In Batam, there's a stretch of seafood restaurants near Harbour Bay ferry terminal where you would have a hard time deciding where exactly to have your seafood craving!
The philosophy of choosing the one with the most customers might not be 100% accurate although i did do my research by going online and got to know that Wey Wey Live Seafood is popular with Singaporeans.
As it was a long weekend for those living in Singapore, it's expected to find the place filled to the brim! Compared to Wey Wey's competitors nearby, the difference was stark as many had only a handful.
Seaside dining for those who preferred to be closer to the salty sea-breeze. I am less adventurous and prefer someone sheltered. Not that we have a choice anyway as tables were high in demand and short in supply.
Checking out the menu; typical tze char style with Indonesian words and no translation. Thankfully, we can recognise some words like ayam (chicken), telur (egg) and there were pictures of the dishes to help us in our ordering.
Drinks menu which had some English translations; what the heck is apel? After ordering (which wasn't straightforward given the language barrier), it's an expected long wait for the food.
Avocado Juice - this is the first item served after twenty minutes! Nevertheless, it's a must to have avocado juice when one is in Indonesia as they make it so delicious! This one at Wey Wey had a siap aftertaste though.
White Rice - came in a tub, it's not free flow and as our family isn't that big on rice, we requested for 5 servings to be shared among 5 adults and 2 kids.
Ayam Mongolia - translated to Mongolian chicken, these tasted more like salted egg chicken and while they were extremely nice and not overly sweet; it would be convenient if they don't come with bones.
Telur Dadar - literally omelette, this came plain and i was expecting more than just egg with no toppings! However, the plain omelette was a perfect companion for plain rice.
Tahan 3 Warna - pretty good silky beancurd with egg, salted egg and century egg; those who have been following my blog would know this is a common dish in our order whenever we din with the kids.
Kepiting Telur Asin - salted egg crab! Super rich in salted egg but i did find the sweetness a bit over the top. Shell of the crab was thin and you could easily bite through to get into the meat. The size of the crab wasn't big and it was shocking (upon payment of our bill) to see its price of almost S$35.
Why did we go to the live seafood section?
Because we ordered a Live Barramundi and the kids wanted to see the action! I am the hypocritical kind of person when it comes to food; i love to eat although i wouldn't want to see the ingredients alive as it feels too cruel!
Its sacrifice wasn't in vain! Steamed in Hong Kong style; you can't deny the freshness of the fish and it was so meaty. Definitely met my mom's picky expectations.
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Cleaned up literally everything! To be honest, pricing for some dishes were cheaper than Singapore although the big-ticket items were the shocker. As mentioned above for the crab, to pay S$35 for such a pathetically-sized crustacean was hard to stomach.
And Jovyn remained hungry. p.s. that's for show only even though i was definitely not full and had to visit a supermarket down the road to procure some snacks.
Address
Harbour Bay Downtown Sei Jodoh,
Jl. Duyung, Kota Batam, Kepulauan Riau, Indonesia
Map
As above.
Pricing
Avocado Juice - 24,000 Rupiah
White Rice - 7,000 Rupiah a serving
Ayam Mongolia (M) - 70,000 Rupiah
Telur Dadar (M) - 35,000 Rupiah
Tahan 3 Warna (M) - 60,000 Rupiah
Kepiting Telur Asin - 350,000 Rupiah
Steamed Barramundi - 280,000 Rupiah a Kilogram
(Subject to 10% Tax)
Additional Information
The queue can be long!
Now, i would suggest dining at night, especially for those who are sensitive to sights that could affect their appetite. I actually didn't notice the dense netting across when i walked past early and only took a closer look after my meal.
Here's a much clearer picture taken further down the stretch; tons of rubbish underneath the concrete-stilt restaurants and i can imagine the stench in the daytime, under bright sunlight.