Kyspeaks.com

There isn’t many seaside kampung style restaurants that have the honor having a Crown Prince to attend the opening ceremony, Kedai Makan Rahmat at Pasir Gudang is one of them (or perhaps the only).

Officially launched by Duli Yang Amat Mulia Tunku Mahkota Johor, Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Sultan Iskandar in 1986, Kedai Makan Rahmat remains a very popular lunch destination for those who works around Pasir Gudang.

Kedah Makan Rahmat at Kampung Pasir Putih, Pasir Gudang

It is usually a wise idea to call ahead and book for a table before visiting Kedai Makan Rahmat, we did not do that and ended up waiting for about 20 odd minutes before a table is vacant, and already considered ourselves pretty lucky.

The restaurant is located at Kampung Pasir Putih, between Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort and the MMHE Yard. Parking isn’t usually a big problem, the restaurant is always very busy, but manage to maintain a pretty high standard of cleanliness. I only wish that the beach where the restaurant is built upon is half as good.

and that’s our lunch, dig in!

Almost everyone comes here for essentially the same dish – Siakap Goreng (deep fried barramundi fish). For the five of us, we ordered three pretty good size siakap goreng, a portion of udang goreng (deep fried shrimp), a couple plates of kacang with sambal, two plates of petai with ikan bilis, and  a serving of kacang panjang (french beans) to satisfy our vitamin C quota.

kacang panjang, petai, udang bakar, and siakap goreng

The good thing about Rahmat is that even when really busy, food doesn’t take very long to be served once you’ve ordered and seated.

The siakap was as good as advertised, steamy hot, super fresh, and with absolutely soft and delicious flesh. The skin is usually discarded as the scales aren’t removed (I hope they did..). Mixing the fish with sambal petai, kacang, or sambal belacan proved to be the solution to the mystery of why this place is so damn popular. It was yummeh!

While the kacang was a bit lackluster, I also really enjoyed the petai.

KY, Shamsul, Radzi, Azman, and Zahirah

It’s also wise to order their pre-made lime juice that comes in jars. They are very refreshing and does a wonderful job of neutralizing the spicy sambal.

I was more than satisfied by the food at Rahmat, and the wait time was certainly well worth it. Food and drinks came to about RM 25 or so per person, and considering the three big and fresh siakap fish we got, it was of pretty decent value as well.

I definitely would love to go back there again.

we stopped by a kampung style cendol and keropok lekor

After lunch, we stopped by a kampung style cendol and keropok lekor place a couple streets down for something cooling. The cendol with crushed ice (since they don’t have a the ice shaving machine) and pulut was pretty decent, and that keropok lekor you see in the picture was only for RM 1. Great value, but unfortunately not exactly super tasty.

By the way, another place worth checking out at Pasir Gudang is the Ayam Penyet at Restoran Selera Sambal.

Address:
Kedai Makan Rahmat
No 3. Jalan Pantai,
Kampung Pasir Putih,
81700 Pasir Gudang, Johor
GPS: 1.434596, 103.930997
Tel: 07-271 1770 / 019-740 8847
Hours: 10.30 am – 3.30 pm

I’ve had to travel to Pasir Gudang for work for a few weeks recently. Most of the days, we have our lunch at Tanjong Puteri Golf Cafe thanks to the expat friendly lunch menu. Not particularly exciting to me, however.

So when we found ourselves having a little more culinary freedom on one of the afternoons, my colleague who’s based on location drove me to the nearby Kampung Putih for some good old ayam penyet at Restoran Selera Sambal.

Restaurant Selera Sambal at Pasir Gudang

Kampung Pasir Putih is not exactly a tourist attraction, but it does have a few restaurants on the main stretch that caters to the locals and the ship yard workers alike, Restoran Selera Sambal is one of them.

The menu includes all sorts of penyet (smashed) dishes – starting with ayam penyet (chicken), leleh (cat fish), udang (prawns), sotong (squid) daging (beef), to burung punyuh (quail). Combinations of two ingredients are possible too, as with burger conventions – these are called “specials”.

ayam penyet set at RM 6.50, yum yums

I’ve only tried their classic ayam penyet so far. The chicken certainly very crispy and flavorful, with the meat tend to be slightly tougher, but in the kampung chicken type of way, I like it.

And as with the name suggest, their sambal is really top notch. It was spicy and addictive, I naturally asked for more. Other than tempeh, tofu, ulam, and soup, there’s also some fried potato as sides. It’s a full meal for sure, and all for RM 6.50.

If you find yourself at Pasir Gudang, remember that Tanjong Puteri Golf resort is not the only choice for lunch. Thank you Adnan for bringing me there. 😀

Address:
Restoran Selera Sambal
No. 25, Jalan Pengkalan 5,
Taman Pasir Mas
Kg. Pasir Putih
Pasir Gudang, Johor
GPS: 1.441042, 103.932096
Tel: 016-707 4788, 017-702 9297