Bruneian Eats*This story was written in collaboration with our local friend from Bruneian Eats.
Lots of variations of Nasi Katok available at SDK Restaurant in Rimba. (Fun fact: Did you know that you can also order instant noodles here?)
For just one dollar, can you get yourself a satisfying meal? In Brunei, yes you can!
What can you get for one dollar, you ask? How about a packet of ‘Nasi Katok’?
But where can you find Brunei’s ULTIMATE Nasi Katok? We believe that it could be SDK Restaurant in Rimba (@sdksignaturefoods on Instagram, see map below), which serves a wide range of unique variations of Nasi Katok.
We were informed that this is the Nasi Katok stall is a popular food joint for students of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB).
How to get there?
When you enter the Rimba area, look out for Jalan 99, where Sekolah Menengah Rimba II is located.
Upon entering the Jalan, keep following it until you see Simpang 148 and turn in.
Once in Simpang 148, you will come across house No. 22, which is what you’re looking for.
When you enter the house, you will see a giant banner with the different types of Nasi Katok on offer. Convinced by the banner, we ordered their popular Nasi Katok buttermilk, their original and the honey flavoured one. You can also choose your sambal sauce preference (we went with original).
Original Nasi Katok
Original Nasi Katok
The original Nasi Katok was much like most other Nasi Katok, with a piece of deep fried chicken, sambal sauce and rice. As with all the other Nasi Katok offered here at SDK, the chicken had a very slight crunch and a great savoury flavour. What made the Nasi Katok here different was that the sambal sauce was thicker and sweeter with a more prominent onion flavour to it. We felt that the sambal even had a mild char aroma to it. As we had chosen original flavour, the sambal was not spicy at all. When combined with the savoury chicken, the whole dish was a great balance of sweet and salty, which made us crave for rice.
Buttermilk Nasi Katok
Buttermilk Nasi Katok with a side order of ‘pusu’ (anchovies)
In addition to what the original Nasi Katok had, the buttermilk Nasi Katok also came with the addition of a runny, buttermilk sauce coating the chicken. Again, this buttermilk sauce had a combination of sweet and salty flavours. Additionally, it had a hint of butter and milk aroma, which added a creamy and richer taste. We also loved the hint of curry scent from the addition of curry leaves in the sauce.
Honey Nasi Katok
Honey Nasi Katok
Similarly, the Honey Nasi Katok was different from the original in that the chicken came covered in a thin, honey sauce. What we enjoyed the most about the honey sauce was that it wasn’t overpoweringly sweet, was light tasting and had a mild, sweet honey scent to it. Without a doubt, they had achieved a great balance of flavours once more.
Overall, we enjoyed each of these Nasi Katok so much that we had to get more for takeaway. We especially enjoyed the variety of flavours offered here and would surely experiment with different types of sambal next time. Furthermore, we were amazed at how everything here still cost the usual $1 for each Nasi Katok! (How is this even possible?! See also: Is it possible to survive with just $5 a day in Brunei?)
Do you agree with what you read here today? Is this really the place to find Brunei’s ULTIMATE Nasi Katok? Have you had any of the Nasi Katok here before? If so, do let us know what your favourite flavours are!
If you’d like to recommend other Nasi Katok stalls, drop us a comment below or reach our to us via Facebook or Instagram.
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