San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 with over 30 years of experience first started out in a small hawker stall  before relocating to where they are now at Taman Pelangi. The current location is around 15 minutes journey from City Square / Causeway and will cost less than RM10 (make sure you request for the metre to be activated when you board the cab). It can difficult locating this restaurant as it is sited at a private residential area. 

Besides serving fresh seafood, San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 is also well known for their  signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon. Alight and when you see the place above.

Even on a weekday evening, there were several Singapore plated cars parked on the sides of the restaurant. 

Big, wide and spacious open concept kitchen that allow customers to have fully visibility of the chefs and the ability to cope with the orders when there is a full house. As you may notice, it was not crowded on a weekday. However, I have heard that on weekend nights, this place is likely to be a full house with a mixture of Singaporeans and locals.

Menu

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Menu (c)

Selected portion of the menu.

Chinese Tea 

San Low Fried Bee Hoon RM12 (L)

When the signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon (rice vermicelli) was served, my first thought was that it look so ordinary. It was another case of 'never to judge a book by its cover'. It was fried with prawns, vegetables (chye sim), egg, fish cake and chicken meat. The bee hoon was infused in seafood broth and fried to perfection. It was charred and crisp on the outside, yet moist on the inside. Furthermore, it was not oily. An unique dish that was incredibly delicious despite the simplicity of the ingredients! A must try. 

The San Low Fried Bee Hoon most essential step towards the end of the cooking process is to press-fry the bee hoon under high heat to get this end result. This dish is so appealing that many other restaurants in Johor Bahru has copied the cooking method and serve this dish.

I did not know that there are so many methods of cooking delish bee hoon! Another bee hoon dish that has impressed  me is the one by Sembawang White Bee Hoon (in Singapore).

Hong Kong Kai Lan RM12 (S)

Stirred fried Hong Kong Kai Lan was ordinary. It was well fried and the vegetables still retained the crunchiness. However, it was on the salty end. 

Chilli Crab RM98

We also ordered, two Chilli Crabs weighing close to 1kg. San Low Seafood Restaurant serves a mean plate of Singapore-Style Chilli Crab that will put some of our Singapore restaurants to shame. 

I was most impressed with the gravy. Robust spicy, sweet eggy gravy with the right amount of starch (to thicken the sauce). The spiciness and sweetness were perfect for me with the spiciness kicking in towards the end. Slices of onions were add and cooked along in it too (probably to enhance the sweetness). Moreover, the crabs were fresh and meaty. The meat easily pulled out from its shell was sweet, juicy and tender. Furthermore, the meat had absorbed the wonderful gravy. It was a delight savouring this dish! 

Man Tou RM2

The Man Tou (Buns) to complement the chilli crab gravy. Heavenly, yummy.

My day trip to JB certainly did not disappoint! Cheap, good and fresh seafood again. The two must order dishes here are the  San Low Fried Bee Hoon and Chilli Crabs. No wonder Singaporeans keep visiting JB for seafood haunts. 

San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Jalan Biru off Jalan Merah, Taman Pelangi

80400 Johor Bahru

Tel: 07 332 3869 / 07 334 3623

Opening Hours: Daily 430pm to 1am

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Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)

We (a group of six) wanted to visit Melben Seafood at Ang Mo Kio for dinner on a Saturday. Knowing that Uncle Leong Seafood has moved out and anticipating a long queue, we decided to set off early. We reached Melben at 545pm, yet there was a long queue and it will be at least a 2 hour wait! We decided to try go else where to satisfy our craving for crabs as we did not want to wait for 2 hours.

We decided to visit Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood a Zi Char restaurant located at Casuarina Road along Upper Thomson Road. Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood has been around for close to two decades, specialises in serving local cuisine. As it was our first visit, we had no idea on what to order. Well, the best way is to walk around look at the dishes on the surround tables and also asking the staff for recommendation.

Look at how big the crabs are! 

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Snap shot of part of the menu which includes Chef Recommendations, Crabs, Hot Plates, Claypot, Chicken and Vegetables.

Towel

Appetiser and chilli 

The chilli at the right has the right amount of spiciness. Although I like the chilli, I seldom dip my food into it as I prefer to savour the food in its original taste.

Now for the food! Presented in the same order it was served!

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings $12

 Twelve pieces of Prawn Paste Chicken Wings also known as Har Cheong Gai. Two for each of us. This was the first dish that arrived and it arrived pipping hot! Seasoned and coated with prawn paste, the chicken wings deep fried. The batter outside was crispy and inside, the meat was tender and moist!

Hot Plate Beancurd $10

The Hot Plate Beancurd totally different from the others I have tried before, was highly delectable. It came with prawns, beancurd and egg, topped with a slightly spicy sauce.

Stirred Fried Spinach $10

We ordered the Stirred Fried Spinach. The leaves and stems were well cooked. Leaves were not too soft and stems were not too hard. In addition, in terms of taste, it was not over salty. Taste just like a home-cook dish.

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua ) $12

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua), was a plate of Mee Sua fried with prawns, squids, eggs, bean sprouts, fish slices and quail eggs (interesting). Another unique dish that reminds me of Sembawang White Bee Hoon.

Man Tou / Buns $3.60

The fried Man Tou / Buns are big! Bigger than elsewhere. In fact, I felt that they were too big. Despite the size, it was good! Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Moreover, it was not oily. Sadly, the Chilli Crab gravy was not up to par (more on the gravy in the text below).

Chilli Crab 

The Chilli Crab is something that Singaporeans are familiar with. The chilli crab gravy was way below par. It was too sweet, too starchy and not spicy. Too much Ketchup was added and the egg used was too little. Luckily, the crab was huge, fresh and succulent! It was an easy task pulling out the chunks of crab meat from the shells! This is a big plus.

Black Pepper Crab

The Black Pepper Crab was huge too. Crab wise, it was similar as above! Black pepper sauce wise, it fared much better. Peppery and not overly salty, it was finger linking good! Had a delectable time savouring the black pepper sauce on the shells. 

The Chilli Crab and Black Pepper Crab cost $85.50

We ordered the La La Clams. However, the staff missed out that order. The staff was quite nice, apologising and telling us they will cooked it for us immediately. As we were already full, we decided to cancel the order.

I have seen many reviews stating the bad service this place has. Well, I beg to differ. The service here was good. The only glitch was that one of our order was missed out, they apologised and offer to cook it immediately. Understandable as the place was packed! Moreover, the food was good and it was certainly value for money. The total bill amount to $148.41 inclusive of the rice, drinks and towels. For 6 person...this is cheap! I am certain that I will come back here again. This time I will want to try the Butter Crab and also La La Clams !

Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)
122 Casuarina Road
Tel: 6452 2824
Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 130am
Location

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