Category: Seafood

Some restaurants only specialise in this without the attribute of a country.

Layar Seafood Restaurant

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8 /10

Price: Rp. 75,000 – Rp. 150,000 =$8 – $17

Place: 7/10

Review:

We concluded the month of Indonesian food journey with one of the best seafood restaurants (in terms of taste) in Surabaya,Layar Seafood Restaurant. I put the bracket there because its table was poorly set; in fact it was only covered with layers of plastics for their ease of cleanups.

Although they have gained considerable amount of fame, Layar still managed not to charge exorbitant price for its menu. You can either pick your food straight from the fish tanks outside, or choose from the plenty choices on their menu. We started the night with the drinks, Lychee Juice and Iced Tea. As with any other Indonesian dinner, we had share plates for tonight as well.

The first two starter-ish dishes were Garlic steamed oyster and Deep fried eels. The oysters are sold individually because of its size. One massive oyster was served on a heated aluminium serving plate. It had a nice taste, although it lacked chewiness due to its size. The other dish was extra crunchy and the dipping sauce created an extra taste of yumm!

The two vegetable dishes that we ordered were Ca Kangkung (loosely translated into stir fried water spinach) and Sambal Eggplants. The water spinach added a touch of freshness to our otherwise ‘greasy’ night. The eggplants were served in a sizzling hot plate with a hint of chilli taste, though not overpowering. They were sort of twice cooked and were quite soft – unlike the hard, grilled eggplants from BBQ.

I must say that the highlight of the night came from the next two dishes. First one was Salted egg yolk Soft-shelled Crab. I must admit that even with the lettuce garnish, it still didn’t look appealing. However, when you had them with your steaming hot rice, they were perfect. The crab’s crunch and coarseness of the egg created a nice combination for us to enjoy.

Then came the ‘actual’ crab, Crab with Padang-style sauce. This was actually a work of art. The aroma, the presentation and the taste were all appetising. Even with all the difficulties of eating a crab, this was still the dish to order. You will be able to choose between, small, female (with egg), or Jumbo (they might sometimes call it Super) crab. Personally I like the ones with egg, because of the added taste of the egg, but if you want value out of your crab, I suggest you order the Jumbo ones. They were all massive and meaty.

The final verdict for Layar Seafood Restaurant

Their Padang-sauced crabs and Soft-shelled crab in egg yolks were dishes to die for. They were absolutely amazing. Feel free to explore the different kinds of fish they have, especially the steamed ones, because unfortunately we didn’t order any this time around.

Did you know?

Layar is possibly the fastest growing seafood restaurant in Surabaya this 00’s decade. It started off as a tiny off-the-street restaurant and grew over the last decade to have two restaurants on major streets of Surabaya. They simply provide one of the freshest seafood with great taste.

Location:

Jl. Manyar Kertoarjo No. 62, Surabaya, East Java

Apr 4, 2011
Jimbaran Seafood Restaurants

Rating:

8 / 10 Taste: 8/10

Price Range: Rp. 150,000++ » $18

Place: 8/10

Review:

One of the most famous dinner destinations in Bali (and possibly Indonesia), Jimbaran Seafood Restaurants. However, we always chose to eat @ Ubung Cafe or Nyoman Cafe when we went there.

There are not many choices in terms how to cook the seafood – it was mainly grilled. You would typically need to choose your live seafood from the aquariums and they would need to weigh the food, before they grilled them. We were given three condiments (yummy peanut sauce, hot and sweet soy sauce, and chilli) and a complimentary stir-fried water spinach and rice.

We ordered the most famous crustaceans, Grilled Lobster. Easily the most expensive dish in the area, the lobster came in different sizes. The lobster was really exceptional and sweet. As with all lobsters, it would be great to actually peel their shells before cutting into small pieces. Clawing into the lobsters’ meat straight away would result in difficulties in acquiring the leftover meat on its shell.

Our next dish was Grilled King Prawns. Personally, I like the king prawns better than the lobster because the meat was actually softer. The king prawns have a similar grill sauce to the lobster.

We also ordered Grilled Mussels and Grilled Squids. I was a little disappointed with the squid because apparently they took away the tentacles. However, both dishes were very nice and fresh.

There are not much options for the drinks, they are either beers, soft drinks or fresh juices.

Did you know?

Jimbaran is a very nice beach to go to. You can see the sunset while enjoying your dinner there. You can also see airplanes landing to Ngurah Rai International airport from the distance – the airstrip was actually further into the ocean. It is also an ideal destination if you just want to walk along the beach. But, there are no water sports and sunbathing at this beach.

Location:

Jimbaran Seafood Bay, Jimbaran, Bali

Jun 8, 2010
Fish n Co

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7.5/10

Price Range: Rp. 90,000++ » $10

Place: 7/10

Review:

The restaurant visit happened nearly a month ago and unfortunately some of the drinks name escape my mind… my apology. However, I can still describe how it tastes. There were 5 of us but we only ordered 2 appetisers and 2 main courses since the portion was massive.

Located in the newest shopping mall in Surabaya, Fish & Co (or Fish n Co) picked the prime spot of the mall, near the centre stage. It provided both good and bad for us customers. When there are events on centre stage, the place can be really crowded and noisy. Just like most of good seafood restaurants, Fish & Co is decorated with marine and harbour theme. They have wooden wall decoration and wooden fish placemats.

We ordered the most basic appetiser: Bread with Garlic Butter. As you can tell the taste was – well – garlic-y. The bread was nice and warm with a nice butter spread. For the second appetiser we had Soft Shell Crab Salad. It was pretty disappointing since there was only one TINY crab. Fortunately the salad was fresh with a nice dressing.

We also had two main courses: Seafood Platter For Two and Spaghetti with Mushroom Sauce. In our opinon, the first course was not for two, because we (5) had difficulties in finishing it. It consisted of one grilled fish, 10 tiger prawns, grilled squids, and 4 grilled mussels in a bed of fries and yellow Mexican rice. To supplement the platter we were also given tartare and sweet chilli sauce. The seafood was really nice. Our second main course was also fabulous. It was a simple presentation of spaghetti in alfredo sauce with mushrooms and cheese.

Unfortunately we could not remember the drinks name, but we remembered one was with passionfruit and the other with lychee. The drink came in a massive glass as seen in the picture. You could order the iced coffee for a much smaller glass or soft drinks.

Did you know?

As mentioned on the review, Surabaya Town Square (Sutos) is the newest shopping mall in Surabaya. If you want to go there, don’t go on weekends since there will be crazy amount of people trying to get into the mall. Traffic management has become the main cause of chaos surrounding the venue. Lack of parking space and poor parking space design has led to congestion in every entrance and exit of the mall.

Sutos is the place to be when it comes to asking your date out. It has everything you want to do, from the only 3D cinema in town, to the best Karaoke lounge. It has nice restaurants and also a pool bar.

Location:

Surabaya Town Square, Unit P.03 & P.05, Surabaya, Indonesia

http://www.fish-co.com/

May 15, 2010