Kong Kong Tai Son Seafood Resort (2nd time)

The drive to Kong Kong Tai Son Seafood Restaurant isn't that difficult when done during the day, unlike in the night. In fact, it is quite a pleasant drive with a goat farm along the way and scenary like the one below (took it out of the car window). One has just to head in the direction of Pasir Gudang and from there follow the signboards that say Masai, and then, Kong Kong (if both options appear, choose Kong Kong) - you know you are headed in the right direction when you pass the ScienceTek (science tech, I suppose but that's how the word is spelt in Msia) Park.

It was a blazingly hot day when we turned right at the end of the long stretch of dirt road towards the direction of the restaurant. The restaurant looked relatively empty at about 12pm but it quickly filled up around 1pm with large groups of families (including Malay familes so I suppose this restaurant is halal). We asked for a table in the air-conditioned area but were told that we could not have the same unless we spent RM300 at the restaurant. Bugger that.

So we ended up sitting on the outdoor deck with a fan blowing directly at our table and enjoying the view from our table per the pic below.

First up, the sambal kang kong. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. A rather generous helping of fresh greens for just RM6. However, nothing remarkable about the dish. Will try another veg dish the next time.

The next dish, my food companion's favourite - herbal prawns. At RM 8 per 100gm, we ordered 400gm of prawns which they caught before our eyes and weighed. The Slog Reviews: 9/10. A must order if one loves fresh succulent sweet prawns. No wonder prawns make such effective baits - a sweet morsel for both man and fishes alike! This dish was done so well that my food companion has been bugging me to go back for more but alas, my weekends are fully packed.

The only dish which we were entirely not satisfied with was the mantis prawn. The restaurant insisted that we had to order 2 of the creatures as the kitchen would not cook one. Having no choice in the matter, we selected 2 mantis prawns, each about 150gm and asked the restaurant to cook them in the style they deemed best. And this, this below is what they came up with. The Slog Reviews: 6/10. There was so little meat in the mantis prawns and this method of cooking the prawns did not bring out the flavor of the prawns at all. In fact, having the prawns steamed brought out the hideous purple color of the creatures which was quite an appetite killer. So far, the best way of cooking mantis prawns seems to be the way this restaurant cooked it for me at Kota Kinabalu which made the dish (fried with salt or chilli) a delight.

There was a promotion for the lala at only RM 8.80 so we had those fresh out of the tanks too. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Order these if not anything else if you are a shell lover. We had them fried with chilli and they were so fresh and mouthwateringly good!

And no, I'm not done yet. It's amazing how much 2 people can put away but my food companion being a fellow seafood lover wanted to have crabs too and at RM8 per 100gm, we ordered 2 of the crabs cooked in black pepper. The Slog Reviews: 8/10. Freshly caught from the tanks, stir fried with spicy black pepper, white soft sweet flesh contrasting with the slightly fiery taste from the pepper - just one word. Order!

Below, a pic taken (as usual with my Sony Ericsson W995) of all the dishes that 2 of us put away that afternoon - note that 4 out of the 5 dishes were live seafood dishes.

And the price of the seafood feast which was fresh right from the tanks? See the receipt below inclusive of 3 cans of coke, fruit juice, rice, peanuts and towel - only, and I mean, ONLY RM 141.60 which equates to SGD 60. Msia Boleh indeed! :D