Kong Kong Taison Seafood Resort Restaurant

On a Sat almost 2 months ago, we were done shopping about 4pm at JB and decided to check out the restaurant that had been recommended as one of the cheapest/best places for seafood in JB. Amazingly and luckily, my GPS actually had the location of the restaurant and I would say that unless one has a GPS which can take you to the restaurant below, it would not be a wise idea to go looking for the place on your own but here are some directions which I hope will prove useful.

Firstly, get on Pasir Gudang highway in the direction of Plentong and Masai. Look out for the blue signboard on the left that says Kong Kong and turn left. Follow all signboards that say Kong Kong. When there are no signboards to direct you to Kong Kong, then take those that direct you to Tmn Scientex. After that, go straight till you come to a roundabout. Take the 3 o clock which means that the show village will be on your left hand side. At the end of the road, there is no sign board but you have to turn left. Go all the way straight then right to the very end of the road which is quite a long drive past some plantations on both sides of the road. There will be a sign that says Neleyan Fishing something at the end of this long 2 way 1 lane each way road. Turn right and drive a short distance keeping to the left side and you will come to kong kong seafood which is on the left hand side of the dirt road.

If one has never seen an arapaima ((dragon fish) or toman fish, this would be the place to go. Near the entrance, as one walks into the restaurant, one would have to bypass this:

And if one is minded or mildly interested in seeing the freshwater fishes, one should pause to take in the beauty of the two giant arapaimas in the fenced-in area. The rather large tomans are in the same pond but I didn't take a picture of them because of their unattractive color (black with strips) and that they can be easily found (and fished!) in Singapore. I took the pic of the arapaimas below by sticking my camera's lens through a hole in the fencing - truely beautiful and magnificent creatures these are! I had spent quite a bit of money in Nov 09 trying to fish for these creatures in Krabi but alas, luck was not with me so this below was my first close-up encounter with the arapaimas. I'm hopeful there will be another encounter - of me holding the arapaima that I caught successfully on line!

Now, Kong Kong Seafood Restaurant sells live seafood at a price cheaper than the prices quoted by restaurants in town. No surprise given how way out the restaurant is but what distinguishes this restaurant from other "way-out" live seafood restaurants is the variety/choices available to customers.
The pic below illustrates what I'm talking about. This is the only other restaurant in JB that I know of which sells stone crabs / crabs flown in from Canada as well as Geoducks. The price of RM 168 per kg for the Geoduck is way cheaper than the RM 270 per kg at the other restaurant and the stone crabs are about RM 30 per kg cheaper. Kong Kong seafood restaurant also sells Boston Sphiny Lobster which makes this restaurant a place to go to only with friends who love seafood and are willing to fork out the extra money.

The restaurant has indoor and outdoor dining. There are some rooms in the restaurant which appear to have karaoke and are air-conditioned but these appear reserved for bigger groups of guests. We had our dinner at the outdoor dining area which was on a platform on stilts above the water. If the tide is high enough, one can drop a fishing line from the railings around.

As my companion is allergic to most shell-seafood, and we were stuffed from a 9 course lunch at one of the most expensive seafood restaurants in JB that day (could not take pics because it was a company lunch), we decided to have a simple meal for dinner. The Slog Reviews: 8/10 for the kangkong and lala. The lala was ridiculously cheap at RM4 per 100gm while the kangkong cost less than RM10. However, the lala (clams) was very fresh because they had been kept alive until we ordered the dish and I have to say that at least 98% of the clams had meat in them. Even though the lala was fried in sambal, the freshness of the lala could not be masked.

We also ordered 300gms of prawns (min order) at RM 9/100gm. The Slog Reviews: 7/10 . I'd ordered butter prawns but somehow, they served me the prawns steamed in egg instead. Freshness was a given since I'd watched them scoop the prawns out of the tank and one can't go wrong steaming prawns. The lower score I'd given this dish wasn't because it wasn't tasty or good but that the dish lacked imagination (it is a most simple dish afterall) or the extra oomph to make it exceptional.

So, if one is a seafood lover, take note that the address of the restaurant is Lot 33, KG Kong Kong Laut 81760 Masai Johor and the telephone number is 607- 252-3366 or 607-254 3381. However, I cannot emphasize enough the need for a GPS to get there or to search for clear directions (eg on Google Maps) before going. I think I'll be going back to this place really soon if I can find more seafood loving friends willing to shell out the $ for higher-end seafood!

There are some really basic lodgings (without TV) with the price ranging from RM 48 to 88 located on the same premises as the restaurant if one is minded to try a bit of fishing from the kelong.