good variety. Last time we went, the kwei teow ran out by 10pm. The new one next to CityWalk is basically the Acia stall at the corner and a few newbies trying to make out in the biz. But, it has more space and the ambience is better.
The fella at Indorasa does a good ikan bakar as well. Also does cumi cumi and udang bakar. Very reasonable. Chip and gud!
I have yet to find a good ikan bandeang bakar since the one at Nagoya Hill Mall closed down. Anyone got suggestions?

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by johnkhb

For good ikan bakar, go to Ikan Bakar Acia, the original branch.. If u stand facing Billiard Centre, Acia is abt 50m to the left of BC..

Apart from Ikan bakar, the orh luah (oyster omelette) & Chinese style fried kway teow is very good..

There is another Acia next to Citywalk shopping centre, but I understand that it's not as good as the original outlet..

Hahaha, you wrote what I wanted to write too...

[newyorker88]

Originally Posted by johnkhb

Imo, only the famous Yong Kee fish soup is nice... All their other dishes are somewhat overrated and definitely overpriced...

Strongly recommend Marine Live Seafood behind Pagoda Hotel if u wanna have seafood... Best in town area...

And no, I don't have shares in the restaurant... Lol... Just wanna share a gem & help the very nice boss Denny...

Yes, yong kee original mix fish soup. Other than that, I don't order soup. Anyway, quite a picky eater when it comes to fish, for me.

ACAI at the Billard Centre is cheap, n good. highly recommended too. There are many other food around that area too, you can choose.

[nono1973]

Originally Posted by KohOnly21

Hi Bro Newyorker, where exactly is this ISTIMEWA fish restaurant?

Walk out of New Berry,turn right and walk straight...end of T-junction,you should see it.

[itachiz]

Hi Guys,

Sorry, I don't have experience about going to batam during Ramadan period. Is it safe to go there between 23rd to 27th June? I don't plan to go to any joint, because I have a regular lady that I am paying her a visit. But I read some post there is a lot police raid during Ramadan. So I not sure if I book a hotel and she come stay with me. Will the police even go to the hotel places to raid?

Please give me some advise on this.

Thanks!

[micmac888]

Originally Posted by newyorker88

Djo Djo, but the waiting can be disastrous.

Yeap. Was told that it is "very stuck up" place but the ginger chicken must try. But queue would be time consuming. They were hesitant. But because I wanted to try, 4 of us went - and dressed pleasant. reached the place - damn crowded. asked my partner to call the waiter to us. slipped in tips. Waiter went back in, spoke to dunno-who-in-charge (later on found out that she gave excuse that we "had already called to book" but she forgotten it completely and she "malu") . Got seats in less than 5mins. For me, slipping in token-tips is *much* better than standing there and waiting and waiting to point of giving up as you said.

The Ginger Ayam is indeed nice. The aroma, the texture, the spices... really really nice. But I kept drinking water due to glorious amounts of MSG (its my own problem - LOL).


Side note : Nono - major major thanks. you are so right. I changed the water filter cartridge and the filtered water came out strong - not like pissing urine - LOL.

[Intltuk]

FR on trip to Batam Tuesday 9/6/2015, 1 night stay.

After all the research done with fellow bros help here, got an itinerary together to help my friend enjoy himself in Batam. Met up with Bro Nono who happen to be heading there on the same day. Last minute, my friend changed his mind about staying in Formosa and wanted to stay in a budget hotel tat he had stayed at before. As such, had to decline Bro Nono's kind offer to give us a lift to Formosa.

We booked with Sindo Ferry which has a discount, thus, ticket cost SGD 31 two way...but POA is at Batam Center. Arrived at Batam Center 12:00pm, hungry decided to look for place to have a meal but as my friend is not into food(he's a drinker), settled for a meal of Ayam Penyet and Iced Teh Tarik. Meal was mediocre and I forgot that non-alcoholic drinks in Batam is ex; Iced Teh Tarik cost Rp 30k.

As taxis at the center is fixed at Rp70k, decided to walk over to Mega Mall and get a taxi by the road. As usual, taxi driver asked for Rp 70k and I offered Rp 40k. Bargain reached at Rp 50k(my target price).

Hotel my friend wanted to stay in is Hai Hai 2 Hotel, a 1star hotel that cost Rp220k per night.
Room is small with a even smaller toilet. The good about the hotel is comfortable bed, working aircon, TV with cable shows, free WIFI, hot/cold shower. The not so good is...if u book a girl.....having a shower together will be a tight squeeze. No safe to keep stuff but counter staff is friendly should be able to help hold ur important stuff for u. Door uses normal key...no card key access.



Room is small

Toilet

TV

[Intltuk]

After checking in, friend hungry for drinks, so proceed to New Permata Indah KTV which is a skip and step away from the hotel.

Inside the KTV, a bit rundown but looks like it is undergoing renovations.


we ordered a jug of stout and beer, costs approx. Rp230k and Rp150k respectively. There's approx 16girls but according to Mami they've a total of 30girls with price range from Rp500k to Rp1 million. Saw a few gems with one I'm impressed with one, tall, slim with A or B cups; rating probably 8/10....but as I'm not there for myself but for my friend; ask him want he wanted to do; he wanted a girl to sit with him, so let him pick the girl and his criteria is he wants SYT tat is slim....but he came back with a BBW girl. Ask he why he pick one opp of he wants....he also don't know lolz........

Anyway, sitting charge, mami ask for Rp350k but I bargain down to Rp 300k as told her we came ourselves . After finishing our drinks, friend didn't want to cont'd as he's not please with what he pick. So we left and went back to hotel for him to take a nap as he didn't sleep the previous night.

As he took his nap, I went round to see what kind of entertainment around the hotel. Hmmm...not good news as surroundings are mostly only shops and seems we are in a industrial estate. The only other KTV is Meximo. There's a one massage parlour called Crown but getting there may be a problem for my friend as he old and may make cross the busy road...even I had to rush across the road so as not to get run down.

[Intltuk]

He woke up at approx 7:00pm and we proceeded to look for place to eat and drink. As i've recced the place, told him there isn't much entertainment around there tat we can walk to except Meximo is for a normal person can walk to but for him, may be a hassle; he wanted to go, so we went. Place looks much better than New Permata Indah but prices are higher and the ceweks do not come in till 10:00pm...and my friend not comfortable so, we left and decided to go to Windsor Food Court for food and drinks. As my friend is a small eater and fussy, let him order, which he promptly order pepper crab and fried batter prawns. Cost approx Rp140k and Rp 170k. As my friend only drink stout and me beer, we started looking around and there are dozens and dozens of drink promoters! Ordered ABC stout and heineken beer. The promoters sat with us since we ordered drinks from there. More and more promoters came over from same brand as well as other brands, looking towards us to order their drinks, even offering to drink together with us if we order from them. We end up with average 4 promoters at our table at any one time, drinking and chatting. Talking to the promoters, for the same brand, there is bet 7 to a dozen girls promoting ea brand, thus, there is approx 70 promoters at the food court; we had one promoter SYT who is mix parentage, thus, speak mandarin; a former S'pore maid who rtned to marry, kick her husband out when he had affairs. Their pay is Rp2 million a mth and earning from selling ea bottle is Rp1k. Even the seafood assistants came over to sit with us . There is even a Yeos soft drink promoter as seen in the pix.


There's a stage where u can go up and sing karaoke songs and certain periods, professional singers will be on stage singing. The singers will come from stage, moving around mingling with the customers having their meals/drinks and seeking a small token for song requests.

We ended the night drinking more than usual bec of the company of the promoters putting us in a mood to hve the capacity to drink more.

[authenticanie]

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