I reckon my girl was thinking of it mid-week when she texted me to tell me that when she came home on Friday, she would like to go to Bandong for dinner, her treat…and of course, I was all for it.
I tried persuading her to go and try something else but no, she was adamant in her decision to have either the pecel lele or the ayam penyet and in the end, she chose the former, the fried keli (catfish) and I too had the same. The mum who seemed to have developed an aversion for ikan keli lately was the only one who had the chicken…
I thought that was not really all that substantial so I went and ordered one ikan bakar (grilled fish)…
…to share. I did not want the very popular stingray and I thought the o pek (black and white) was rather big so I asked for an ikan bawal hitam (black pomfret) which was just the right size for the three of us to go with what we were having.
It was very fresh, very nicely done and the sambal was very delicious…except that it was not spicy so that took away that extra kick that would have given it a perfect score. I wonder if they would entertain special requests for the sambal to be extra hot (tambah pedas) or not – I would ask them the next time we drop by this place.
Other than that, perhaps they could serve the sambal by the side or separately in saucers like what they would do elsewhere, for instance, at the Red Garden Hawker Centre, Penang Road in Penang…
*Archive photo*
…or the Northam Beach Cafe, also in Penang…
*Archive photo*
…as that way, I would be able to eat the fish and savour its freshness and sweetness without the taste being drowned out by the overpowering sambal and I can choose to dip it in it as and when I feel like it. I probably would ask for that the next time around.
Well, if anyone is drooling and wanting to go and have some of that grilled fish, it is here…
…opposite the primary school, the SK Perbandaran Sibu No. 3 (blue). There are two stalls in that alley (red) in between the two blocks of shops. I tried the stingray from the stall on the right on a previous visit…
*Archive photo*
…and it failed to sweep me off my feet. Maybe it was because it was a different kind of fish but I did feel then that the sambal was not as nice as what I had had elsewhere. This black pomfret that we had that night was from the stall on the left.
All in all, our orders of two pecel lele and one ayam penyet plus three drinks came up to RM22.30 and the ikan bakar was RM13.00, making it a total of RM35.30 for that lovely dinner for the three of us.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Oh ….Both ayam Penyet and ikan bakar really looks good ! I don’t mind having it.
All good here. That’s why we keep going back for more.
Rm13 does not sound bad, one small grilled stingray in a random foodcourt would cost up to Rm 16 easily here in Penang 😦
In the 70’s, stingray was so cheap – nobody wanted, the poorer people would eat that. Now, it’s worth its weight in gold. Very popular for ikan bakar. The one I had on the previous visit was RM17 for that not very big piece. 😦
Certainly looks nice enough! 🙂
It was.
Ah, so you went to the touristy food courts in Penang where customer preference is respected. Not that I blame you, I love Northam beach cafe too, that’s where I mostly bring my visitors for dinner. If you go to the more “local” food courts or coffee shops, you can forget about how you prefer the food and condiments to be served. Everything will be slapped together as the hawker sees fit. “You have it our way, or not at all!” is the mantra.
I did go elsewhere too…including some old, dodgy shops where they have the best of something, not a problem as long as the food is nicer…and more often than not, much cheaper too.
Ahhh, I remember pecel lele, you blogged about it and no doubt, everything looks delicious, all in a plate, nice..My colleague loves sambal ikan keli, actually, I’ve never eaten keli cooked in sambal before, my mum usually only uses it to boil fish soup when I was pregnant.. She boiled it with black beans and red dates.. In Cantonese, it’s called “tong sat yue”..
We usually cook it differently, not with sambal…but since my missus does not eat anymore, we don’t buy and cook our own at home. Good for pregnant women kah? Didn’t know that.
All looks so yummy. RM35.30 only, that was indeed a great deal.
Very. Around AUD$10 only – can;t get a decent meal for one there, I’m sure, for that kind of money.
The Ikan Bakar looks good! I don’t mind the sambal being poured on top of the fish. Not pedas enough for you? Then it must have been very mild for your wife.
Not a word from her. If it had been extra spicy, she would be singing its praises non-stop.
yum yum on the second pic…hmm…maybe i go crazy and make this at home. Here if makan fish outside very expensive
Shouldn’t be difficult to do that at home…but fish and dried prawns don’t come cheap anyhow.
Sk Perbandaran Sibu No. 3, right? It was my old school before. hehe.
No.3? I thought that’s No. 1, not sure. I’ll confirm and edit later.
P.S.:
Ok, confirmed and edited. Thanks, Azura.
Now stringray not cheap
Not at all. 😦
Yes, fish not cheap 😦
Love ikan bakar and the sambal must be good, besides the fish being beautifully grilled. Agree with you, they should have left the sambal at the side of the dish 🙂
Yup, true-blue fish eaters would want to savour the sweetness and taste of the fresh fish, not drown it out with sambal…or soy sauce or chili. 😦
Pomfret is a local fish right?
No idea if it’s local but we do get it very easily – anytime any day at our wet markets. They’re sea fish, called ikan bawal locally, the black ones are ikan bawal hitam and the white/silver ones ikan bawal putih. The latter’s best for steaming – the black ones deep frying or grilling like this.
i haven’t had ikan keli in a long time, but i do like its meatiness. i think one of my favourite local fish preparations is ikan kembung stuffed with sambal inside the fish … it’s something my family used to make a lot 🙂
Yes, I love those – with lots of pounded chili in it. Used to ask for that at the nasi padang places in Singapore. I hear it is hard to come by over at your side these days as they’re in great demand for the making of keropok lekor and Penang asam laksa, dunno how true.
I like the fried chicken on the first picture, it does not look oily but crispy and dry, just the way I like it.. and the toppings, are they ginger or garlic? Diced ginger should be nice! Haven’t had ikan bakar for quite some time already and the ikan bawal hitam looks spicy but it was not? hmmmm…. Cheap meal.. very reasonable prices..
Dunno what special ayam penyet garnishing they put on top – some kind of sambal. Many places do not have that – just a slab of fried chicken, that’s all. This one’s a little bit special. Yes, always cheap to eat at such places compared to those classier cafes – I know at one here, the ayam penyet’s over RM16.00. Presentation is very impressive though, taste is very good too…but that price! Ouch!
Personally, I prefer sotong bakar 🙂
Stingray’s not bad too 🙂
I used to go for stingray as it was cheap, less than RM10 for a slab but not anymore…so I would avoid it now as sometimes there is that horrible urine smell. My blogger friend, Pete has blogged about this: http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-some-stingray-have-ammonia-urine-or.html
Now, I would prefer other types of fish that used to be more expensive.
I love ikan bakar. Stingray with a lot of sambal. yum yum. But after that I will have running nose because of the spiciness. lol
But this one here not spicy…or maybe we are immune already, mouth all numb from always eating so spicy.
I like.the pecel lele, yum, love the rice and the sambal. Grill fish, the last round I order, taste so so only, not flavourful enough. We order from the stall that right behind that ayam penyet.
Oh? The seafood chu char place? Saw the sotong once, the ayam penyet worker eating – looked nice but never tried myself. No wonder she did not finish. Hehehehehe!!!! Like that, better don’t order from there.
Among all, I guess I would always go with the ikan bakar, but the thing is after having it must lots of water, if the body got overheat, can get sick some more…sigh!!
It may be purely psychological. If it’s just the fish and the sambal, it may be spicy, yes…but I don’t think it is all that heaty – not that much ginger in it. Ginger is heaty – go slow on those xiao long pao and anything with a lot of ginger in the cooking. Certain kinds of meat is heaty like venison, lamb, beef. Chocolate is heaty – I remember when Kandos first came out with Crispy (like Kit Kat), I had 10 in one sitting (they were 10 sen each!!!) and before I knew it, I was down with fever. Of course, if you eat deep fried stuff like cucur pisang piping hot from the wok, you’re asking for trouble. Ah yes!!! Durians, rambutans, quinee…and some kinds of fruits are VERY heaty too!
Oh that is pure comfort food
Certainly is.
Wah, those ikan bakar actually made me drool! I love to eat them with lots of chili! 😉
Me too! Spicy’s the way to go! Yum! Yum!
I think they used to have two versions of their sambal – literally!
I remember wanting mine to be extra pedas and they took out another container, which they told me is usually reserved for their Malay customers. I’m not sure if we’re talking about the same stall in Bandung though. It sounds a little stereotypical but there it was – they really make 2 batches, one extra spicy, one mild to accommodate for the sensitive palate of the majority.
They do? Hmmmm…must ask them for the spicy one then the next time we drop by there.
Yeah, they should if we’re talking about the same stall.
It makes sense, coz you can’t make pre-prepared sambal *spicier* without a food processor to add in more chillis so extra pedas usually just means they add more sambal to your grilled fish – but this stall has two sauces (like the Taiwanese sausage stalls with various levels of chilli preparations).
Ok, thanks for the tip. Will ask them the next time I drop by there.
Aiyaa…reminds me that I have not eating ikan bakar for a long long time. Maybe can ask Mamarazzi to cook. hahaha. Too bad now she tinggal so jauh from our usual meeting point.
Ya, she did say she would want to cook her own. You can just pretend to happen to drop by. Hehehehehehehe!!!!!