Backdated to 23.12.07 - Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sungei Duyung (seafood resturant), Melaka

My friend’s Melakan colleague brought us to this place several years ago.

We had BBQ prawns, grilled stingray with sambal in banana leaf, sweet and sour fried sea bass, fried curry-battered squid, bamboo mollusk cooked with ginger, garlic and shallot, otah, and nasi lemak. It was alfresco dinning (at 7.30pm) and our table overlooked the mouth of Sg Duyung River, which emptied into the Melaka straits.

The BBQ prawns, fried curry-battered squid, and bamboo mollusk cooked with ginger, garlic and shallot were good.

However I prefer our sambal stingray to their grilled stingray with sambal in banana leaf. The sweet and sour fried sea bass wasn’t good like the one we had the last time round where the sweet n sour sauce had the right amount of sugar, vinegar, ketchup and chilli in it. Eat leow steam er! Also this time the sea bass flesh was soft and breaks apart when you dig into it – sign of a not-so-fresh fish. The otah otah tasted better too during our last trip too.

The bill came up to RM101 for 4pax.

Ok, it was reasonable.

Then again, if you go earlier like about 5.00pm before the crowd comes in (which was what we had done during one of our earlier trips there) the food might taste better because more attention is given to the cooking. QC suffers whenever there are a lot of orders waiting to be cooked.

Bring along mosquito repellent, as there are plenty of them to feed on you while you feed on the seafood.

How to get there: Drive into Jalan Bandar Hilir, turn left into Jln Bukit Senjuang, turn a sharp right (just before the roundabout) into Lorong Bukit Senjuang (goodness don’t drive up into St. John Fort), turn left into Jln Hujung Pasir (past Portuguese settlement), Jln Padang Temu, past Tan Kim Hock hotel, Newton Food Center (I find the food there ok), into Pasir Ujong, past a major cross junction, after awhile you will reach a concrete bridge – that is Sg Duyung flowing underneath it – slow down and turn right immediately just after the bridge, there is a signboard telling you of Suana Sungei Duyung.

FYI: I still find the freshness of the seafood in Taiwan to be unbeatable when compared to the ones offered at this restaurant.