Serdang Lama Steamed Fish Head

Yet another nameless restaurant, nicknamed Serdang Lama Steamed Fish Head restaurant. Now this place has been dishing out something 'special' for some time now - judging from the amount of cars parked here during lunch time. Recently I had the opportunity to try it with an associate. Within 2 weeks, I've been there 4 times! This is good food, reasonably priced.

Nameless fish head restaurant in Serdang Lama, in front of Chinese school

Serdang Lama is a town bypassed by the North-South PLUS and the fairly new Besraya highways. Nobody goes in there anymore unless you are going to school or to feast on this fish head! If you are coming from the MINES along the Besraya highway, after you pass the railway line underneath the highway at the bend, look out for "Serdang Lama" turning to the left . As you turn into Serdang Lama, this restaurant is located right there. (There is a Pan Mee stall next to it - I was told, this is good too!) The steamers in front of the restaurant is a sure sign of the roaring business they have here during lunch time.

Signature dish - Steamed Fish Head - Superb!

The famed signature dish here is the sea fish head (Ikan Merah) steamed with salted vegetables and topped with ginger paste. The gravy that the dish comes with has a sweetish taste and is just lovely - I just love it!

Closeup of Steamed Ikan Merah with Ginger topping

As you can see here, the ginger topping somewhat looks like Japanese 'wasabe', but does not have that kick or taste but rather a nice gingery taste. This is one of the best steamed fish heads that I have ever come across.

Pork trotters in black vinegar

Next up, we had pork trotters cooked in black vinegar. This was a well executed dish, a tinge of young gingery taste too. To note here, they have only 2 options for pork dishes, the other being steamed minced pork with salted fish - I did try that one too, not too bad. Somehow, between both, I prefer this.

Bitter Gourd stir fried with egg - simple dish

We kept the vegetable simple - Bitter Gourd with Egg and this was simple and nice. This restaurant has a limited menu but all well executed and served in the right portions. The stir fried brinjal/egg plant with dried prawns (kam heong) is also highly recommended.

Watching the kitchen............

From where I sat, I could not help noticing the kitchen - the production line for the steamed fish head - it all looked so simple, chop up the head, put it on a dish, steam it for about 1 1/2 minutes, drain out the 'water', add own steamed fish sauce, add house special topping on fish and serve. Fast and close to perfect!

Food here is very reasonably priced. 2 persons, 3 dishes (including steamed fish head, 'ikan merah') - less then RM40. For 3 persons, it came up to about RM50 ish. This must account for its popularity - good tasty and fresh food for a reasonable price. How to go wrong? This was certainly a good find - highly recommended.