Stix Satay Bar — Restaurant in Bintan Island

Was a repeat visit to Bintan Indigo in Feb. Serendipity discovery of Stix which is a brain child of Michael with his talented team. To call Stix, a satay bar is an understatement and does not do it justice at all. It's affordable casual fine dining with personalised service. It is seating around the L-shape counter. I love Indonesian hospitality. Engga, the friendly, engaging and upbeat bar-tender, makes his guests feel welcome. He should be a diplomat! Love watching him create cocktails for other diners. Comes Iwan, our bashful, talented chef who treats each order on the Santa Maria, with passion and precision. The lovingly playful garnishes of curly tendrils of young pea shoots, etc. I was absolutely blown by the Jackfruit rendang! This is my memorable dish, the kind of dish one keeps in mind's memory. Incomparable. There are many things to love about Indigo Lagoi, impeccable service from Engga and Iwan at Stix deserves...

So... I'm not really a foodie (if you see my other reviews) so for me to say the food was not great is something. And the food was really not that great for the price we paid (expect around $30 per person to feel full-ish).

The restaurant only has 16 seats and presents itself as some omakase-like place. The service staff were very very nice but not particularly attentive... We struggled to attract their attention at times and it took awhile for us to receive the menu, water, the complimentary snacks etc. after we were seated.

There's honestly not much to eat in this part of Bintan so this is something to try out I guess but don't have your expectations...

The food was good, but not exceptional. Some meats were rather tough and marinade did not quite fully set for some of them. You’d also have to order quite a bit to be full, given that there’s only sticks on the menu and no other carbs besides 1 option. There are very few food options around Lagoi and this is one of the more upscale intimate restaurants, so we expected better service. Service was painfully slow although wait staff were very nice. Be prepared to wait - saving grace is that the atmosphere is very...