With Indonesian cuisine being part of the every day life of a Singaporean, is there a still a need to spend more than what we get at a hawker centre to savour Indonesian food?
In the case of Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant – yes. At $24.90 per pax for its a la carte dinner buffet, Kintamani serves up legit Indonesian fare that is worth the bucks in overall. Read on to find out which are the dishes that you can give a miss, so that you have space for those worth second (or more) rounds!
Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant (Halal-certified) is located in Furama RiverFront. Serving Indonesian fare since 1985, it bagged several gourmet awards, which was a reason why it had stood the winds of time to continue serving delicious food.
I was at Kintamani for its all-you-can-eat buffet, after hearing how good the food was. Of course, I was also craving for good old Indonesian food, after cooping up in my house eating maggi mee and FoodPanda. Due to the pandemic, the restaurant has converted to a la carte buffet to avoid crowding at the food stations.
Reservation was done at its website, where one can also find its menu. However, the place was not crowded when I was there, so perhaps making reservations in advance would not be necessary in the current climate.
Getting To Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant at Furama RiverFront
Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant is located inside Furama RiverFront, which in turn is right at the hotel cluster around Robertson Quay. In Singaporean language, it’s not near an MRT station (yet) and getting there is a bit of a hassle.
The route with the least walking starts by taking the MRT to Chinatown station. Exit from Exit C (Northeast Line) and turn right to Upper Cross Street to the bus stop across the State Courts. If exiting from Downtown Line, take Exit D (which is beside the State Courts) and cross the road to reach the bus stop.
Take 51 or 186 and drop off at Miramar Hotel at the 2nd stop. From there, Furama RiverFront is the 2nd hotel further down the road.
Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant is on the 3rd level, though the entrance is not right at the escalator. So one needs to keep a look out for the signs leading to the restaurant.
Ambience and Service
The decor of Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant is a throwback to the good old 80s. In fact, the place gave me the feels I had when I was at Thanying Restaurant at Amara Hotel for royal Thai cuisine.
The whole restaurant was grounded in earth tones and wooden furniture, decorated with ethnic batik prints. Although the buffet started at 6pm, the place was still rather peaceful when I reached at 6.30pm. Quite unlike a buffet place.
It wasn’t until after we settled down when the background music piped in with Indonesian folk songs. It was then I realised why the whole restaurant felt a little too quiet! But I guess the manager also realised that and turned on the music.
There were only 3 groups of diners at the section I was dining in. Thankfully, they weren’t the kinds who liked to talk and laugh loudly. Though I remarked the restaurant was quiet, I do appreciate the blessing to have my dinner in peace!
After seating us down, the server told us that they would serve all the dishes on the a la carte buffet first. Following that, we could order any food items we liked. However, there were items that were not included in the menu. For example, I would have to pay extra if I wanted the Chendol, Satay or drinks. Yup, make sure you’re well hydrated before you visit Kintamani!
Food to Try Again
The number of dishes served in the first round was toooo much. The photo above didn’t include all the dishes included in the buffet, because well, the table was too small!
However, I made sure to try every dish, so that I could have a second round of the good ones.
Chilli Prawn with Bitter Beans (Udang Sambal Petai)
According to the website, the Udang Sambal Petai was one of the premium dishes included in this season’s menu. Being the typical Singaporean, I made sure I had a second round of it!
However, the sambal was really spicy. Just a tiny lick of it sent waves and waves of tingles and cold sweat through my body! Luckily, the prawn was cooked with its shells on. Although the meat itself was “stained” by the chilli, it wasn’t spicy to the extent that would put my guts on fire.
Having said that, the prawns were a little bit of a hit and miss. I had 6 prawns and 2 of them weren’t that fresh. The rest were still crunchy and savoury, though. I tried dipping the prawns into the fish sauce and also the coconut gravy. Well, I must say both went well with the prawns. Worth it!
Fried Sliced Fish served with Chef Special Sauce (Ikan Goreng Colo Colo)
Unlike the stingy tze char or chup chye png stalls, the fried sliced fish served at Kinatamani Indonesian Restaurant was legit. It was crispy on the outside and full of tender meat on the inside!
To be honest, I couldn’t judge whether the fish was fresh (it was deep fried, duh!). But the meat was definitely soft and flaky. The sliced fish came drenched in the dark fish sauce, which gave the dish a kick in the palate. In fact, the sauce was the reason why I couldn’t care if the fish was fresh or not.
Just as I thought the fish was good enough, I mixed it with the plain rice and voila! It tasted even better! I can’t really put my finger on it. The plain rice was super tasteless on its own. However, when both were combined, the rice accentuated the fragrance of the fish sauce.
That being said, eating rice at buffets is really a waste lol
Food That I Wish I Had The Space To Have More
Glutinous Rice served with Durian Paste (Durian Pengat)
I think this dish should be renamed as “Durian Paste served with Glutinous Rice”. I almost missed the glutinous rice!
The serving of the durian paste was generous and its texture was rich and sweet. Obviously, they hadn’t diluted the durian, nor did they add extra flavouring to it. I’m no expert in durians, but I could say it was as good as the Durian Pengat I had at Straits Cafe in the Rendezvous Hotel.
If durians weren’t so high in calories, I would definitely ask for more rounds of this dessert!
Javanese Grilled Chicken Marinated with Spicy Black Sauce (Ayam Bekakak)
I didn’t try this for a second round, because I was rather bloated by then. However, if I had the chance, I would definitely go for this again.
Again, the dark spicy sauce was the saving grace. The grilled chicken was rather dry and oily. The texture reminded me of the Pandan Chicken I had in Ban Khun Mae. I personally like grilled meat and the dryness that comes with the meat. However, this dish bordered on my preference, because it was lacking in the charred flavour.
The sauce, however, pulled it back from failure. The sauce was strong tasting in itself. Interestingly, that neutralised the oiliness of the chicken and accentuated the grilled flavour.
Slow Cooked Vegetables in Coconut Gravy (Sayur Lodeh)
I thought the Sayur Lodeh deserved an honourable mention. The dish didn’t bowl me over with superb or unique taste. However, it just felt so comfortable drizzling the coconut gravy over plain rice and savouring the fragrance that resulted from the mixture. In fact, I had to consciously stop myself from indulging in that, because… Who eats rice and vegetables in a buffet?!!
The plain vegetables in coconut gravy is sure a great comfort food!
I Tried The Add-Ons, So You Need Not Take The Risk
We were told the add-ons were already at a discounted price, so whatever ongoing promotion or voucher wouldn’t apply. With each add on cost around $9.90, they weren’t exactly something one would spend money to try while att a buffet.
But I did.
Satay Chicken
The Satay Chicken was served in its standard plating: with rice, cucumbers, onions and satay sauce accompanying 6 sticks of satay.
Unlike the usual Indonesian satay that came with huge chunks of meat, the ones I had was the Singaporean skinny version. Looks wise, it was underwhelming.
However, the taste spoke for itself. The meat was caramelised on the surface, and the meat itself was tender. Each bite came with char-grilled explosion of flavour. Yes, the meat was small, but it was the standard size of yester-years. Therefore, each bite was a throwback to younger days when satay was a luxurious food!
Chendol
TLDR: Forget about it.
The gula melaka and coconut were not rich. It felt more like what we could get from the food courts. If food court’s chendol costs $3.50, why should we pay $9.90 for the chendol at Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant?
Even funnier, the red beans were salty. It could have been their unique twist to the classic dessert, but I just couldn’t bend my mind around it. Nope, I prefer my red beans sweet and mushy.
Parting Words
At $24.90 per pax for the dinner buffet, I would say dining at Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant was worth the bucks and effort (to get to it, you know…). The decor did look like it had had better days, but the food didn’t go down the drain.
There were some misses, like the prawns that weren’t all fresh or the chendol with salty red beans. However, there were others, like the Chicken Satay, Fried Fish, Durian Pengat and Grilled Chicken that were still up to standard. There were also dishes like the Sayur Lodeh, Rendang Beef and Mutton Curry, which weren’t over the top, but stroke the right spots of my palate.
When viewed in totality, the food served did match up to expectations.
The server was also friendly and on the ball. Although we could place our orders via the online system, she kept coming around to ask us to place orders directly with her, as she could serve up the dishes faster. I believe part of the reason why she could be so personal was because the restaurant wasn’t full.
That unexpectedly made me enjoy my dinner too.
Usual buffets were always rushed. We had to rush to get the seafood before it was cleared by the others. We had to rush to get the Char Kway Teow / Chye Tow Kway while it was piping hot. There were always a queue at the Laksa / Popiah / Grilled Cuts.
When I passed by The Square at level 2, which was the other restaurant in Furama RiverFront serving a la carte buffet, the place was packed and noisy.
On the contrary, I could enjoy my dinner at my own pace at Kintamani. There weren’t screaming kids or rowdy alpha males bragging about their NS days. Or women gossiping loudly about their office nemesis at a public place.
What I had was a warmly lit environment, with soft folk music in the background, and warm servers fussing over serving and clearing our dishes.
Serenity when having dinner at a restaurant is something that’s getting harder to come by. Especially in crowded Singapore.
If you enjoyed reading my post, do remember to Like and Share it. I had a similar experience at The Peranakan at Claymore Connect in Orchard Road, serving a la carte buffet for nonya fare. You can also read my other post on Indonesian cuisine (The Rice Table at Shaw Centre), or Penang cuisine (Princess Terrace at Copthorne King’s Hotel) or Korean food (Wonderful Bap Sang at Suntec City).
Till then, stay hungry!
Kintamani Indonesian Restaurant
Furama RiverFront
Level 3
405 Havelock Road
Singapore 169633
+6567396463
https://www.furama.com/riverfront/dining/Kintamani-Indonesian-Restaurant
