Kampoeng Kelong Seafood Restaurant

When holidaying in Bintan, it is inevitable to have a seafood meal as many seafood restaurants come highly recommended by hotels and resorts and the price is very pocket friendly as compared to Singapore

Kampoeng Kelong seafood restaurant is located on the mangrove river in a traditional kelong. A kelong is a traditional wooden platform which is used for fishing and fish farming or housing by fishermen. Kelongs are found predominantly in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines and while a handful is still used by fishermen, some are specially built to house seafood restaurants boasting fresh seafood offerings

The restaurant will offer free transfer from the jetty which does the mangrove tours and the ride via the traditional boat took 10 mins. It is an enjoyable ride as the breeze from the moving boat is extremely comforting in the hot Bintan weather. Once you arrive, you can reach the restaurant via the steep wooden stairs. While it is compulsory for all passengers to wear a life jacket, it might be scary for some people when stepping off the boat to the floating platform as the platform will wobble and shake but once you reach the restaurant, it is almost like standing on land

The restaurant is big and spacious and can accommodate a huge group but when we were there, there were only another 2 tables of customers so we sat at the tables right at the far end of the platform under the shelter. As it is above the mangrove, there are a lot of mosquitoes so for people who are prone to getting bitten, do prepare your own repellent. I did ask the restaurant for mosquito coils but many of us still got bitten on the legs and arms

The first dish served was the boiled whelk which was fresh, crunchy and sweet and when eaten with the chilli given it was very appetising. They provide toothpicks for you to dig out the meat of the whelk from the shell and when the meat is out, do not eat the black tips as that part is not edible

The next dish served was this fishball and cabbage soup which was very bland and mediocre. The only flavour you get from the soup is just salty so I only had a taste and forgo the rest of the soup in my bowl

The next dish we got was the minced meat egg tofu on a hotplate which was a good dish to complement rice as the sauce was quite salty but unless those in Singapore, there were no prawns and only minced meat and vegetable cubes in the sauce. The egg was also not crispy enough and the plate was not sizzling when served

The sweet and sour fish was pretty ok in flavour and the fish meat was fresh and springy but it was nothing too spectacular

The Kang Kong which is water spinach was quite overcooked so the vegetables were quite limp and missing the crunch. Cooked in garlic, there was hardly any garlic flavour

This next dish was the fried calamari with garlic and it was surprisingly very delicious as the squid was soft and tender with a crispy crunchy batter and light fragrance from the fried garlic

As a main highlight, we had the black pepper crab which is not my favourite choice as I am a chilli crab person so I only had a small piece. The black pepper flavour was on the sweet side instead of the fragrant peppery taste and the crabs were very fresh and pretty big in size

Lastly, we added an additional order of grilled slipper lobster which were huge in size and extremely fresh as we see them being caught from the water tanks. The meat was very fresh and springy and the grilling gives it a nice charred flavour

Overall, if you are looking for an experience to dine in a traditional kelong, you can try coming to this restaurant as the boat rides to the kelong were also quite an enjoyable point. While there are also other kelong nearer to the jetty, the prices here are really affordable. In terms of food, some of the dishes are ok and they definitely have very fresh ingredients but if you are looking for very delicious food, there could be other seafood restaurants available

Address: 48QP+337, Unnamed Road, Tlk, Sebong Lagoi, Teluk Sebong, Bintan Regency, Riau Islands 29152, Indonesia

Operating hours: 10 am to 10 pm