Good Friend Seafood and Satay

So it was our second outing in 2 weeks with the sickawans. This time, we decided to go for seafood instead. Yen initially suggested to go the seafood place in Gertak Sanggul. Since most of us had not been there before, we all agreed. Unfortunately for me and Chiaoju, the drive to Gertak Sanggul wasn't really a pleasant one. It was rather winding and narrow, resulting in both of us feeling nauseaous and dizzy. The worst part was, after the painstaking journey there, the restaurant turned out to be closed for that day! *curses* Seriously, both of us girls just sighed out aloud and started complaining to Yen. Sorry Yen, girls are mean when they're hungry. :P Anyway, I couldn't help but notice that Gertak Sanggul was really quite a lovely fishing village, despite the winding journey.

Since our first plan was spoiled, we decided to go to our second choice, which was Teluk Kumbar Seafood Restaurant a.k.a. Good Friend Restaurant (公巴好友海鲜) to the locals. Thank goodness the place wasn't as packed as weekends, and we managed to find a parking and a table in no time.

Good Friend/Teluk Kumbar Seafood restaurant


Kitchen/Drinks area

Guess what was the first priority there? Satay! I really LOVE the satay there and we placed an order before we even found our table. The satay stall was just outside the seafood restaurant, near the car park area. It would be difficult to miss it.

Satay stall

This stall still used the old-fashioned way of charcoal to barbecue the meat skewers. The uniqueness of this satay lies in the fact that it doesn't need any gravy or sauce for accompaniment. It tastes great even on its own! (sounds like Gardenia's tagline :P)

Satay on charcoal fire

Before long, our satay order arrived, and both Chiaoju and I digged in, and sighed simultaneously. We both just reached heaven and back. Seriously, it was THAT good. Probably add the fact that we were already famished, hence doubling the satisfaction of that very first bite. The meat was well marinated, and the outer layer was covered with heavenly sauce. Each bite just sent a shock to my spine. Of course, that only lasted until my 3rd or 4th skewer. :)

Heavenly satay

I highly recommend this satay if anyone ever goes to Teluk Kumbar Seafood Restaurant. It is a MUST. In fact, it would by my highlight rather than the seafood. *LOL*

No sauce required

After our starters of satay, our main dishes arrived. Starting with the fried calamari rings, which were perfect and not soggy. I had an experience from another shop where there was still uncooked flour/batter within the rings! It was gross! Luckily, this seafood place did it right and we all finished the rings without much effort.

Deep fried calamari rings

Secondly, there was the steamed octopus. I personally don't really like octopus but I still ate a few pieces. I'm not sure if it was me, but there was a slight smell on this plate of octopus. I don't know how to describe it, I wonder if it's the smell of the sea or it wasn't completely cooked yet. Anyway, I didn't really like this dish.

Steamed octopus

We also ordered the fried beancurd, which was home made. The beancurd was soft and smooth, very delicious either eating it plain or with chilli sauce.

Deep fried home made beancurd

Stan ordered this dish called bamboo clams. I notice he never failed to order this whenever we had seafood. :) Anyway, it's quite nice. Tasted like normal lala clams, just looked longer. The sauce went very well with rice too!

Bamboo clams

What's seafood without fish? We ordered a steamed fish, I forgot what fish (probably siakap). The fish turned out to be a disappointment. The meat was not fresh at all. It was soggy and soft, just like fish which had been frozen for a long period before being cooked. I didn't really eat much of this fish.

Steamed fish

Last but not least, we ordered the fried mee tiau (a type of Teochew noodles) with seafood. Since we didn't eat rice on that night, the noodles served as our accompaniment to all our dishes. They were fried pretty well, just a tad oily. You can't really see from this picture but there were fish balls, fish fillet, prawns and calamari rings in the noodles as well. I wouldn't mind ordering this again in my next visit.

Fried 'mee tiau'

Overall, I think the food in Teluk Kumbar Seafood Restaurant was above average. The price was also pretty reasonable, at RM64 for 4 persons (exclude satay) with fruit juices. Plus, you get to literally eat by the seaside with the sunset as the backdrop. :) Not a bad environment at all.

Teluk Kumbar Seafood Restaurant
84 Mk 9, Teluk Kumbar 11920 penang
Tel : 04 - 6491 403 (Closed on Tuesday)