Ocen Seafood Restaurant, Tanjung Sepat

One of those impromptu outstation trip just for dinner. 2 cars 6 pax. Destination Tanjung Sepat, a fishing village after Teluk Batik for the obvious - seafood.

Journey started at 4pm. Arrived at 6pm. See? Still in bright daylight and we thought we were early. Nay. There was already a crowd waiting for available tables!There was no queue system. Was told to just stand or sit around the area and they supposed to call once there's a table available. You mean they can recognise us and know when is our rightful turn? Sceptical, right? We checked thrice (once in Cantonese, once in Mandarin and lastly in Hokkien) with the much harrassed looking man-boss, lady-boss, staff and almost anyone who has a minute for us. Make that a second. Yup. That's the no-system system. Take it or leave it. We did think of trying another outlet just next door but it was quite empty. (-_-)" Since we did travel far for this, the majority of us voted to wait it out.

There was narrow jetty next to the restaurant where most patrons were killing time walking up and down while locals sat fishing. We did have plenty of time so we ...

Blur? Good. It was done on purpose. As usual, I did not ask for their permission to showcase their faces here. Just to make it a tad difficult for people to recognise them unless those who already knew them. In any case, they are single & available! (In the event there's no more comment or posting after such an announcement, yes, I'm in hiding.)

First picture on the top left is the view of the restaurant from the jetty. Next to it is the restaurant's main entrance from the road. Bottom two are respectively the concrete section and the wooden plank part which is further away from shore.

We waited and waited until ..

Finally, we decided the no-system system is not working. Desperate time calls for desperate measure. We employed the stand closely by tables which were at the end of their meals tactic. Bet most of you are familiar with it. No? Not Malaysian is it?

It worked like a charm.

For the effort, we were rewarded with these:-

Fresh Coconut Drinks. Not too old, not too young. Ahhhhh.. sweet and fragrant.

Lemon Chicken. One of us is not really a seafood fan so this was to pacify him. Surprisingly, this was good.

Claypot Drunken Prawns. Err.. boss, more wine? We may look young but trust me, are of legal age d. =P

Boiled Baby Squids. Al-dente and went very well with the chilli sauce provided.

Oyster omelette. An apparently frequent patron advised us to request to have the oysters on top of the fried eggs. He claimed it will taste better. Verdict:- We didn't finish this dish. =(

Fried fish. I cannot recall what the fish was but it was small and sweet. Just ask and the boss will recommend it. It is one of their best sellers. Although deep fried in light batter, it did not toughen nor dry the meat. I was happily munching on the pieces whole when friends informed that there were actually small bones intact. No, that did not stop me. Crunch crunch crunch.

Choy-tam (Brussels sprouts?) Stir-fried with Garlic

When we ordered, crabs finished. When we were about to settle the bill, harrased boss told us that fresh crabs arrived. *Haiz* Overall, the taste was alright except for the fried fish which was muacks muacks muacks. Most seafood finished at about 9pm and late arrivals had to be turned away. The harrassed boss started to smile and went on chatty mode then. He mentioned that the crowd is thick on most days but that day (1/5/2007, a public holiday), it was a mob, hence his queue 'no-system' system failed. Also boasted that if everyday's business is so crazy, he'll opt to close shop and do something less stressful!

Dinner bill (minus petrol and toll and time and stress fighting for table):-

Address & contact:- Sorry, no map on namecard and I am a directions-cum-map-drawing illiterate. Do call the boss for directions.

Oh, just for info, I'll be away to The Land of Roadside Skewered Food for the next 3 days! Wheeee!!!