WHEN it comes to food, some of the best people to get information from are taxi drivers.
This brings me to a chance encounter with Encik Ahmad “Duta Teksi” (cab ambassador) who told me about Muara Ikan Bakar near Port Klang in Selangor.
Ahmad told me that he and a group of friends had dinner at the makan place and paid a “nominal” sum for a banquet fit for royalty.
“Kami pesan lima jenis ikan, udang dan ketam bakar, sotong pun ada, harga pun berpatutan. (we ordered five different types of fish, including grilled prawns and crabs, and the price was reasonable),” the cab driver said.
Intrigued by his recommendation, I tried to corroborate the information with Michelle, my wife, who confirmed it.
She said her co-worker had mentioned the ikan bakar place and praised it for its decent fare.
So, after waking up with a bad hangover on a Saturday afternoon, I decided to give this place a try.
We keyed in the name of the place on our GPS and found it listed.
Some Good Samaritan had marked it and posted the restaurant as a place of interest on the map.
It took us about 20 minutes to drive from our home in Subang Jaya to Klang via the Kesas highway.
And when we got to the North Port, the road was a bit tricky.
But with the GPS turn-by-turn navigation, we eventually arrived in Tanjung Harapan where the restaurant is located.
To the uninitiated, this is a small fishing village that also leads to the Klang yacht club and Bagan Hailam.
Muara Ikan Bakar is located right at the end of the road and is built on stilts.
Michelle and I were very excited to see a counter where customers are allowed to pick and choose their seafood.
There were plenty of common saltwater fish such as kerapu, bawal pisang, siakap, tanda, gerut-gerut and kembung, along with a selection of prawns, squid and razor clams.
Now, the interesting part is this ? you can have your meals prepared on the grill, steamed, stir-fried or deep-fried.
We ordered a table-sized ikan kerapu (RM29.25) cooked tiga rasa (three flavours) style, prawns (650g at RM16.25) and ketam bakar (250g at RM14).
Apart from that, we also ordered nasi lemak (RM3 per plate) and drinks.
Our total bill came up to RM68.70, which was quite decent based on the fact that the seafood was fresh.
On taste, I would give the kerapu tiga rasa 5 out of 10 on the Samo-scale.
Now, contrary to what Ahmad the cabbie had told me, I would rate the service at Muara Ikan Bakar at 0.5 out of 10.
Why? Because our prawns and crabs came an hour late.
To dunk seawater into the dishes (pun intended), the grilled prawns were dry and cold.
Save the lousy service, I would say that the food quality is not bad.
And I also found out that this stall is actually a branch from their main outlet in Umbai, Malacca.
Muara Ikan Bakar (GPS N 03 00.690, E 101 21.606) is located along Jalan Sultan Hishamuddin near Tanjung Harapan, Port Klang.
