Brunei food is Malay at heart: rice, coconut, chili sambal, fish and sweet kuih, with Chinese, Indian and Bornean dishes alongside. Try ambuyat, the sago national dish, and nasi katok, rice with fried chicken for about B$1.50. To drink, order teh tarik or kopi: Brunei is dry, and no alcohol is sold anywhere.
- Must-eat: ambuyat, nasi katok, satay, kelupis, kuih, ikan bakar (grilled fish) and roti with curry.
- Must-drink: teh tarik, kopi, air batu campur (ABC shaved ice), fresh coconut water and sugarcane juice.
- Where: Gadong Night Market (daily 4pm to 11pm), Tamu Kianggeh for breakfast, kedai kopi coffee shops, and Kampong Ayer for an ambuyat meal on the water.
- Cost: street food from B$1, nasi katok B$1 to B$1.50, ambuyat sets roughly B$15 to B$30 to share. The Brunei dollar is pegged 1:1 to the Singapore dollar.
- Rules: nearly all food is halal, pork is served only in some Chinese restaurants, and almost everything closes for Friday prayers (about 12pm to 2pm).
What Bruneian food is like#
Bruneian cooking shares most of its recipes with neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, and the everyday kitchen is practical rather than fancy. Rice is the center of almost every meal, cooked plain, in coconut milk or wrapped and grilled, and coconut and chili flavor sambals and curries. Fish from the South China Sea and the rivers is the staple protein, and a large foreign workforce has filled the towns with Chinese, Indian and other Asian kitchens.
What is distinctly Bruneian is the sago tradition behind ambuyat, once a staple of Borneo’s indigenous peoples, plus leaf-wrapped rice cakes such as kelupis and a long list of kuih. Because Brunei is a Malay Muslim monarchy, food in public is halal, and that shapes menus, festivals and the fasting month of Ramadan.
Brunei dishes to try#
Ambuyat
Photo: e_chaya, CC BY 2.0
Brunei’s national dish is a bland, glue-like paste of sago palm starch and hot water. You twirl a mouthful around a two-pronged bamboo candas (also spelled chandas) and dip it into cacah, a sour, spicy sauce, often made with binjai, a wild mango. It comes as a shared set with grilled fish, vegetables and sambal. Most Bruneians eat rice day to day, so only a few restaurants serve it.
Kelupis
Photo: Night Lantern, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sticky glutinous rice packed into a tight roll of nyirik leaves and steamed. It is a fixture at weddings and family celebrations, and on breakfast tables with a peanut or curry dip, or a sprinkle of dried shrimp or anchovies.
Kuih and wajid
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Kuih are bite-size cakes of rice flour, coconut and palm sugar sold by the bagful. Look for wajid (caramelized coconut rice in a leaf; the Temburong version is the most prized), kuih cincin (crunchy palm-sugar rings), green-and-white seri muka and kuih koci. At Gadong a pack costs about B$1.
Nasi katok
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Brunei’s everyday comfort food: a scoop of rice, a piece of fried chicken and a spoon of sambal, wrapped in paper. The name means “knock rice”, from customers knocking on sellers’ doors late at night. It started at B$1; many stalls now charge B$1.50, and 24-hour outlets sell it around the clock.
Satay and grills
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Skewers of chicken and beef satay with peanut sauce are grilled to order at every night market. Tongkeng ayam (grilled chicken tails) is a favorite at Jerudong Park Food Court. Braver eaters can try hati buyah, beef lung skewers.
Ikan bakar
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Whole fish, often mackerel, rubbed with spices and grilled over charcoal, then eaten with rice and sambal. Fish is the everyday protein in Brunei, and grilled fish is a usual side in an ambuyat set.
Roti and curry
Photo: Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Indian Muslim curry houses serve flaky griddled roti kosong (plain) or roti telur (with egg) with a bowl of curry for dipping. With a glass of teh tarik it is a popular breakfast.
Penyaram and fried snacks
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Penyaram, nicknamed kuih UFO, is a saucer of rice flour and coconut milk fried crisp at the edges and soft in the middle, a recipe of the Bruneian Malays and Bajau. Stalls pile it next to beef begedil, spring rolls and curry puffs, usually B$1 for three to five pieces.
Durian and tropical fruit
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Night markets and tamu (open markets) sell whatever is in season: durian, tied in bundles at Gadong, plus rambutan and wild Bornean fruits such as binjai, the sour mango used in ambuyat’s cacah sauce.
More dishes worth ordering#
- Nasi lemak: rice cooked in coconut milk with sambal, anchovies, peanuts and egg, a breakfast staple.
- Beef rendang: beef slow-cooked in spiced coconut milk until dry and dark, a festive favorite.
- Pajeri nanas: a sweet-sour pineapple curry served at festive meals.
- Soto: a clear, spiced beef noodle soup, sold at food courts and soto shops.
- Kolo mee: springy egg noodles tossed in a light sauce with sliced meat, the classic Chinese coffee-shop breakfast (ask whether it is halal).
- Pulut panggang: glutinous rice wrapped in leaves and grilled. Mei Fang in Tutong is famous for it and can sell out by 8:30am.
- Bamboo chicken: marinated chicken slow-cooked inside bamboo over a fire, from the Iban longhouse kitchen.
- Tapai: sweet-sour fermented rice wrapped in nipah leaves.
- Keropok udang: prawn crackers, sun-dried and fried, sold in bags everywhere.
What to drink in Brunei#
Teh tarik and kopi
Photo: Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0
Teh tarik is black tea with condensed milk, poured back and forth between two jugs until it froths. Order kopi for coffee with condensed milk, kopi O for black coffee, and teh C for tea with evaporated milk. Add ais for iced, and expect it sweet unless you ask for less sugar (kurang manis).
Air batu campur (ABC)
Photo: Yu Chu Chin, CC BY-SA 4.0
“Mixed ice”: a mound of shaved ice over red beans, grass jelly, sago pearls and jelly noodles, doused in syrup and milk. Half drink, half dessert, it is the go-to cooler on a hot afternoon at food courts and dessert stalls across the country.
Coconut water and fresh juices
Photo: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0
Young coconut water (air kelapa) is ladled over ice for about B$1 at Gadong. Markets also press air gelagah (sugarcane juice) to order, and juice stalls blend whatever fruit is in season. Canned soft drinks, iced teas and soy milk fill the fridges of every kedai and convenience store.
No alcohol is sold anywhere in Brunei. Non-Muslim visitors aged 17 and over may bring in up to two liters of wine or spirits plus 12 cans of beer, no more than once every 48 hours, but must declare it to customs on arrival and drink it only in private (your hotel room, not a restaurant or the street). Muslims may not drink at all, and penalties for undeclared alcohol or public drinking are strict. For evenings out, see Brunei nightlife.
Where to eat in Brunei#
The best Brunei food is cheap and found at markets, stalls and coffee shops, not in hotels. In Bandar Seri Begawan you can eat at Tamu Kianggeh for breakfast, a kedai kopi for lunch and Gadong Night Market for dinner.
Gadong Night Market
Brunei’s biggest and busiest food market, at Simpang 37, Jalan Pasar Gadong. Half the hall is street food (nasi katok, satay, grilled fish, kuih, fresh coconuts) with most items around B$1. Some vendors take cards; bring cash anyway. There is a prayer room (surau) on site.
Tamu Kianggeh
The riverside market in downtown Bandar Seri Begawan, best early in the morning when breakfast stalls sell nasi katok, teh tarik and kuih for about B$1 each, next to jungle fruit and vegetables. Cash only; closed 12pm to 2pm on Fridays.
Kedai kopi
Small local coffee shops all over town sell simple, cheap plates: noodles, fried rice, roti and kopi. Chinese-run kopitiam are also the place for kolo mee. Prices are a fraction of hotel restaurants, and they fill with locals at breakfast.
Kampong Ayer and the waterfront
In the stilt village of Kampong Ayer, Teratak Setiawan lodge hosts a private ambuyat experience with side dishes in a traditional Malay house (book ahead). On the mainland, the Gerai Makan stalls at the southeast end of the downtown waterfront sell cheap plates with views of the water village and water taxis.
Food courts
Jerudong Park Food Court, opposite the amusement park in Jerudong, is one of the largest, with satay and grilled meats. Sumbangsih Mulia in Beribi does nasi katok, soto and penyaram, and Kontena Park in Anggerek Desa is an open-air court of shipping-container stalls.
Restaurants
Aminah Arif (Kiulap branch: Bangunan Hj Abd Rahman, Simpang 88) is the best-known place to try ambuyat; the menu is in Malay. The One Riverside complex groups Kaizen Sushi, pizza and an Indian curry house, and Chinese restaurants such as Phongmun serve dim sum.
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Food around the country#
- Bandar Seri Begawan: Gadong Night Market, Tamu Kianggeh, kedai kopi and the waterfront stalls.
- Kampong Ayer: an ambuyat meal in a traditional stilt house, with river views from the stalls opposite.
- Jerudong: Jerudong Park Food Court, one of the country’s largest, for satay and grilled meats.
- Tutong: Pasarneka Tutong (Thursdays, 6am to noon) for local snacks and crafts, and early-morning pulut panggang.
- Bangar: Tamu Bangar, Temburong’s market, known for wajid Jawa and salted duck eggs.
- Kuala Belait: Gerai Bunga Rambai food stalls for ABC shaved ice and squid rojak.
Food prices in Brunei#
Brunei is pricier than Malaysia, closer to Singapore, but local food is cheap. Prices below are in Brunei dollars (B$), which are tied 1:1 to the Singapore dollar; Singapore notes are generally accepted.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Nasi katok (rice, fried chicken, sambal) | B$1 to B$1.50 |
| Nasi katok with lamb (kambing) at Gadong | B$3 |
| Kuih, wajid or fried snacks | B$1 for 3 to 5 pieces |
| Fresh coconut at Gadong Night Market | B$1 |
| Breakfast plate or teh tarik at Tamu Kianggeh | About B$1 |
| Ambuyat set for sharing (Aminah Arif) | Roughly B$15 to B$30 |
| Sushi at Kaizen (One Riverside) | B$20 to B$30 per person |
Markets and small stalls are mostly cash only, and torn or marked notes are often refused.
Halal food, Ramadan and etiquette#
Halal is the default. Nearly all food sold in Brunei is halal, and pork does not appear on Malay or Indian menus. The exception is many Chinese restaurants and coffee shops, which may serve pork and are meant for non-Muslim diners; char siew, roast meats, dim sum and kolo mee are the draws.
Vegetarians do best at South Asian restaurants and Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants, which are also the safest choice for vegans (check for egg). Kosher food is essentially unavailable.
Ramadan: In 2027 the fasting month is expected to start around February 8 (it depends on the moon sighting) and last about 30 days. Eating or drinking in public during daylight is illegal, and fines can run into the thousands of dollars. Chinese restaurants may stay open for takeaway. In the afternoon, Ramadan bazaars at Gadong and other sites sell nasi katok, satay, kelupis and sugarcane juice for sungkai, the evening meal that breaks the fast; go early, as favorites sell out.
Table manners: Pass food, money and dishes with your right hand or both hands, and eat with your right hand if you skip cutlery. In a home, guests are usually offered refreshments: take a little and thank your host.
Plan Friday lunch around prayers. Almost everything closes from about 12pm to 2pm on Fridays, including shops, markets and many hotel restaurants, and buses stop. Places start shutting around 11am, so eat an early lunch or wait until after 2pm. During Ramadan it is illegal to eat or drink in public in daylight, for visitors too; most stalls and restaurants close by day.
More Brunei guides#
Brunei Food and Drink FAQs#
Food
What food is Brunei famous for?
Brunei is famous for ambuyat, its sago national dish eaten with a bamboo candas and sour cacah sauce, and nasi katok, rice with fried chicken and sambal for about B$1.50. Satay, kelupis, grilled fish and kuih such as wajid are other classics. Dishes to try
What is the national dish of Brunei?
Ambuyat is the national dish of Brunei. It is a sticky paste of sago palm starch and hot water, twirled on a two-pronged bamboo candas and dipped in cacah sauce, served with grilled fish and vegetables. Aminah Arif in Bandar Seri Begawan is the best-known place to try it. Ambuyat
What is nasi katok in Brunei?
Nasi katok is Brunei’s favorite cheap meal: plain rice, a piece of fried chicken and sambal, wrapped in paper. The name means knock rice, from customers knocking on sellers’ doors at night. It used to cost B$1; most stalls now charge B$1 to B$1.50. Dishes to try
Drinks
What drinks are popular in Brunei?
Teh tarik (frothy pulled milk tea), kopi (coffee with condensed milk) and teh C are the everyday drinks in Brunei. Air batu campur (ABC shaved ice), fresh coconut water at about B$1 and sugarcane juice are the favorite coolers. What to drink
Can you drink alcohol in Brunei?
No alcohol is sold in Brunei. Non-Muslim visitors aged 17 and over may bring in two liters of wine or spirits plus 12 cans of beer once every 48 hours, declared to customs on arrival, and drink it only in private. Drinking in public is illegal. Alcohol rules
Where to eat
Where can I eat local food in Bandar Seri Begawan?
Gadong Night Market (daily 4pm to 11pm) is the best place for local street food, with most dishes around B$1. Tamu Kianggeh downtown is good for breakfast, kedai kopi coffee shops are everywhere, and Kampong Ayer offers an ambuyat meal on the water. Where to eat
How much does food cost in Brunei?
Street food in Brunei costs from B$1 a piece, nasi katok B$1 to B$1.50 and a fresh coconut about B$1. An ambuyat set to share runs roughly B$15 to B$30, and sushi about B$20 to B$30 per person. B$1 equals S$1. Food prices
Rules
Is all food in Brunei halal?
Nearly all food in Brunei is halal. The exception is many Chinese restaurants and coffee shops, which may serve pork to non-Muslim diners. Vegetarians do best at South Asian and Chinese Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. Halal and Ramadan
Can tourists eat in public during Ramadan in Brunei?
No. During Ramadan it is illegal for anyone, visitors included, to eat or drink in public in daylight, and most stalls close by day. Eat in your hotel room, use Chinese restaurant takeaway, or buy dinner at an afternoon Ramadan bazaar for after sunset. Halal and Ramadan