BRN: Li Gong

Have you tried grape sauce chicken before?

My BFF and I decided to spend a night at The Empire Hotel and Country Club (5*), which is said to be Brunei's most prestigious and luxurious beach resort. For dinner, we went to Li Gong, a Chinese restaurant that's not Halal-certified, but uses 100% Halal ingredients to my understanding.

Pikachu just had to pose before digging into his beancurd. :)

Appetiser & Chili

I really enjoyed the peanuts, which were braised well and thus highly flavourful. The chili sauce was somewhat too watery for my liking, while the green chili slices had been soaked in vinegar long enough. 

Binchotan Charcoal Beancurd with Butter Custard Sauce

B$13.00 (=S$13.00)

Taste: 8/10

To kickstart the dinner, we shared ten delicate charcoal beancurd cubes, which were pretty tasty. On the side was a saucer of savoury butter milk sauce that could be more velvety. Ever since I tried the beancurd dish at Loaf On in HK, I haven't found one that could match it up.  

Braised Mixed Vegetables and Glass Noodle in Claypot (Small)

B$13.00 (=S$13.00)

Taste: 8/10

Given the common fact that vegetable dishes are usually overpriced, I found this one to be a steal for its price. The vegetables, none of which were overcooked, were swimming in thick, savoury gravy. I really enjoyed the wood ear mushrooms due to their crunchy texture. There was only a small amount of glass noodle though.

Deep-Fried Chicken Chop with Grape Sauce (Small) B$15.00 (=S$15.00)

Taste: 8.5/10

In my opinion, the best dish was the deep-fried chicken chop adorned with red and green grape slices. Even though the batter could be thinner, it was addictively crunchy, while the white meat remained moist after deep-frying. The grape sauce had a nice sweet and sour balance.

Peeled Prawns with Wasabi Mayo Dressing and Honey Walnuts (Small)

B$23.00 (=S$23.00)

Taste: 8/10

Not many restaurants score on wasabi (Japanese horseradish) mayonnaise, but Li Gong executed it pretty well. Again, the batter was a bit towards the thick side, but the prawns were juicy. Interestingly, there dish was made merrier with honey walnuts coated with sesame seeds, basil seeds and small pineapple cubes.

Jiang Nan Snow Dumplings B$3.30 (=S$3.30)

Taste: 7.5/10

For slightly more than a dollar each, the snow dumplings made a decent dessert dish as they weren't heavy on the palate. While the dough could be chewier, the filling of light cream and what I thought to be preserved pear cubes was enjoyable without being overly sweet.

Melon's Rating

Taste: 8/10

Ambience: 8/10

Service: 3/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Pika's advice: You may want to consider the Peking Duck that seems pretty popular. I didn't take note of the price though. The major issue that we encountered was the slowness in terms of service, even though there weren't that many customers at the point when we made our order. While our appetiser dish and two bowls of rice came promptly, the rest of the items took forever to come, requiring two reminders.

Well, enjoy the view of the sunset!

Li Gong

The Empire Hotel and Country Club

Jerudong

Brunei

(Mon-Thu, Sat: 9.00am - 2.30pm, 6.00 - 10.00pm; 

Fri: 8.30am -12 noon, 6.00 - 10.00pm;

Sun: 8.30am - 3.00pm, 6.00 - 10.00pm)

http://www.theempirehotel.com/categories/dining

*Prices quoted are nett prices.

Have a nice meal,

Cliff(y)