Over the weekends I went to Kuantan for a short trip with Sheryl. We didn’t have any concrete plan, and it was basically just an opportunity to spend some time and catch up after she’d come back from her post graduate studies in Europe. After all, it was some 7 years since we were last living together in the States.
Pak Su seafood restaurant, with the best al fresco dining experience
After spending better part of the afternoon chilling at Cherating beach sipping coconut juice, we decided to check out Pak Su seafood restaurant by the beach. It was partly due to convenience as Pak Su is located rather close to where we were staying.
While this is a Chinese restaurant, it is also halal, and there were quite a number of Muslim patrons and workers alike at the premise.
We took a table at the al fresco dining area by the beach. The scenery was incredible, full moon, strong waves, and the rather powerful sea breeze makes up for one of the best seafood dinner ambiance I’ve experienced.
fresh Canadian oysters, vegetable, butter prawn
For the two of us, we ordered a pair of fresh Canadian oysters (RM 8 each) to start. They were huge, juicy and absolutely delicious, the other other place with comparable oyster would be Kensington at Seremban.
Butter prawn (RM 20) was another commendable dish, it was cooked in the “wet” style (there’s also the other butter prawn preparation you might have had from Chinese wedding dinners, this is not the same method). The prawns were huge, fresh, and rather delicious.
To fulfill the illusion of having a complete meal, we ordered a plate of vegetable (豆苗 RM7) too. It was however, a bit too old and not something I’d recommend.
stuffed crab and steamed siakap
The one famous seafood dish everyone must try when at East-Coast is the stuffed crab. Pretty much every seafood restaurants from Kuantan to Kemaman will have this particular dish on the menu.
We ordered two stuffed crab from Pak Su (RM 6 each). It was basically a crab shell stuffed with plenty of crab meat and god knows what else, but it was quite tasty! I would order more than one next time, it was like having the best of crabs without having to deal with the whole peeling off crab shell nonsense.
The steamed siakap (RM 18) we had was forgettable. The fish steak as per recommended by our server was way too tough it felt like we were chewing on cardboard. There are quite a lot of other live fish to choose from though, so perhaps other choices would be better than what we ordered.
KY, the awesome view, and Sheryl
The service at Pak Su follows the life style of east-coast Malaysia quite a bit too much, it was horrendously slow. While it didn’t take too long for us to get our food after ordering, getting the attention of servers to start the prepare our table/ordering/paying/getting change took way too long.
Our dinner was RM 84 in total, including 5% government tax, pretty reasonable price that is comparable to KL standard.
As for the food, there were dishes that was rather good (oyster, stuffed crab, butter prawn), and some were pretty lousy (vegetable, fish). However, I do feel that this place is worth visiting even if just for the ambiance. You really have to be there to appreciate it.
Address:
Pak Su Seafood Restaurant
No.4/1417, Batu 6, Lot 922, Kg.Bahagia Beserah,
26100 Kuantan , Pahang Darul Makmur.
GPS: 3.87582, 103.36636
Tel: 09-544 8025
URL: paksu-seafood.com.my
I first read about this Thai Fish Farm Restaurant from the post on Kim’s blog. It is a place hidden in the jungle of Hulu Langat, situated at the other end of Klang Valley from where we stay (if you can still consider Hulu Langat to be within Klang Valley), and less than a couple kilometers away from the famous “look-out point”.
grilled crabs, fresh vegetable, Thai Fish Farm Restaurant
It took us close to an hour’s drive to get to Hulu Langat from northern part of PJ on New Year’s day, partly due to the holiday’s heavy traffic, and partly the annoying rain.
It is advisable to go there with a car that has at least decent ground clearance as the last kilometer or so (from the turning off Jalan Hulu Langat KM 4) consist of unpaved road within the jungle.
It felt like we were smuggling contrabands in golden triangle than going for dinner, it was as remote as it was dodgy. Once we reached there, however, there were dozens of cars parked at the clearing and the place was full of people we had to wait over 20 minutes to secure a table.
Thai steamed siakap, vegetable, snail meat, omelete
For the 10 of us, we ordered seven crabs (we wanted more but they ran out!), two types of fish, squid, snails, vegetables, lamb, and vegetable. We ordered some rice to go with all these, and coconut drinks as well as some toddy with Guinness to complete the illusion of being on vacation since we were sitting on stilts by a body of water anyway.
The steamed siakap (barramundi) was delicious, the chili padi and garlic a Thai signature. Vegetable was super fresh, and the omelet, well were just omelet.
The snail meat though, was quite special. Fried in (most probably) curry paste/powder with lime leaf and long bean, it was chewy and flavorful. Tasted like a slightly harder version of escargot but with stronger taste, I liked it a lot.
grilled crab, squid with salted egg, salt grilled fish, grilled lamb
Dinner at Thai Fish Farm is not complete without some grilled crab. Like at Hing Ket in Kampung Jawa, the crab is grilled without any additional seasoning to preserve the original taste of the crustacean. They were not overly grilled and still rather juicy, was quite good to be honest.
The grilled lamb was alright, but I prefer the kampung jawa version. Squid with salted egg though, was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of having the squid fried with salted egg, the “salted egg sauce” was poured on separately, it was a bit weird and slimy, not something I’d order again.
The salt grilled fish is something that I have seen when I was in Thailand but never had the chance to give it a try. The fish, Tilapia in this case, is simply applied with generous amount of salt and grilled. While the fish meat, being Tilapia, was still quite tasteless, and this is where the salted fish skin comes in. Apply a little bit of fish skin and it goes so well with the meat, a rather interesting combination, no soya sauce needed.
kerol, FA, Kim, Gareth, Horng, Ruby, Suan, Eric, KY, Jac, and Terence (hidden)
The bill came up to slightly less than RM 40 per person including coconut juice for everyone (around RM 350+ in total if I’m not mistaken). A very satisfying dinner at exotic location at a decent price, and most importantly, with the company you want to be with. That, was a good new year dinner.
Address:
Restaurant Thai Fish Farm
Km 4, Jalan Ampang Hulu Langat,
68000 Ampang, Selangor
GPS: 3.130077, 101.803586
Tel: 017-251 5235, 019-260 6493
As a practical joke from this God person, people are made in such a way that food always tastes better when we have to travel long distance to obtain them. Something that you can get right next door is never as satisfying as the one you have to spend an hour’s journey getting there.
Hence, the place to go for seafood when you’re in Penang is not located on the island, it is this little fishing village called Tambun on peninsular side of the stat. The place is anything from 40 min to 1.5 hours away from the island, depending on the mercy of traffic.
Jon, Jun, and Wai Meng, check out the big fat mantis prawns swimming!
And since we were in Penang over the long weekends, it took us well over an hour to get from the little motel at Tanjung Tokong to Gee Seng Seafood Restaurant at Tambun. The road from Penang bridge onwards was alright, it was getting to the bridge that took the longest time ever.
Lesson Learned: never try to drive anywhere far within Penang over any long weekends.
fried squid, prawn with Nestum, fried noodle, crab with salted egg
This was actually my first time at Gee Seng seafood restaurant, and it was almost a couple years since I last went to Tambun. We somehow found a parking space deep inside the village and made our way to the restaurant.
For the five of us, we ordered deep fried squid, prawn with Nestum, crab with salted egg, giant mantis prawn, noodle, and a plate of vegetable for some sense of balance.
love the giant mantis prawns, says Elfie
Despite the crowd, our dishes didn’t take long start arriving at the table. They were fresh and really tasty, despite having scored almost negative when it comes to presentation. I particularly like the giant mantis prawns (RM 60 for the 3 we had), very succulent and sweet, did you know that these creatures have polarized vision?
Nestum prawns (RM 23) and deep fried squid (RM 18) too were top notch, but I thought the crab with salted egg (RM 47) was kinda average, would have been better if they were bigger.
Together with the vegetable, noodle, and tea, the bill came to RM 155.50, which translate to only RM 31 per person for the 5 of us for some rather satisfying food. Everyone agreed that it was worth the drive, but perhaps next time we should try somewhere closer? emm
Address:
Restoran Makanan Laut Gee Seng
860, Bagan Bukit Tambun,
14100 Simpang Ampat, Penang
GPS: 5.271221, 100.443385
Tel: 04-588 7200
I usually make it a point to not review the same restaurant more than once, but when Kong called me up and told me about the hairy crab menu at Dragon-i, temptations got the better of my crab/crap policy.
The first time I had hairy crab (Chinese mitten crab 大閘蟹) was at Restaurant King Crab almost 2 years ago. It gave me a impression not entirely unlike the first taste of foie gras, the roe/juice from hairy crab has a very unique richness and taste.
The hairy crab set menu goes for RM128 nett, not for the faint hearted
Hairy crab served at Dragon-i is harvested and air flown weekly from Tai Lake, China. The season starts at around September and runs through December every year.
The set menu is priced at RM 128 nett per person (min 3 pax) with six dishes – steamed Shanghainese hairy crab, steamed Shanghainese crab roe dumpling (xiao long pao), double-boiled superior chicken soup with fish maw & bamboo pith, sauteed fresh vegetable with crab roe, yong chow fried rice, and sesame dumpling with ginger soup.
the crab is steamed and then masterfully prepared for your consumption
As with most classic Chinese dinners, we started out with the double boiled superior chicken soup with fish maw and bamboo pith. The soup was subtle yet sophisticated, I really love the big slab of fish maw and different texture given by the bamboo pith. Adding a little bit of soya sauce makes it rather tasty.
double boiled soup, vegetable with crab roe, yong chow fried rice
Next up was the sauteed vegetable with crab roe, a simple and unassuming looking dish that turned out to be very good. The richness and crab roe balanced by fresh green vegetable that is sauteed ever just slightly. A very good combination.
Dragon-i’s famous xiao long pao was served next. Only this time they’re topped with crab roe much like the style more associated with Japanese food. I particularly like the tiny tray with a handle they used to hold the xiao long pao, even the ginger in vinegar is meticulously chopped. Every strand is equal in length and width.
cheesie showing the xiao long pao topped with crab roe
Yong Chow fried rice was served just before the hairy crab itself. Although a relatively common fried rice dish you can find basically in any Chinese restaurant in Malaysia, the fried rice at Dragon-i was something else. Prepared by chef Kung Yu Hung who is actually from Yangzhou (that’s Yong Chow in Mandarin) itself, the rice is fried with bits of char siu, egg, green onion, prawn, and of course, hairy crab meat. It is on par with the excellent fried rice I had at Elegant Inn.
chef Kung Yu Hung, KY, glutinous rice dumpling with sesame
The main dish of the day, hairy crab, was up next. Simply steamed with no extra ingredients added, the crab is then prepared by our very professional server. The shell is opened, each leg is then cut and the crab meat pushed slightly outwards, the pincers too were cracked for easier consumption.
We had a male crab of about 200+ gram (female for the roe, male has more meat) each. The “kou”, technically not roe since these were male crabs, was supremely rich and savory. They are similar to “kou” found in the mud crab we are more familiar with but several order tastier, for the lack of a better description. The meat too was sweet and very delicious.
Kong (left) and fellow comrades who enjoyed the lunch session
We capped the day by having sesame dumpling with ginger soup as dessert, the ginger soup was something good to wash the tongue off any lingering seafood taste, and the sesame dumpling was rather good too.
Overall it was a very satisfying food review session that was only made better by the company we were with. Meena (who was shortlisted on Nuffnang Awards for best food blog), KampungboyCitygirl, fatboybakes, Cumi&Ciki, and more were there and everyone had a great time.
Address:
Dragon-i
6 Jalan PJU 7/3
Lot 136 & 137, 1F
Mutiara Damansara, PJ, Selangor
GPS: 3.157699, 101.611540
Tel: 03-7728 6888
The hairy crab menu ca n also be found at Dragon-i outlets located at Pavilion, Mid Valley, 1 Utama, Sunway Pyramid, and Queensbay Mall in Penang.
Every we went out to eat with Chow Ahbeng aka Galvin, he would always say something like “next time I bring you to eat at this place, they serve the best xxx”, and one of the places he mentioned most was this “fried porridge” thing at Klang.
So after listening to him talking about it for a good part of last few years, we finally made a trip to Klang a couple weeks ago and actually tasted it for ourselves. The place is appropriately named Restoran Bubur Goreng, direct translation – Fried Porridge Restaurant, not the most imaginative name huh?
the group includes Galvin, Damien, Rachel, Kerol, Horng
The restaurant is located right across the 7-11 at Berkeley Garden in Klang. Berkeley is in turn, located on the right of Federal Highway after taking 3 o’clock at the round about not far from the Klang toll. Not exactly terribly difficult to find even for a first timer to the area.
Galvin did the honor by ordering for the nine of us. A big plate of Hokkien Mee, two bowls of their signature fried porridge, and another huge portion of crab meehun.
hokkien mee, fried porridge, huge plate of crab meehun, bottled sugar cane
The Hokkien mee here is a little wetter than usual, and the extra sauce really does help bring out the flavor, I just wish there were slightly more lard like those at restaurant Ahwa in PJ though.
Crab meehun was this giant plate of fried meehun with three or four rather good size flower crabs. I’ve always love crab meehun and this did not disappoint, having flower crab instead of the usual mud crab made it easier to eat too. This was my favorite dish from the dinner.
crab meehun, and fried porridge with extra lard!
As for the fried porridge itself, well, I find it tasting a little weird. It’s a combination of familiar tastes that never felt quite right to me. The porridge has pork, tofu, spring onion, and some ingredients I couldn’t identify/recall. Horng and Galvin seemed to like it, but the slightly burnt porridge taste was still a bit weird, probably takes a little used to.
The bill came up to less than RM14 per person with drinks included. Pretty reasonable considering a typical meal of Hokkien Mee at PJ and drinks will fetch close to RM 10 anyway, and we had plenty of crab meehun.
Address:
Restorant Bubur Goreng
(Old Berkeley Cinema)
Lot 6932, Lebuh Bangau Taman Berkeley,
41150 Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
GPS: 3.06005,101.464974
Tel: 016-6868 579
