Halal Penang Food: Seafood (ikan bakar) at Hammer Bay/Seri Pantai – Gold Coast Condominium

This is part of #RebeccaPenangHalalGuide. See full list here –> “List of Muslim friendly food outlets in Penang by Rebecca Saw”

Restaurant Name: Hammer Bay/Seri Pantai  – Ikan Bakar/Seafood
Address: Flat Taman Seri Damai, Lintang Batu Lancang, Batu Lanchang 11600, Penang
Tel: +6019 4286401 / 012 5320096
GPS:  N05° 20′ 14.6” E100° 18′ 37.6″

Opening Hours: 5:30pm – 12:30pm (Monday – Sunday)
Website: NA
Halal Checklist:
Muslim Owned: Yes
Halal Certified: No
100% Halal Ingredients: Y
Cleanliness Grade – A
Serves Alcohol: N
Years of Operation: Not sure.
Extra Comments/Notes:
Prices are nett.

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Nearby Queensbay Mall and Gold Coast Condominium this “ikan bakar” business has flourished from mere stalls to a large food court. There are only 3 main proprietors; Seri Pantai, Hammer Bay and Anggerik Biru.
Parking is at the open air carpark and diners would have to walk further to the beach area where the food court is located.
It is clean, brightly lit and the seating arrangements are either in the open air area or the inner covered food court.

Since it is by the beach, the breezy sea wind is one of the main reasons this place is so popular, other than the fresh seafood of course.

You know they meant serious business when a simple beachside food outlet actually accepts credit cards. I mean seriously!
This was a ikan bakar stall and now a foodcourt-alike and it accepts credit cards!

The seafood displayed is fresh and there are live fishes swimming in tanks.

Choices for the seafood are primarily siakap, siakap merah, pari (sting ray), mackarel, squids, crabs, clams. For meats chicken and beef are available too.
Customers can choose to have them grilled, steamed or deep fried with sauce.
Prices for seafood are subjected to market price while the rest are fixed.
Other items available are vegetables, eggs, fried rice or noodles in almost 10-15 varieties.
For soups tom yam is a favourite among the Malay community so it’s no surprise to see it on the menu.

From the choices of vegetarian, chicken, prawns, seafood and beef, we went for the easiest; mix (aka ‘campur’) Tom Yam soup; RM4 for small, RM7 for big.
This was a light, sourish soup with chunks of chicken, 3 small prawns, and some squid rings.

Both the Grilled Sting Ray (RM14) and the Steamed Siakap (RM22) are fresh so that is good. The siakap came swimming in a mildly spicy, piquant broth. Besides masking the slightly muddy taste of the siakap, the appetizing sauce complements the fish and it was delicious eaten with the rice.

I would have preferred a spicier marinate for the stingray. Even the accompanying chilli paste didn’t quite deliver the punch I expected. The ‘famous’ fried squids are addictive and as with all things fried, it’s best enjoyed hot.

For convenience of budget and groups, 4 set menus are offered; all a mélange of their signature dishes such as steamed and grilled fishes, rice, tom yam soup, vegetables and their popular ‘sotong goreng tepung’ (}fried salted egg squid ring).
Prices ranged from RM50.00 to RM110.00.

We had a jug of teh o’ limau ais (iced lemon tea) to wash it all down.

A lone satay stall was busy fanning skewers of chicken meat the whole evening. Well, that’s another option for diners here. The sticks of satay did look promising.

Personally I can’t honestly say I’m impressed with the food or the seafood. Having said that, it is still a decent venue for a Malay ikan bakar and seafood meal considering the price and portions.

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