Chua Kee Seafood Gelang Patah Johor 蔡記海鲜

Chua Kee (together with Tian Lai) are the oldest established kampung style seafood restaurants in Gelang Patah. Star Chef restaurant is a relative newcomer, though it also have a good foothold now too. So, here we are at Chua Kee to complete our roundup of seafood restaurants in Gelang Patah.



Chua Kee is set up like many seafood places of this genre. Actually, these are more like what is known as zhi char 煮炒 (cook and fry) places in Singapore. Popular, informal, family friendly a la carte restaurants serving a full range of fish, chicken, pork, prawn, crab and vegetable dishes at reasonable prices.



Like any such established seafood places, Chua Kee's menu is extensive. It will take a few visits to really know this place.



For this round, four of us ordered the following dishes based on the staff's recommendation.



Chua Kee's Signature Black Pepper Crab 招牌黑椒蟹 in an unceremonious heap. (RM117 for two crabs.)



Excellent live local crabs. The black pepper sauce was savoury sweet with an aromatic, spicy peppery kick. The flavours were well balanced, and we were licking and sucking the sauce off the shells and our fingers like some happy cats.

The fresh crab meat was tenderly firm and juicy with a briny natural sweetness. The shells were all cracked in the kitchen, so we need not struggle to get to the juicy white flesh. Both our crabs had no roe (we did not specify the gender of crabs we want).



Butter Pork Cubes 牛油花肉丁 (RM12 for small serving).

Buttery, savoury sweet pork cubes - crispy outside, stiff spongy chewy inside. Not quite for my taste buds but I know that many people like this a lot.



Honey Taste Chicken Wings 蜜糖味雞翅膀 (RM10 for small serving).

Well marinated savoury chicken wings, deep fried till crispy outside and then slathered with a gooey sweet sauce which added a glossy glaze coat to the wings.

The wings flew off the plate pretty quickly :-D



Stir Fried Assorted Beans 四大天王 (RM10 for small serving).

Petai, ladyfingers, brinjal and long beans tossed in a hot wok with ikan bilis, savoury sauce and lard. Naturally sweet crunchy vegetables enveloped in smothering savoury flavours.



La La Soup 啦啦湯 (RM12 for small serving).

Fresh la la clams with herbs, julienned ginger, garlic slices and wolf berries simmered in a cloudy "superior" broth.



Liked by people who favour mild gentle flavours but people who like their la la in a more robust broth would miss the kick. I also didn't detect any Chinese cooking wine 紹興酒 in the broth which I felt is essential in my la la soup :-D



Of the dishes which we tried today, I liked the Signature Black Pepper Crab most. I heard that Chua Kee's baked crabs are also a Must Try. There are many more dishes which I must come back for, so this is only the first post.

->> A long time Gelang Patah local favourite which also draws customers from Johor Bahru and Singapore. This is a good place for crab dishes.

The other two established seafood restaurants in Gelang Patah:


Tian Lai restaurant ^ click


Star Chef restaurant ^ click



Restaurant name: Restoran Chua Kee 蔡記海鲜
Address:  No 1 Jalan Kacang Panjang, Gelang Patah 81550, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
GPS: 1.447108, 103.586133 / 1°26'49.6"N 103°35'10.1"E
Tel: +60 7 510 3198 | Mr Chua +60 12 761 0529 | Lily +60 12 762 8255
Hours: 11:30am to 11:00pm (closed on alternate Weds)

Non Halal



Date visited: 19 Nov 2015

What other seafood restaurants would you recommend in Gelang Patah?


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