I WOULD never say no to ikan bakar, especially when two large and meaty pieces of stingray were served up with chilli dips at Penghulu Seafood in Ara Damansara.

There was the Thai nam jim dip consisting of chilli, garlic, fish sauce and lime juice and another simple chilli dip.

The fresh stingray was moist from the spicy marinade and I liked how easily you could slide the meat off the bones.

You can select your fish and other seafood for grilling at this newly opened seafood restaurant.

This Muslim-friendly restaurant is also about seafood, chicken and beef dishes cooked the Chinese way, as well as steamboat.

We started lunch with beef noodles, kway teow and deep fried bee hoon bathed in an eggy sauce,  ginger, spring onions and a generous portion of tender beef slices. We caught the aroma of wok heat in the noodles, the sauce was delicious and we slurped it up with the noodles. This Cantonese style of beef noodles is hard to do well and can now only be found in certain Chinese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

Belacan four king vegetables came with petai, long beans, eggplant and ladies fingers, fried in a spicy sambal with dried prawns. I enjoyed having the pick of the vegetables I liked, especially petai and eggplant, smothered with the hot, salty and aromatic sambal.

The next dish, Penghulu crisp fish came heaped with onions pickled with lime juice and chilli. Fillets of red tilapia had been dipped in batter and deep fried till crispy. The spicy sweet sauce with crunchy bits of caramelised sugar, dried prawns and curry leaves was a yummy finishing touch.

A ring of deep fried shredded kailan leaves round squid and prawns fried with dried prawns and lots of garlic in a chilli sauce, was also a standout dish. The seafood was flavourful and paired well with crispy kailan leaves that had a slight bitter aftertaste which I liked.

We then had creamy seafood tomyam sent over from E San Thai Kitchen next door which has the same owner as Penghulu Seafood. It was a good tomyam of squid, prawns and abalone mushrooms which had the right hot and sour balance.

Salt and pepper fried soft-shell crabs made tasty, crunchy bites, spiced up by bits of chilli and garlic. The Penghulu prawns had the right sweet, sour and hot nuances in its chilli sauce.

The Teochew steamed fish, a jenahak, didn’t quite hit the mark. The fish was a little over done, though there was a sour, salty lift from salted vegetables and lime juice.

The Pattaya chicken consisted of roasted chicken doused with a sweet and tangy sauce made from limes, plum sauce, chilli and onions.

A Thai dessert from E-San, a smooth, eggy and sublime pumpkin custard, made for a nice ending to lunch.

The advantage of dining at Penghulu Seafood is that you can also order Thai dishes from E San, which is also Muslim-friendly.

Penghulu Seafood is at G-G-3A Block G, Jalan PJU 1A/3, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya. For inquiries call: 011 5633 6377. –  June 24, 2023.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.