The Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant
I am grateful to my friend who lives in Langkawi and insisted he take me out for a delicious seafood experience. We go to the Orkid Seafood restaurant which is one of the more established and well-reviewed ones.
Uncle Huat the owner of the Orkid Seafood Restaurant
My friend is friends with the owner, a nice old man ppl call Uncle Huat! He gives us a good seat infront of the air blower and fan and takes our order. (I timed the service and we get our drinks within 3 minutes and our food arrives 15 minutes later.)
You can pick the lobsters, crabs and fish you want them to prepare for you
I take a look at the menu while we wait. They have Tiger prawns done in 12 different ways including grilled, deep fried garlic, ginger & spring onion, sizzling hot plate, butter, sweet & sour,black pepper, steamed egg white, chilli, Sambal, curry and their signature special sauce.
The lobster comes in 8 different variations, including grilled, ginger & spring onion,sizzling, butter, chilli, black pepper, steam egg white and salad lobster.
They even have oyster omelette ( Or Chien) which I really wanted to try so I could compare with the Penang version . However my friend insisted on ordering the fresh oysters. So I’m just going to review them instead!
The cutlery looks like stainless steel and the plates Thai porcelain. On trip advisor I read someone had said in their review that the plates were plastic. Well maybe the owner took heed and changed to porcelain.
Meanwhile I start writing parts of my blog in my phone, snap photos of the poor buggers who are going to end up on my plate and go through the menu so that I can put it in later.
Fresh from the sea
First to arrive are the fresh oysters. They are deliciously fresh and taste of the sea. A squeeze of lemon and a dash of tobacco and So fresh and succulent! Yum!
Tiger Garoupa fish... live and swimming just minutes before
Fresh Butter Lobster ! Delicious
Mud crab prepared in steamed egg white - Chinese specialty but tastes like Japanese Chawanmushi on a plate
The dishes that come after are delicious and just the right size for two people. Uncle Huat has a good eye and handpicked all the right sizes. The garoupa fish is steamed and served with a garlic and chilli padi in soy sauce, it’s unbelievably fresh and juicy.
My tongue is already doing a triple flip when the waiter serves the butter lobster and mud crab in steamed egg white. They add some sauces on the side which taste like sweet Thai chilli but with a slight Malaysian twist. I am in foodie bliss and allow my tongue to taste it all, one by one.
The dinner comes to about RM400 which is very affordable given a similar spread in KL would cost about twice that amount.
After Dinner Drinks
Uncle Huat tells Us that his son has opened a beach bar behind the restaurant. Of course we head there after dinner for some drinks.
The bar is right behind Orkid Ria Seafood and I would have missed it completely had Uncle Huat not mentioned the narrow corridor leading to the bar.
It’s called “ThirstDays” which I think is a cute name for a bar. I believe it’s better than a place called “Tasty & Thirsty” here in KL.
Ambience and interior reminds me of some of the trendier bars in KL
Most of the patrons sit under the cool fans in the big white tented area
There is another beach bar nextdoor
I stay for one drink because honestly my ears feel weird having to listen to the live music coming from the bar next door and the speakers piping out jazzy and popular hit songs at Thirstdays. They really need to pick one kind of music to play so customers aren’t forced to listen to different types of music at the same time. That kind of killed it for me.
I walk up and down pantai Cenang and check out all the cool night time shopping. Tripadvisor was right about one thing, you don’t need to pack any clothes because everything you might need to wear you can find at duty free and rock bottom prices at the stores all around the island.
Thank you Uncle Huat for a lovely experience at the Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant. I will definitely come back here on my next Langkawi trip.
Check out the rest of my mini weekend holiday at @nikisteem