Kapar Batu 8 Seafood

I do not know exactly where we went for this seafood dinner. It was a Saturday evening. We drove to Seong's place in Klang and from there, we followed him blindly. Blindly because it was so dark and I didn't know the territory. We drove through some very quiet roads that did not have any distinguishable landmark. We finally arrived at the place which was the brightest spot in a dark quiet stretch of road.

The name of the place was Restoran Batu 8 Kapar Seafood. Going by the name, I believe the place is located on the 8th mile (or is it 8th km?) along Jalan Kapar in Klang. I do not have the exact address and even if I do, I doubt I would be able to go back, without guidance, to this place again. So I whipped out my Garmin and took the reading. The co-ordinates were N03 06.234 E101 21.957.

The place is a big shed that accommodates about 30 tables. It was brightly lighted and had plenty of fans to keep cool. It was clean and was actually very pleasant to be there for a meal.

I believe it is a family business. Beside the restaurant is a house which I believe to be that of the proprietor. A very convenient setup.

I explored the place a little. Behind was a huge kitchen. It seemed reasonably clean. There were also some tanks of live fish, mantis prawns and clams. I was comforted with the assurance of some fresh seafood.

And fresh it was. Our first dish was the hor chien (蚵煎 - fresh oyster omelet). It came in a hot plate. The omelet was thick with plenty of small oysters. It wasn't my favorite food. Still I had a taste of it. I found it to be good. It was actually surprisingly delicious.

The mantis prawn was wonderful. It was steamed in egg white, with some ginger, tomato, spring onion and fried shallot. The prawns were obviously just out of the live tank and they could not be fresher. I peeled off the bottom shell and had a good size slab of sweet mantis meat. The gravy was also sweet and delightful.

 

So was the steamed fish. It was one huge plate of fish head and meat. The fish was cut into bite-size pieces. It was steamed with lots of ginger and garlic. The gravy was a little oily. But so very delicious to sip on. I believe the fish was a grouper. It was very fresh. Such a delight.

The la-la (clams) was cooked in a "superior soup" (上汤). I felt it was wee bit over-done. The flesh was slightly hard. The soup was indeed superior - very sweet.

This was a plate of baby squid. It was sweet, crunchy and very nice to the bite. It was deep fried and then cooked in a sweet sauce, with a good sprinkling of sesame. Would be great with some beers.

Every meal has to have some greens. Ours that night, was the humble choy sum (菜心).

The crabs took awhile to arrive. Perhaps they were still catching them. In any case, we had crabs in 2 styles. The first was sweet and sour. The crab was very fresh. But they were not very big. I wished they were. And I did not find the sauce good at all. It was starchy and rather bland. 

We ordered some buns to dip in the sauce. The buns were really very nice, with a thin crispy skin. And since the sauce was a failure, I had it (like the Gardenia jingle) on its own.

The other plate of crab was cooked kam heong (金香). It was better. The taste was strong. And it was oily. I was very full by then. I think I would had enjoy it more had it been served earlier.

I so badly wanted some toddy. Klang restaurants (especially seafood places) serve fresh toddy. It is very sweet and refreshing. Klang folks have the peculiar taste of mixing it with Guinness Stout. I prefer as it is. In any case, there was no other drinker in the table. And I could not possibly finish a whole big bottle. So I had to give it a skip. This picture was taken from a nearby table where a few half intoxicated guys welcomed me to take the shots.

The meal at Batu 8 was a very nice experience. The forte in this place was the freshness of the seafood. In spite of the distance, I think it was worth the visit. I am glad I had presence of mind to take down the co-ordinates. I may want to go back again.