MUARA IKAN BAKAR..PORT KLANG

bismillah

Saturday, 7th june 2014

It's been such a long time I've never been to this ikan bakar haven. Last week during the Thomas Cup tournament, Mem suggested to have ikan bakar, at last we landed at the Tom Yam Sea food on the way to Muara Ikan Bakar...and this evening she suggested again for ikan bakar. Kempunan barangkali...This time around, it's no more excuse. So about 8pm we, 4 of us, Mem and my daughters headed for Muara Ikan Bakar, Port Klang.

At the T-junction to muara, I saw a huge crowd at the ikan bakar restaurant...I forgot the name of the place but it's quite famous ikan bakar station as well...Rupanya ada majlis perkahwinan...Tu fasal ramai orang...This is the first time I saw a wedding ceremony been held at the ikan bakar restaurant...Mungkin untuk kelainan.

Along the way before reaching the Muara Ikan Bakar restaurant, somewhere near the Bugis Ship replica, we can notice lots of stalls selling various items..including pillows, blankets, bed sheets and of course the most famous are toys and electrical gadgets. 

North port and on the right hand side is the Muara Ikan Bakar Restaurant.

In the distant is the West Port.

Actually Muara Ikan Bakar has been operating there for almost more than 20 years...and to me I think there is something to be proud of...the owner En. Talib is actually from Malacca and I was made to understand, he started his ikan bakar business at Serkam/Pernu ikan bakar Malacca...Well...his business here actually does takes its toll on the surroundings...He created jobs for the locals..by the look of it, the overall staff might be more than 50...operating 7 days a week.

The ripples effects of his business are the presence of makeshift stalls mushrooming mostly at the parking lots and at the esplanade...It is so happenings at night and most traders are actually there almost every night...What I learn from this scenario...sometimes the planned area for this kind of activities are not actually happening...

The after thought is sometimes more practical...I believe in the concept of business is where the crowd is...and it's of course a little bit chaotic with insufficient parking and trading spaces...but this kind of environment is actually what suited  the customers...Just go to any mamak restaurants or any restaurants operating night time...just observe....people like to sit outside rather than in the restaurant itself...The ambience of night dining suits that kind of setting...people don't mind sitting at tables by the road shoulder/parking lots...Why?

I was lucky, there was available parking space though we have to walk quite a distance to the Muara Ikan Bakar...night strolling..after all we are not in a hurry...Reaching the entrance, I saw lots of people queeing for the order...You have to choose what kind of seafood...kena timbang dan nyatakan jenis masakan apa yang ingin di masak...We can see people with basket in their hands with varieties of sea food...It's a long queue..but that's the thrill of it. There was a young couple in front of me... I saw lots of sea food stuff in the basket...almost reaching the tempat timbang saya ambil seekor ikan siakap.

'Bang...kat mana ambil ikan ni?' Bertanya lelaki di depan saya.

'Tu ...kat sebelah kanan kita ni'

'Ooo..yang saya punya ni ikan apa? Bukan siakap ke?'

'Ooo ni ikan terubuk dik...bukan siakap...ikan ni banyak tulang'

'Nasib baik...terima kasih bang'

I saw him explaining to his wife/gf .. a young couple...and afterwards he returned back the terubuk and replacing with two siakap...nafsu besar gak budak ni...

'Masak apa bang siakap ni?'

'Dua ekor tu...biasanya tiga rasa, stim atau bakar sambal pun bole'

'Ok ok..kena bincang ni dulu ...terima kasih bang'

Since he's in front of me, I can hear him telling the menu when the guy at the weighing machine asking him about the menu..

'Siakap ni...tiga rasa satu, yang satu lagi ni stim..' Wah dengan bangga dan yakin dia bagi tahu abang penimbang tu...hihihi...

Then comes my turn...so I just asked for siakap steam, udang goreng tepung same goes to sotong and bawal grill with sauce. To night, it seems the place was full. I thought of taking a place facing the port, an open terrace, but it was full so we chosed a corner near the fence...it's an open area as well..The night was quite windy and the weather was fine for outdoor dining like this..

So thirsty...Mem and me asked for kelapa muda while my daughters were with their own menu...nasi lemak, kailan ikan masin and fruit platter...A nice weekend dinner..I love the service..for this kind of crowd, the waiting time is practically fast, it's almost half an hour, not more than that...Other than ikan bakar this place also serves satay, tauhu bakar, tom yam, asam pedas, ABC, fruit juices...almost everything...wow..it's great, right. 

Altogether it was RM189.00..Well berbaloi la...Rasa saya pendapatan restoran ni mencecah puluhan/ratusan ribu ringgit semalam...Just imagine if one table is RM100 with 200 tables and the restaurant open from 6pm-2am which I think roughly can accomodate for 1000 tables/taking turns...so roughly it's about RM200k...wow...great business...Perlu kah diceritakan semua ni...hihihi...just food for thought...

Sekian. Tamat lah sudah kisah kali ini...sila-sila lah datang menjamu selera di Muara Ikan Bakar ni...bagi saya tak rugi dan berbaloi beratur panjang pun...bon appetite...to come again...

wassalam.