Ewe Paik Leong, The Wordslinger: Samudra in Kg. Baru is the uncrowned king of wild river fish restaurants in KL

[Pixs copyright Ewe Paik Leong]

Interested to eat wild river fish? Bukit Tinggi has a few Chinese wild river fish restaurants; Puchong also has one. In KL, you can go to Samudra Exotic River Fish Restaurant which is located on the ground floor of Rumah Rohas, a commercial building in Kg. Baru. Air-conditioned, the restaurant is bathed in soothing colours, and four private rooms are available. They are named after fish species.

The prices (per 100 gm) of the various species of fish are as follows:

WILD
Patin Buah -- RM22
Baung -- RM 16
Kerai – RM 19
Tenggala – RM19
Tamalang – RM15
Tapa – RM18
Lampan – RM6
Sebarau – RM15
Gerahak – RM20
Lais – RM10

Udang Galah A – RM25
Udang Galah B – RM20

FARM
Patin Sangkar – RM8
Talipia – RM6

Styles of cooking for the fish are: assam, cili padi, tempoyak, masak pindang, fried with sambal, fried with kunyit and fried with flour. A variety of other Malay dishes and desserts complete the menu. Economical items include mee goreng, mee bandung and fried rice of various types.

I ordered farm patin ala tempoyak, curried squids, coconut curry duck eggs and fried water spinach. They were for four people, including me. After waiting for fifteen minutes, the dishes started to arrive, with the patin tempoyak being the last to be served. It was big, at least 8 inches long. The coconut curry duck eggs were mildly spicy but flavourful. My tongue almost cried when I tasted the curried squids. The water spinach oozed with the aroma of belacan. The flesh of the patin was firm, smooth and totally devoid of any mud taste. The broth was a cross between light tomyam and thin curry infused with the sourish taste of an ingredient that reminded me of tapai. I could not catch any whiff of durian.

“A satisfactory meal,” said my daughter, wiping her rosebud lips with a piece of Kleenex tissue.