Friday, April 20, 2007

Parameswara Grill Fish, Umbai Jetty Malacca

Finally, the last instalment of my short downsouth trip on a Saturday afternoon.

As mentioned in my previous post, we went to Umbai Jetty, a place known for seafood. Since we were unfamiliar with the way, a local told us to just follow the road sign to Muar. We heed his advice until we saw a signboard indicating a right turn to reach the jetty. Though the roads were quite dark with badly lit roadsigns, it took only about 15 minutes drive from Malacca town.

Wow. I did not expect the number of stalls manned by solely Malay proprietors and the crowd there. Or the parking fee of RM3.00 per car. We walked the length of the stalls and decided to dine at the last one since it was the biggest and attracted the most patrons. Most appeared to be tucking into the food hungrily. On every table, there was a basketful of prepacked nasi lemak. Since we saw each and everyone at other tables had at least one, we followed suite. Phitoy even speculated that it could be complimentary. Huh? Those small plates in the picture contained 2 types of chilli mixture to go with the seafood. Now those are complimentary. =P At first I was disappointed. It held no ingredient other than a big patch of sambal. Then realised it was to be eaten with the seafood. The coconut milk infused rice was in a generous portion and the sambal spicy, though I found it a tad too sweet. Like all stalls there, the fresh seafood was laid upfront to be chosen and weighed. Then, it will be cooked according to one's order. Look at all these. Drools.
This is the whiteboard listing the prices of the seafood on display and methods of cooking available. Our order of seafood took quite sometime to arrive but I did not complain. On the contrary, it allowed me the excuse to order these. Yay! Then, our main orders arrived:-

Boiled cockles. We intended to get these grilled but the staff said these were too big so only to be done this way. Those grilled-size ones 'sudah habis' (finished). Actually these were good too. Sweet & juicy. Given a choice I would have preferred it more raw with blood spattering my plate when attempting to open the shells. Too gory for you?
Grilled fish (Ikan Jenak). Seems like it was just cut, gutted and grilled on its skin with a hint of salt and pepper. Good to go with the chili mixtures given (shown in earlier picture).
Sweet Sour Fish (Ikan Kerapu). This we felt was a mistake. The sauce was more peppery than sweet sour and the fish overfried making the texture a bit on the 'hardy' side.
We were quite glad that we did not order a wide variety of seafood as the size of both fish was more than a foot each and at least 3 inches thick.

Our bill:-

The prices are not cheap (Err.. we did expect dirt cheap since it's away from the city) but still worth a visit. It's quite a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the Nyonya Restaurants in Malacca. Though situated right next to the mouth of the river flowing to the Straits, there was no unpleasant fishy smells.

The address:-

This is a picture of the fishing boats parked there (it was very dark with minimal lighting). Colours are product of my itchy fingers having a go at the microsoft office picture editor.

16 comments:

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

I can totally relate to your description of bloody cockles. I love mine bloody too. :-) Everything looks so yummy. Nothing like freshly grilled fish huh?

Anonymous said...

That certainly a pricey meal... the 2 fishes oredi costs more than RM50

Rasa Malaysia said...

What is that reddish thiny wrapped with banana leaves? Otak Otak ke? How come like that one?

Kok said...

Tummythoz,
Not really that sedap leh from the photos shown. The kerang and the grilled fish are cooked with nothing. Maybe only this way, you can taste the freshness of the seafood?

backStreetGluttons said...

V love this casual damn crowded place with lots of mostly cannot find in Cities blackish super dry grilled things but only one very serious regret...
..da liquids are totally out of sync ( can't blame them too ) & need V say ultra disappointingly unhigh ( dats why our kind host had to kwikly bring us downtown.
( hahaha )

Tummythoz said...

lyrical lemongrass, a very hi-5!

jason, but they were real fresh & big. So, we still the price is ok.

rasa malaysia, yes, otak-otak. Haven't you seen/had it in such wrappings? This d usual method to bbq those delicious fish paste mix downsouth (Johore). Now in KL, quite an easy find among Malay eateries. Very sedap punya!

kok, if d seafood is fresh, no seasoning is necessary. It's naturally sweet. Eh, thot u did it on your last fishing trip?

team bsg, hahaha. Knew u'll say that. Bring your own beer-lor. But remember to repackage 'the non-halal' in unmarked drinking bottles. We were happy with the fresh coconut drinks.

Kenny Mah said...

Haven't been to Umbai in ages. Must go again one day. It depends on which stall one goes to as well. Can't remember lah, everytime go with my family. And ya, they can take some time to arrive, them dishes, but so long as it's worth it... ;)

Tummythoz said...

kenny mah, being 100% Malaccan, do go again soon & find out whether I should had tried another stall.

Precious Pea said...

Not cheap huh? Somemore RM3 parking charges?? But the cockles looks great. Otak otak looks spicy...is it nice?

MeiyeN said...

O_o you went to this place... this place is famous to "kill-your-throat" cause they know visitors will come here.....

Tummythoz said...

precious pea, the otak-otak is 'rempah' spicy but not chili hot as all.

meiyen, actually we were prepared for the slaughter when we found out there's parking charges. That really caught us offguard.

Pink Elle said...

Umbai has actually become very expensive, no thanks to lots of Singaporeans who throng it over the weekend. Plus from what I hear, their food quality has dropped quite a bit. I used to go there too quite a few years back but we've boycotted it for a while already!

Tummythoz said...

pink elle, that's what they say about Portuguese Village there. That's why todate, I've never been there as none of my friends want to go. Was at Umbai just because none of us been there. Guess this may b our only trip there then.

Unknown said...

my favourate makan place when i stay in malacca..alwiz take 2 packet of nasi lemak along with all the seafood bakar..price is very reasonable too

Tummythoz said...

kampungboycitygal, kowtow to you for d ability to whack 2 packets at 1 sitting.

Anonymous said...

i simply love the food there. but would like to experiment at other eating outlets as well. any recommendations from anyone as to where else to go to for fresh seafood in malacca? thanks:)

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