Ikan Bakar Bellamy- An Update

Those who may have read my earlier blog may have read about me saying that the gridled fish at Seri Melaka stall in Bellamy has gone upscale price wise but gone down scale taste and service wise :>). Well I did say that I will try out the last stall beside it and last Saturday I finally did it with my family. Well we were test driving the new Perodua Viva from the Sungai Besi showroom and the nearest hilly area that can simulate my home area was Bukit Tunku. Thus we drove around by Bellamy a few times and finally after the deal was made, I brought the family over for the Ikan Bakar since my tastebuds were already aroused by the thought of eating there, though the wife was a bit worried about what the kids will eat there.

Well she need not have worried as the shop had grilled cockles for the little one and gridled catfish for the elder one. In addition I took ikan cencaru (torpedo shad) and a calamari but the wife later remarked that we should have taken another catfish as the elder kid basically polished it off leaving only a small bit for the mom. Well this should tell you that their gridled fish was great as my kids are so fussy eaters coz I guess I spoilt them a bit in the food department, and if the taste does not satisfy them, they are sure not gonna eat it. So of these two critics love the food there, I can assure you you will too. The best thing for me was their sauce, as their soya sauce with shallots and chillis was the way I like it though my wife said she preferred Sri Melaka's asam sauce.

I did some net research and it seems the place is called Ikan Bakar Ramli, though I could not find any signboard to confirm it. Anyway it is the last stall besides Seri Melaka and the above is a picture of the place from another blog, though I cannot be sure they are talking about the same stall based on their description, especially the pricing. All the above gridled fish with three nasi campur(mixed rice with vegetables and additional meat) only cost me RM28, so I have no idea why this blog states their calamari itself cost RM20. Well the proof is in the eating so you might as well try the place out for yourself as it sure has improved. Like the makcik who calculates your bill said,"She's been with the stall when they had 5 kilos of fish but remained unsold, until now when to get a seat is problem." So be wise, come early or be prepared to wait for a seat to land your butts on before your mouth can start savouring the food.

Great photos from this site and here is another photo of the place where as you can see there is actually no signboards, just that price list poster...

Jalan2 cari makan in melaka

Huh isn't the hotel we stayed in beautiful? Heh2 but the fact is it is just a converted shoplots complex with swimming pool attached so that it can boast itself as an all apartment suite hotel. But for the room price, value for money except it mystifies that a two room apartment has no attached bathroom. So imagine the hassle of me sharing the apartment with the in-laws hehx3. If had known about this earlier, i would have taken two rooms instead, for more privacy.

Anyway that day we arrived at lunch time and because we were too tired to eat out we took the buffet at the hotel's cafe batavia. This was again value for money. For 21 ringgit per person we had a pretty good meal that really satisfied us. Consider also the fact the same buffet was also provided for 4 persons. Thus I need to repeat again that a hotel, I am really satisfied as the worth of the hotel as value for money accomodation. Its strategic location and swimming poolnya that is not crowded makes it an enjoyable place for my kids to swim to their hearts content. In fact that afternoon itself we went for a swim but there is a downer though as there were no pool towels so we went up the room dripping wet. But who cares right as it is not our fault we could not towel off.

The first night as planned all of us when to Sg Duyong for ikan bakar after Maghrib. As usual the restaurant had an endless stream of customers that the fish that was left wa only jenak (or jenahak)/threadfin, pari/skate and siakap/local barramundy. I was lucky that I managed to salvage a packet of lokan(a type of shellfish) but actually ate only one piece as si angah loved it so much that I could not bear to eat more. As usual the food was great but I have to comment that it was pricier than before and their nasi lemak portion is getting smaller. We observed that that the rival restaurant across the ditch seems to be getting more customers and thus we resolved to try them the next time we come around. Before I forget, I need to note a complaint that even to this day the road sign to the place is not lighted, so it is very difficult to locate at night. Is it so hard to invest in a bit of lighting to simplify your customers accessing your place.

Second day after stomach filling breakfast at the hotel, we all headed to the Melaka zoo for sight seeing. It was hard walking around that the inlaws gave up following us. Finally they just sat at the wakaf near the entrance. Most entertaining was when we saw the animal show, the kids was terrified of the snake show in front of their eyes and the elder ran to sit beside me. Unbeknowns to us, they took out a boa from a box just behind my seat and that shocked them awhile. Anyway at the zoo we sweated buckets of sweat tapi it is exerciselah. Consider it as fat burninglah.

Anyway after half a day at the zoo, it was difficult to decide where to go for lunch. So a quick change of plan, we went straight to bandar hilir which we initially planned to go on the return journey the next day. Tried my luck and there was a parking space beside Medan Samudera so I parked there. Thought of taking a trishaw ride to eat at Restoran Selera Kampung to have local delicacy asam pedas, but when I asked about the fare it would have cost me 20 riggit per trishaw so the plan was dropped hurriedly as for the amount of money I could eat at a good hotel. Lastly we ate nasi campor at the mall. To buang kempunan I ate asam pedas pari but though the gravy was okay, the fish was not fresh so potong stim. After lunch we left the inlaws to fend for themselves while we went to the maritime museum across the street. This was the first visit for Angah even though we have gone there many times but my main interest was to see the renovated RMN museum. Not much improvements in exhibits but the lay-out was better. Anyway we settle the souvenir shopping there and then so after returning to the hotel it was ZZZZZ time for the family. We did not even go the swimming pool.

That night because we were tired we had dinner at Restaurant Apple Burger beside the hotel which we noticed the night before when we went to Sungai Duyong. The food was excellent and they specialised in western and asam pedas set. The Sate stall that tenanted the place also had delicious sate but for me their asam pedas was a tad too sourish when I had a taste from the Inlaw's set. Later when I checked the internet, the restaurant seemed quite well known so no wonderlah the food was good. A funny thing was when si along who claimed that she was stuffed when she could not finish her fish & chips set could still manage to polish off the same stall's otak-otak before and after the meal(after returning to the room.) They were only a little bit spicy so that's why she loved it.

The next morning was swimming pool time again after breakfast and later we went on a traipsing trip along the scenic coastal route back to rantau. We passed through klabang and had the famous asam pedas tanjung kling. Since everybody has had asam pedas fish, this time we had asam pedas daging tetel with additional two kembong bakar dan two drumsticks of chicken khurma for the kids. Again we sweated buckets but this time for an enjoyable meal that satisfied us until dinner. Before reaching Rantau, we dropped by at Masjid Tanah market to look for tapai but the people there said that it has been a long time no longer sold there. But our dissapointment was soothed when we managed to buy some out of this world tasting kampong made dodol sold in unmarked packets. I forgot to mention we had already look for this at medan samudra but the sellers there said it is no longer available because the maker died so only factory made dodol were available. That is the pity of malay business, when the patriach dies, the business goes bust for want of an heir willing to continue the business. Luckily the factory made dodol is good enough to be given as souvenir for the office staff.

So next time there is a long weekend, another trip to melaka could be in order. It is not that far nowadays and a strategic hotel has been located, so it is easier to make the short trip from KL.

My favourite Ikan Bakar in Klang Valley

Ikan Bakar Bellamy

When we talk about ikan bakar (barbecued fish) in the Klang Valley, it is usually prepared in two ways; firstly marinated in spicy sauce and then griddled on pans covered with banana leaves, with additional sauce basted on the barbecued fish (is this really barbecuing or frying eh?). The taste is delicious with the basted sauce highlighting the taste of the fish but the best way to enjoy this preparation is to substitute fish with calamari. This way of cooking is popularly done at Ikan Bakar Bellamy where there are four shops that is popularly visited during meals. Previously my favorite shop was Seri Melaka, but lately their preparation has lost their tastiness or oomph while the price has increased. That is the usual result of having been featured on TV, as they tend to neglect their standards. The next time I go to Bellamy, I will visit their neighbour at the far end coz I noticed that the shop that used to be the least visited by crowds has seen increased clientele, so there must have improved and have something great there. Nevertheless there is another location that prepares barbecued fish in this way that I feel tastes as great but is only available seasonally during the fasting period, that is at the Desa Tasik Ramahan Bazaar. This barbecued fish is named as 'ikan bakar serai' as the marinade is basically prepared with lemongrass, green chillies and tumeric leaves that has been pounded together. This differs from the Bellamy marinade that I have mentioned is made from spices like tumeric powder, cili powder, curry powder etc. Thus the taste is different and more piquant, and the best fish for this sort of barbecue is ikan pari or skate in English.

Pari Bakar Pak Din

Nonetheless even though such marinated barbecued fish taste delicious, I've always suspected the fish is not as fresh as plainly grilled fish, the second way fish are barbecued locally. Here the fish is only marinated with a salt and tumeric mix before being grilled on charcoal.
But is is essential in this method of preparation that the tamarind based Asam sauce used as a dip be flavourful and the best I have tasted to date is at Ikan Bakar Pak Din at Tangling. The asam dip sauce here is really powerful tasting. When having barbecued fish this way, I usually pour the sauce directly on top the fish, the best way of having it.

Other than Ikan bakar Pak Din, there is another nice ikan bakar place at pandan indah, ASBA stall. My friend aku si Joei introduced me to the place and their asam sauce is quite flavourful also. However for a lunch place nearer to my office, the ikan bakar at BSN food court BSN is also acceptable. Since the place has other sauces like cut chilli in soya sauce and Kelantanese fish sauce or budu as accompaniment to their ikan bakar, I personally like to mix all these sauces and pour over the fish. Utterly delicious I tell you.

Ikan Bakar ASBA

For something further away, I like the Jaring Restaurant at Sunway...really best but the place is a little bit too crowded and you have to Q to find a place to sit....but the best thing here is I can indulge in grilled fish eggs in their sacs... very high cholesterol but what the heck you only live once right....below is a photo of the place, and as you can see another interesting reason is the wide choice of dishes that is available that you can be at a lost to what to choose.

The wide array of dishes at Jaring

Lastly there are other ways to prepare ikan bakar that is wrapped either ala Portuguese or in banana leaves. But to me this is not really ikan bakar but more like baked fish even though in Malay the literal translation is the same, but lets talk about this at another time