Hai Ong Seafood Restaurant @ Kota Baru

We have never been to Hai Ong , but heard that it’s famous for seafood dishes, so we decide to give it a try. It was 6:30pm and we were the first patron for the day- stepping into a eatery where empty tables greet you is always eerie. The lights were switched on when we arrived at our table. From the eye contacts, everyone is sending out the same signals..’are we sure we are having dinner here ?’ , we decided to be brave and stay put

 A lady (with a rather not too friendly look and tone of voice ) came to our table and ask us for our order, We ordered crabs, fried brinjals ( again), steamed fish, venison and chicken.

Lady who took order then proceed to the cooking station ( at the front of the shop ) and started to chop and cut some stuff on the chopping board and later she was seen busy with the wok, oh, then we forgave her for being sulky, she was overworked ! A young chap ( pleasant and friendly ) came to take our order for the drinks and we ordered : logan + winter melon, lime+ sour plum and barley.

The KumHeong Crabs was the first dish to arrive which was interesting as crabs are normally the last few dishes to be served, anyway, anytime is a good time to have your hands dirty eating crabs ! This was pretty good, the thick and fragrant  kumheong sauce was dosed with lotsa spring onions and the crabs were very meaty.

 Having the crabs first was very messy as we spend too much time eating this and start to neglect other dishes that arrive and not to mention having to clean messy hands. The Chew Chow steamed garoupa  was next – the gravy was overly sweet and consensus around the table that the sauce taste a bit funny , I was still busy wrestling with the crabs to notice it. Luckily the fish was fresh.

By this time, the restaurant was starting to fill up and soon all the tables are taken up and lady was demoted to assistant cook as the ‘real’ cook has arrived ( no wonder she is sulky, we were too early and she has to do the cook’s work and hmm..maybe that is why the fish taste funny ?) and also glad to say that young pleasant chap had taken over the duty of taking orders from the tables.

The lemon chicken followed, the chicken was fried and the lemon /plum sauce poured on it, the sauce was tasty and the chicken was tender and as  the portion was a bit small ( upon our request), the plate was emptied pretty quickly.

The venison with spring onions and ginger was something built for jaw exercises, the meat was very tough and most of us gave up on this after one bite, but yours truly plod on with the chewing , strong jaws highly energized like the Energizer rabbit

 

When the fried brinjal arrived, we felt that we might have been conned, for the brinjals were overshadowed by the many many middle sized prawns. This dish was ultra spicy and glad to report – ultra tasty, there were purple and green brinjals , chili padis  and the star -the prawns. This was a very good brinjal dish.

 Overall- an ok meal, although the bill ( for Kelantan restaurant standard, was on the high side) , breakdown of the meal

Crabs ( 850g) RM38.30, Fish ( 600g) – RM29, brinjal RM9 ( phewww..i thought we would be overcharged for this ), venison  RM12, Chicken RM12, plus drinks and rice for 5 pax, the total was RM107.70.

 Location :

 Hai Ong Seafood Restaurant

Jalan Sultan Ibrahim,

15050 Kota Baru

Tel : 09 747 6920

Kwang Ling Restoran @ Kota Bharu

Kwang Ling aka Gou Lou ( tall guy) is a popular eating place for the locals, It was a Friday night ( weekend for the state of Kelantan ) and  if we had arrived 5 minutes later, we would have to search for another eatery as all the tables were either taken up or reserved.

Claypot brinjals - the claypot arrived sizzling and smelling very good. The brinjal was soft and the presence of chili padi in the dish add some zing to the dish-highly recommended.  

Steamed fish – Chiew Chow style – the fish was fresh and fleshy,  the gravy had the sweetness of fish and add that with the salted vegetables plus tomatoes, it is good enough to drink !

We were seated at the entrance and could watch Mr Cook in action, there was 1 main cook who does the cooking and the other cook help out with the deep fried type dishes. We were amazed how they could serve the food so quickly with just 4 pair of hands. Mr Cook was very cooperative when I asked if I could take some pictures..thanks !

The Hot Plate tofu was next, the thick tofu pieces was loaded with gravy full of  cut square of carrots, mushrooms, baby corn – all of this on top of an omelet. This was average.

The much awaited plum pork ribs was next, the portion were pretty big , so we only had 1 piece per pax ( although greedy me won’t mind a few extra pieces) , the ribs were very good !! the meat was tender and well marinated, I had the urge to lick the thick gooey dark  sauce on the serving plate

Other dishes to try  : crabs ( they didn’t have this on that day), fried mamak mee.  This is also a popular breakfast place for your dose of nasi lauk and  nasi dagang

 A truly enjoyable meal. The meal – for 5 pax + drinks = RM86

 

Location : 3282 Jalan Pos Office Lama. Kota Baru

 ( Landmark – close to the Padang Beng ( round about), Pelangi Mall and Medan Selera)

Restoran Jit Mun 日滿 海鲜飯店 @ Kota Bharu

The initial plan was to go to ‘Gou Lou’ ( tall guy) place for dinner but it was closed ( although a very very noisy person was insisting that we go to Cheng Mai ( a Thai restaurant in Wakaf Bharu), we didn’t have a plan B, and was still discussing where to have dinner ( while noisy person (NP) was still saying ‘it’s Cheng Mai, or nothing’ ) when Jit Mun’s name was brought up..so to Jalan Hamzah it is..( NP sulking in the car)

Jit Mun is not  NP’s favourite place – not because of the food but  for fear of running into her English tuition teacher and we had an agreement that, if Ms Tuition Teacher ( Ms TT) is having her meal there , we will change the venue.

Must be JM’s lucky day..no sign of Ms TT when we entered the restaurant, but…as they say..the night is still young ! We ordered : Fish in soy sauce and salad; stir fried sweet potato leaves ; black pepper venison ( this dish was ordered as a bribe to NP) . pork trotters + buns; ’stewed’ yee mien.

The fish in soy sauce + salad was a weird combination, the fried mango ( salad) on top of the fish was err..interesting ,  you have ‘cooked’ mango strips on top of the fried  fish seasoned with soy sauce. I prefer my mango salad to be raw…

We were informed that the pork trotters are not available, so we ordered marmite pork ribs instead. The noodles came next..and hey..it was pretty good yee mein. Plenty of fishballs, chicken slices and  spinach in dark thick gravy. Tasty…

When the sweet potato leaves arrived, we burst out laughing, it looked so plain and pure ( the actual word we used – look like food for the sickly). But once you taste it, ehh… …it was surprisingly good, the leaves were tender and compliments to the chef for achieving  this  just with some chopped garlic.

 

The venison arrived accompanied by lots of spring onion, onions  and ginger. The venison was tender and the combination of black pepper, spring onions and ginger complemented each other very well. NP had this dish placed in front of her, I could almost hear her growl each time someone took a piece off this dish.

Marmite pork ribs..a bit too sweet for me ( this, coming from someone with a sweet tooth, is saying quite a lot) and there were more batter than meat. I was told JM does a pretty mean pork trotters dish          

..so, it’s a pity that I didn’t get a chance to taste it this time around, nevermind la..there is always a second , third, forth, fifth….