YummY!
Jotaro's Food Review
CHEESY FRESH WATER PRAWNS @ PARIT BUNTAR
Kampung Bagan Samak, Bandar Baharu, Kedah, Malaysia - February 2015
Okay, first I must apologise for confusing you. This restaurant is not in Parit Buntar, it is not even in Perak. But you will have to excuse me as I myself was confused trying to get there. See, this place is at the point where three states (Penang, Perak & Kedah) meet, depending on which direction you are coming from, driving through the roads leading to the place, you may probably pass by all three states.
So to clear the confusion, the nice food posted here is from Hiang Sik Restaurant located at Kampung Bagan Samak, near Bandar Baharu which is in Kedah!
The two of us (Ooi & me) were heading down south from a work trip in Kangar, come dinner time and it was a search for good food. We were in the vicinity of Bukit Tambun & Batu Kawan but decided to give those touristy places with its touristy pricing a miss.
Instead we went further south and exited to Parit Buntar (that's in Perak) and drove around looking good food. We also considered crossing over to Nibong Tebal (that's in Penang) which is also renown for it's good food such as steamed baby octopus, deep-fried pig's trotters.
Ooi who was quite familiar with this area then suggested why not go to some place where not many know about. That's how we ended in Kampung Bagan Samak (which is near Bandar Baharu and both are in Kedah) at Restoran Hiang Sik (龍门河鮮).
But what shall we order for just the two of us.
Just before coming here we had gone to another seafood restaurant, a bigger one. Unfortunately they were closed but in their water tanks we espied this really, really huge Udang Galah (giant freshwater prawns). It's body alone was almost a foot long (those tiles in the photo are one foot by one foot, and the "smaller" prawns seen nearby are the regular sized ones.
So the decision was easy, Udang Galah it has to be!
I have had Udang Galah either steamed or cooked in thick curry, those were rather good (... see Undang Galah @ Tanjung Tualang blog).
Hiang Sik does the prawns those styles too, but the chef recommended his secret recipe: prawns deep fried and then stir-fried with his special sauce. The meat of the prawns done this way were slightly hard but still munchy; the sauce... oh... the sauce was the killer. I detected some sourish taste of cheese in it, a hint of tamarind; sweetness of some sugar and some saltiness too. It was a good blend of sweet-sour-salty flavour enhance by some other spices the chef had added in.
This is one dish that I will definitely recommend.
We also had this Steamed Grouper In Soy Sauce-Oil Sauce that came garnished with cuts of spring onion, ginger and garlic. The fish was superbly fresh, so fresh that it should just be done this simple way; any other more elaborate cooking would just be a waste of its sweet freshness. It was a medium serving that could easily feed four, none-the-less the two of us walloped it to the bones Yeah!
Veggies were this Stir Fried Tien Wong Choy (Emperor's Vegetables); a light dish to balance off the heartiness of the other two solid dishes.
It's a pity that there were only two of us and we could not order more dishes to try out; perhaps next time I will bring more friends and family here.
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| Hiang Sik's cozy indoor sitting. |
The damage for eating here? It was no damage at all and the pricing was a bonus for the good food we had. The six medium to large sized Udang Galah cost about RM35/-, the grouper fish just pass RM40/-. Hell.... it's a cheap place to eat!
But please don't tell them, just tell them their food is good and the pricing reasonable, otherwise this goldmine of a place will not be a goldmine anymore.
Ooi also advised that should I come to Bagan Samak again, that I should avoid eating at the Thai foodie places there as their food was just okay and the pricing much higher than the Chinese food outlets.
RESTORAN HIANG SIK (龍门河鮮)Jalan Lima, Kampung Bagan Samak, 34950 Bandar Bahru, Kedah, Malaysia.
Tel: +605-7173684 / +6017-4938079
GPS & Google Directions Map: 5.09028, 100.55958.
(Directions: exiting from the Bandar Baharu ramp of the North-South Higway, take the first left turn and head all the way to the end, that will be Kampung Bagan Samak)
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Okay, first I must apologise for confusing you. This restaurant is not in Parit Buntar, it is not even in Perak. But you will have to excuse me as I myself was confused trying to get there. See, this place is at the point where three states (Penang, Perak & Kedah) meet, depending on which direction you are coming from, driving through the roads leading to the place, you may probably pass by all three states.
The two of us (Ooi & me) were heading down south from a work trip in Kangar, come dinner time and it was a search for good food. We were in the vicinity of Bukit Tambun & Batu Kawan but decided to give those touristy places with its touristy pricing a miss.
But what shall we order for just the two of us.
I have had Udang Galah either steamed or cooked in thick curry, those were rather good (... see Undang Galah @ Tanjung Tualang blog).
We also had this Steamed Grouper In Soy Sauce-Oil Sauce that came garnished with cuts of spring onion, ginger and garlic. The fish was superbly fresh, so fresh that it should just be done this simple way; any other more elaborate cooking would just be a waste of its sweet freshness. It was a medium serving that could easily feed four, none-the-less the two of us walloped it to the bones Yeah!
Veggies were this Stir Fried Tien Wong Choy (Emperor's Vegetables); a light dish to balance off the heartiness of the other two solid dishes.
RESTORAN HIANG SIK
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