Ikan Bakar Portugis is one of the best known food stalls in Pangkor Island in Perak state of Malaysia. I love BBQ stingray and like the so-called Portuguese way of grilling the fish in sambal and the fish's own juices wrapped in banana leaf and aluminum foil.
Ikan Bakar Portugis stall is at a row of food stalls off Jalan Pasir Bogak, the east-west road linking the villages on Pangkor's eastern shores with its resort beaches on the west.
Ikan Bakar Portugis seems to be the busiest stall here - it even has tables in a nearby shoplot in addition to street side al fresco seating.
We opted automatically for the street side, stall front seats 😬
As customary in seafood BBQ places in Malaysia and Singapore, we went to the counter to handpick the fish we want. There were small sharks which are common in Pangkor. In Pangkor, the freshness of fish is hard to beat.
There were these sea catfish with blue eyes. The boss said these don't come by often and are very tasty. I saw them only after we had eaten (though they were there all the time 😬 ).
Anyway, we picked stingray.
We had a lot of meat, soft tender and sweet, smothered but not overwhelmed by the aromatic and mildly spicy sambal. Curries and sambals in Pangkor tend to use more aromatics like lemongrass and kaffir lime than in most places.
Onion omelette with soft crunchy sweet onion embedded in fried egg.
We had crunchy juicy stir fried 油麦菜 lettuce for the obligatory greens. Looks like an unappetising jumbled heap but it was well executed and tasty.
When Christine brought back these golden brown fried fritters, my first thought was "We are stuffed" and we have an hour long boat ride to hunt for Pangkor's "blue tears" right after dinner.
But, one bite into the the crisp and chewy prawn fritter, I was blown away and jumped up to find out where Christine got them.
Oh.... it was the same auntie who sells fried fritters in the morning at Kampung Sungai Pinang Kechil which is a makan (eating) hotspot for traditional Pangkor Island fare. The folks here are so hardworking! Auntie works from dawn till night with a happy smile 💪
Auntie's fried yam ngoh hiang was excellent as were her fried fish rolls.
On the "blue tears", we saw some like blue fireflies bobbing in the sea during our night time pitch black boat ride but nothing like those rolling luminous blue waves in those promotional pictures online 🤷
Whenever I think of Portuguese style BBQ seafood, the stalls at Malacca's Portuguese Village comes to my mind straightaway. So far, I've only tried J & J Corner and I can't forget how great it tastes. I have to go back and try more stalls there.
Stall name: Restoran J & J Corner 👈 click
Address: Stall #10, Portuguese Village, Jalan Daranjo, Medan Selera Perkampungan Portugis, 75050 Melaka
Hours: 5pm - 11pm (Mon off)
Written by Tony Boey on 22 Sep 2022
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