: : Lim Hok Ann Seafood Restaurant, Buntal : :
BJ SMS-ed me earlier this afternoon to say that Bernard was back in town for the weekend. So, we went off to have dinner together with BJ’s cousins and uncles but this time at Buntal, a small fishing village near Santubong. Buntal is famous for it’s seafood dishes because of the fishing village there. Sounds corny, doesn’t it? Anyway, it’s usually a 40-45 minute drive from Kuching to Buntal but as usual, Wena was speeding and cutting lanes like mad. So, we reached there with plenty of time to spare and managed to find a good parking space right in front of the restaurant.
We went to eat at Lim Hok Ann Seafood Restaurant. The photo above was a snapshot from a framed aerial view of Buntal Village by a photographer named George Chiew. The restaurant is the one in the middle of the picture with the blue roof and the platform that is extended out towards the sea.
The front of the entrance. Very different from the time I went there 7 years ago. It’s cleaner now than it was before. One can see the kitchen as one walks through the restaurant to get to the sitting area. There’s even a signage in the kitchen that says ‘Jagalah Kebersihan @ Maintain Cleanliness’.
Some signage in the restaurant. Most restaurants and coffeeshops in Malaysia will get their signage sponsored by beverages and not necessarily alcoholic ones. Sometimes, it’s also sponsored by food companies such as Lee Fah Mee, Yeos, Nestle and others.
The restaurant was really packed tonight with many families going out for dinner. Think there were easily 30-40 tables within the covered area. No one was sitting in the open air section as it was drizzling and later it rained quite steadily for awhile. And, as in most Chinese restaurants, it was VERY noisy. Everyone was chattering at once, raising their voices and childrean running around everywhere. There’s also the fact that when one is walking on the wooden planks of the platform, the whole restaurant starts to vibrate.
Right, the food pictures.
We ordered some fried fish i.e. ikan mancung @ ngor hu. English name? I’m at a stumped at the moment. Well, the fish was deep fried until it was very crispy and we squeezed some fresh lime all over the fish to give it a slightly citrus flavour. The fish tasted better this way, at least to us. Considering that it was a fried fish, it wasn’t too oily. Considering that it was the 1st dish that came out of a very very busy kitchen, we ate everything.
We had butter prawns next. Done to perfection i.e. the prawns were very crispy and there was definitely a buttery taste with spices inside it. Very very very tasty. One way to eat the prawns is to eat it completely with the skin on. One has to chew for a little while but it’s fairly easy to do since the skin is already thinner from the frying. But still, one must be careful so as not to have bits and pieces of the skin or tentacles stuck in one’s gum or between one’s teeth. Great source of calcium though. 🙂
As usual, we all had meidin but this time prepared in oyster sauce without the belachan. Tasted great.
After a 10 min break, the crab came. It was fried with egg and spring onions and was slightly spicy. Not too spicy hot but it was definintely piping hot. Wah! Very nice to eat during a rainy night. So, we dug in with our hands and ended up with mountains of crab shells on the table.
Now what is a seafood dinner without some oyster omelette? 🙂 My 4th picture of the famous oyster omellete but this one wasn’t so crispy but seriously tasted more like an egg omelette with oyster inside. Still, it was pretty tasty. And the plate was emptied by everyone present.
Since there was no ampal available, we had some kerang @ clams. Not my favourite as the taste is too strong for me but the others like it. The aroma wafting from the plate was very nice though. 🙂
A very simple dish : baby corn cooked in oyster sauce with some carrot garnishings. One thing for sure : oyster sauce makes a vegetable dish taste extremely good.
Well, that’s all for the seafood dinner. Felt stuffed. Extremely stuffed. So was the other 8 people present.
Now, is this a halal place? Well, they do not serve pork dishes but if you wanted some Chinese wine in the dish, they will oblige you.
How to get there? Well, just head on down to Damai until you come to a T-junction with a sign that says ‘Kampung Buntal @ Buntal Village’. Turn right and head all the way down the road until you reach the end. Lim Hok Ann is located right at the end of the road. What’s the best time to go? Definitely before 7 pm else you would have to wait a long time for your food to come.