Oct 27, 2009

Going to Langkawi – What’s for Dinner?

frostier / People and Places, The Love of Food / abstract, Dinner, Fat Mum, food, langkawi, Malaysia Airlines Travel, mas, Seafood / 2 Comments

As the sun begin to set, I was pretty much starving and can’t wait to go for my dinner. Before I set my journey with Yatz, I made a few calls to my friends seeking information on the food in Langkawi. Never set my foot there, I called Alex for guidance since he often eat-in or eat-out. Moreover he did went to Langkawi recently. To my dismay, he just says, seafood. Langkawi is practically covered by sea so if not seafood what else?

Another call to dSaintx and a few more turns out to be the same. Seafood. Uh huh. This wasn’t really good news you know. This turns out to be totally different when both of us stumbled upon the Fat Mum Seafood Restaurant. From the signage on the roadside, it wasn’t really much appealing compared to the rest of the outlets along the stretch of the Cenang Beach. It wasn’t much decorated and looks dodgy from its outlook.

My first impression was whether the restaurant is operated or is it a “black shop”. That all started to change when the food was served. So never judge a book by its cover. We grab a table and sat down. The quiet ambience, with no sight of waiter or waitress until the owner, Mr. Chong reassure us that he will serves us later. His staff were on a break to renew the passport. Hence, left Mr. Chong and Fat Mum operating the restaurant. We were surprised by knowing the fact there were only 2 person to manage the operation especially during peak hour like dinner time.

We ordered the cheapest drink in town – the beer. I had a Carlsberg while Yat take upon Arthur – Guinness Stout. We waited for quite a while before Mr. Chong returned to take our orders. That was good because we actually have time to discuss what to order. It allows us to make decision. We begin with the compulsory “Noodle on Fire” medium size. Basically what Noodle on Fire was noodle wrapped in the aluminum foil before the fire. Hence, it look exactly like the picture below.

Yatz ordered a plate of prawns and seriously, I like it very much. It is called “Fat Mum Special Steamed Prawn”. Usually I do not fancy ordering the prawn-based dishes at restaurant due to the freshness and the way its being prepared. However, for this case it was totally different. The first taste makes me mouthwatering and now blogging about it makes me craved for it again.

Then came the Special Fish Curry and Spicy Garlic Squid. All these dishes were served with 2-3 minutes interval. I was surprised that the dishes were served pretty fast after we waited for quite some time. Later we found out that Fat Mum was manning 3 stoves at the same time. Cool.

There is actually nothing fancy about the food according to Mr. Chong. It is just like home cooked food and nothing to shout about. No specialty. Just ordinary meal that people ordered for lunch and dinner. After we done with the damages to our diet, we had the opportunity to strike a conversation with Mr. Chong. We were in luck because by then the crowd had disperse. Found out that Mr. Chong was once a fisherman and gave that up to operate a restaurant for the past 13 years.

Fat Mum was helping out cleaning the floor when Mr. Chong was talking to us. We chat up with Fat Mum and from there I found out that she was the one any only (cliche’) manning the kitchen below. From the preparation to cooking and then dish cleaning, Fat Mum was one leg kicking. We found out that she had a huge fan base especially from the foreigners whom enjoying their vacation in Langkawi. She even told us that she had list of blogs mentioning the Fat Mum Seafood Restaurant and even featured in LonelyPlanet.

Fat Mum was a very friendly person and even allowed us to go into her kitchen. It was pretty neat despite the aftermath of the cooking. She told us that one of her must-eat dishes include the handmade tofu which is limited in quantity. So if you are still lucky, the tofu will still be available by dinner time since she only made 3 sets per week.

We got a free dessert from Fat Mum – the jelly cendol with gula melaka as base. Sweet. Yummy. She told us that it wasn’t for sale as she made it for her own savoring.

An article from The Mail on Sunday paper many years back by Harry Thompson featured Fat Mum in it. Wow…. that was pretty long ago and she kept the newspaper cutting until today. On the side note, I felt I was the frog beneath the well because we really had a gem here in Langkawi and yet, no one seems to know about it. Here’s what Harry Thompson says, “…the remarkable Fat Mum’s, a contender for the title of best seafood restaurant in the world”

Good times have to come to an end eventually. By the clock striking 11pm, we have to say goodbye to Fat Mum. Before we left, we exchanged facebook contact and yes, Fat Mum is tech-savvy.
Note: she had a group in facebook too!

Obligatory information :-

Opening House
Daily ： 12:00pm – 12:00pm

Contact
Mr Raymond Chong : 012-489 1923
Voice : 04-955 9882
Fax : 04-955 7268
E-mail : fatmum2001@yahoo.com

Address
Fat Mum Seafood Restaurant
734, Jln Teluk Baru, Kg Tasik Anak,
07000 Langkawi, Kedah D.A.
West Malaysia.

Links:-
Langkawi-Online
Facebook – Fat Mum Seafood

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