Ramadhan Special 2014: The Manhattan FISH MARKET

That's right kiddos! Time for another special Ramadhan menu and this time it comes from one of the more popular names in town! The Manhattan FISH MARKET!

And until the end of July, we've got the chance to enjoy a special platter and also some special desserts too! So let's see what we've got!

They have some dishes suitable for single-person servings but at The Halal Food Blog, we like to go straight to the big stuff!

Lamb Stew & Fish Rendang Platter ($37.95)

Check it out! That's enough to feed 2-3 people! Or maybe it may even be just you alone if you're REALLY hungry! Hehehe

So what exactly do we have have on this platter fit for a group?
It seems like a whole lot of stuff so let's break it down for you okay.

Sambal Mussels

For a start, we have some Sambal Mussels to get your appetite going.
Fresh mussels smothered with a tasty and spicy sambal is a sure winner! It's got a spicy kick but don't worry it's not going to burn your mouth off.

Grilled Calamari

All you Sotong lovers can rejoice. They've got a nice and generous serving of Grilled Calamari for you to chomp down on. Nice and succulent and grilled to perfection.

And now on to the stars of the platter!

Lamb Stew

Succulent lamb stewed with some veggies like Celery and Carrots all bathing in delicious stock.
Sounds good doesn't it! The lamb was tender to the bite and it was a very tasty stew. Nice and hearty especially if it happens to be a cold day!

Fish Rendang

This was something new that we've never tried at Manhattan FISH MARKET before. A little local flavour in the form of Fish Rendang! Quite interesting right?

Well, there's a very intense flavour to this and if you're a lover of Rendang and spicy food, I guess you'll probably like this. Bite-sized chunks of Redfish in a special sauce waiting for you!

And all of these resting on some Garlic Herb Rice!

So you actually have a mix of lamb and seafood so I guess this kind of makes this an alternative version of Surf N' Turf if you think about it.

Lamb Stew and Grilled Dory ($16.95)

Fish Rendang ($13.95)

They also have some individual meals like we mentioned earlier.
Just nice if you don't want to have anything too heavy like a platter or you're just looking for something specific.

Well, with the spicy and tasty it's always good to wash it down with some desserts!

Sizzling Banana Fritters with Ice-Cream ($5.90)

Is your mouth watering right now? Cos mine is!
Imagine the warm banana with ice-cream and coconut cream! Tastes delicious! And the sizzling experience makes it all the more appetizing!

This was actually my fave of the night!

Strawberry Peach Poppers ($5.90)

So if Bananas or Coconut Cream are not your thing, they have something else that might be more suitable for your taste.

There's still ice-cream but this time with strawberries and peaches and completely smothered with marshmallows. And they torch the marshmallows! That means they'll be nice and soft and toasty when you dig in!

Well, whatever your tastes, you can see they have quite a selection for you this Ramadhan at Manhattan FISH MARKET. And remember - they still have their usual selection of great dishes for you to whack too!

The Manhattan FISH MARKET

16 restaurants island-wide
www.manhattanfishmarket.com

Operating Hours: 11.00am til 10.00pm Daily

Fish & Co

I remember the big fuss when Fish & Co opened in Singapore all those years ago.
Seems like not so long ago but that was 1998! About 15 years ago! Well it wasn't always certified Halal because they did serve alcoholic beverages along with their famous seafood but no worries about that now!

And I know that a lot of people would label Fish & Co as one of those restaurants that is overrated and would rather avoid but I guess it's not so bad in my books and I quite like it to be honest.

Well we are visiting their flagship store at Glass House in Dhoby Ghaut and hoping for a good hearty meal! I remember all the fanfare when they first opened at Glass House and would make regular visits there with family and colleagues especially since we were all working in the area!

Well, that was a pretty long time ago and plenty of people have given feedback about Fish & Co over the years. Some good. Some bad. But hey that's the same with a lot of places right?

Well I'm hungry so let's start with some appetizers shall we?

Mushroom Soup ($4.50)

I know that doesn't look very spectacular but hey I have to include the soup right?
We actually ordered the Soup of the Day and it happened to be Mushroom Soup today.

Despite it's rather pale colour, it actually tasted okay. There were bits of mushroom here and there with a nice earthy and warming taste. I guess if they would only do something to improve the look of it.
But having said that, it's definitely an improvement from the time when they used to serve their soup in teacups. (Does anyone else remember that?)

Anyways, I personally prefer their Chowder (either fish or clam or seafood)

Fried Calamari ($9.95)

Now this is a MUST HAVE especially if my Brother is around!
I think this might actually be one of the best things that they serve at Fish & Co because it's deep fried, tasty and simple enough for everyone to just pick up and enjoy!

The coating is seasoned really well and makes it really tasty with a really crisp bite when you chomp down.
The calamari itself is succulent and not at all rubbery. Goes great with the accompanying mayonnaise!
 And if you're not a fan of the deep fried, they also have Grilled Calamari!

Soft Shell Crab Salad ($11.95)

Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken ($9.95)

We also decided to try some salads to make it a complete meal.
After all, we're supposed have 2 servings of vegetables a day right? :P

The Soft Shell Crab Salad was err... interesting to say the least.
As you can see from the picture, the batter coating on the soft shell crab was really really thick. No doubt it was crispy but you end up having to bite into more batter than crab. I guess some might like it but I guess I personally prefer a little less batter. And as you can see, besides the soft shell crab, the salad itself it pretty basic.

And as for the Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken, sigh.
Yeah sure you get a rel nice big serving of the grilled chicken but because of the hot chicken, the salad below kinda gets.... disappointing. And it's so oily!

Look at how the lettuce leaves have wilted because of the heat from the grilled chicken!
I'm definitely all for a nice hot meal but this might be the first time that I've had a salad where the accompanying meat was so hot that the salad leaves wilted. I'm not sure if this is how it is at all their outlets but this is good if you're going more for the chicken but not if you're hoping for a nice crisp salad.

Crispy Whole Line Fish ($19.95)

This has recently become one of my favourite things to have when I visit Fish & Co.
(It used to be the Swordfish Collar everytime in the past by the way)

Imagine a whole barramundi (which is pretty much like a seabass aka siakap) coated and depp fried til it gets super crispy on the outside but still remains nice and tender and flaky on the inside. You then get to choose if you want to top it off with Sambal OR Lemon Butter Sauce!

I really love the crisp on this fish and when they serve it hot and you peel the flesh back your appetite really gets going! I normally choose the Sambal because I think it goes well. The Sambal itself is not super spicy nor is it the sweet type so it goes well with the fish overall.

When you order, you also get to choose 2 sides to go along.
Either rice, chips, coleslaw, mashed potatoes or stewed vegetables. I always choose the rice (so-called makan nasi with ikan lah konon) and then add it up with either some potatoes or coleslaw. Perfecto!

Adam's Verdict:
Mushroom Soup 2/5 -- Fried Calamari 4/5 -- Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken 2.5/5
Crispy Whole Line Fish with Sambal 4.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Fried Calamari 3.5/5 -- Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken 1/5

Unfortunately it seems like the standards (including the service at Fish & Co Glass House seem to be on the down and down.
There's actually so much more to the Fish & Co menu since they recently revamped it. So look forward to more posts including some sole-ly (geddit geddit) dedicated to the different types of Fish & Chips!

And here's a tip - Top-up $5.50 when you order your main to "Complete Your Meal" with the Soup of the Day and also a choice of drink!

Fish & Co.

Glass House Park Mall
9 Penang Road #01-24

Tel: 6334 1858
www.fish-co.com

Operating Hours:
11.30am til 10.00pm Daily

KL Sedap Part 4: Nasi Kandar Pelita

My parents started driving up to KL for short trips since we were kids.
And the routine was almost always the same - leave the house at 6am, drive up to KL, makan Nasi Kandar and then finally check-in at the hotel.

We would literally drive straight to the Nasi Kandar and have lunch first. Kind of like a tradition.
Our Nasi Kandar place is actually Mohd Yaseen Nasi Kandar (along Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman) which my darling wife and I have had in a recent trip there.

But since her trip up to KL with a friend, she's been raving about the Nasi Kandar from Pelita.

I remember having it once but I can't really remember much.
And since our hotel this time was nearby a rather famous Pelita branch, Razali, Azim, my darling wife and myself decided to have a hearty lunch before heading out for shopping.

So what exactly is Nasi Kandar?

Apparently, Nasi Kandar actually originated from Penang and is basically mixed rice with an Indian influence. That means you'll get a wide spread of dishes including seafood (fish head, squid, crabs, prawns), meat (chicken, beef, mutton), vegetables and other assorted side dishes.

You'll normally also get a serving of veggie mix (normally cucumber, pineapple and carrot) as an accompaniment.

So far like normal right? But what makes Nasi Kandar unique?

Well just give the guy dishing out your food the 'word' and you'll find out.
Say 'kuah campur' and he'll put a little bit of each type of curry/gravy on display for you including the special 'kandar' gravy which is dark and tasty.

Don't worry he's not going to drown your rice in gravy until it becomes a soup.
But just how many types of gravy are we talking about here?

Well it's normally at least 5 types and mostly curry.
Crab curry, prawn curry, chicken curry, meat curry and Kandar gravy. If there's more then he'll put more.

So common things to have with your rice?
Chicken is a popular choice like fried chicken for example. They also have a special dish of chicken which is basically the chicken with the Kandar gravy. (RM6.00 per piece of chicken)

You can also have seafood. Prawns will cost between RM5.00-RM15.00 depending on size.
Squid will be about the same. And trust me - they have some pretty big prawns and squids.
You can even get a Fish Head (Curry) for about RM30.00.

Nasi Kandar with Ayam Kandar, Ladyfingers and Salted Egg

Nasi Kandar with Fried Chicken, Cabbage, Ladyfingers and Salted Egg

 The average price per plate for the servings above is about RM9.00.
And it may not look like much in the photos but believe you me that's a full meal right there.

For my Ayam Kandar though, it was a little different from what I usually have at the other Nasi Kandar place. It seems that here, they fry the chicken here first which mean they just put it in the gravy later.
This kinda makes the outer skin have that Kandar taste but the meat is completely clean.
Definitely a minus for me.

And apparently, Azim had the fish and he wasn't really impressed either.
Only the Fried Chicken seemed to be okay. Maybe because it was just simple.

And another thing. He may have put all the different curries and gravies for us but somehow it still turned out to be only a little bit of gravy on our plates. A case of stingy-with-the-gravy?
Normally at other (Pelita) outlets they apparently are a lot more generous and dish out the kuah the way it should be in Nasi Kandar.

Sotong Goreng Tepung (RM15.00)

We also decided to have the Sotong Goreng Tempura.
As this is only made to order, this would mean it was supposed to be fresh and hot and crispy but unfortunately this was not the case. I'm guessing it was sitting on the counter for awhile before the server finally picked it up and sent it to our table.

Anyways, don't expect much in the flavour department. The batter was completely tasteless.
But at least the squid itself was not overcooked.

Adam's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Razali's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Azim's Verdict:
Nasi Kandar 2.5/5 -- Sotong Goreng Tepung 3/5

Pelita is actually a very famous Nasi Kandar chain in KL so I have no doubt that it's actually a nice place to have Nasi Kandar. Maybe we just went to the wrong outlet on the wrong day. Maybe next time other outlets might be better.

Oh. Any by the way. Avoid going during lunch hour unless you're okay with a large crowd.

Nasi Kandar Pelita

No 149 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +60 3 21625532
www.pelita.com.my

Operating Hours:
24 Hours Daily (Closed between 1pm til 2pm on Fridays)

The Manhattan Fish Market

Okay to be honest this review was actually done dammmmnnn long ago.

I'm sure you all have heard the comparisons between The Manhattan Fish Market and Fish and Co.
Well, apparently the story goes that there was this guy who used to worked at Fish and Co and decided to leave at some point. He then opened The Manhattan Fish Market which had some eerily similar items on their menu as Fish and Co... (in fact even their website is so similar lah)

Well the latter eventually brought The Manhattan Fish Market to court and I think they lost the case.
But that doesn't seem to have affected the business and its still going strong now with 11 stores islandwide and also more overseas!

And of course since we're talking about similar places here, there's definitely going to be some comparisons with Fish & Co. along the way okay so don't be surprised.

Let's start at the starting with some starters.
 

Seafood Chowder ($4.90)

Manhattan serves a clear broth type of chowder with bits of seafood.
You'll get mostly fish and some squid if you dig the bottom of your dish. They do have 2 sizes - the Lite (above) which is served in a tea-cup and the Regular which I guess is in a bowl.

This chowder is a little on the peppery side and I guess it has to be since it's a clear broth style.
This is definitely different from Fish & Co which serves a Cream style chowder.

Caesar Salad with Crispy White Bait ($7.50 + $3.00)

We also had the Caesar Salad which I have to say it quite refreshing.

You have the option of topping it up with Crispy White Bait, Grilled Chicken or Tuna for an additional $3.00.
We have the Crispy White Bait (which is basically fresh ikan bilis) and it was pretty tasty. But even without it, the salad itself was pretty decent with the fresh and crisp greens.

My darling wife thinks the serving is too small though especially for that price.

Fried Calamari ($9.95)

 This is always a must-have when you go to this kind of seafood place am I right?

Well Fish & Co gives you a choice of either fried or grilled with their Calamari but only one choice here.
And I notice that the Manhattan Calamari has more crunch to it but also an extra kick with the seasoning.
It's kind of peppery I think. Does tend to overpower the squid though. But it is served on a bed of more fresh and crisp greens! Serving is a bit small though.

Their menu says that you can choose between Grilled or Fried but... I'm not so sure...
Anyways, we never order the grilled version. Calamari is destined to be fried!

Fried Country Mushroom ($7.95)

Now here's a bit of a worse-type situation.
Anything fried is delicious. Extra delicious if it's mushrooms.

But we were totally fooled by what we saw in the menu!
Anyways the mushrooms themselves were nothing spectacular. The special tangy dip that came along was not bad but didn't do enough to pick the dish up.

Nice try on offering something unique on your menu, Manhattan.
But you might wanna work on your serving and recipe.

And now... the main event!

Manhattan Flaming Seafood Platter for Two ($37.95)

So the Manhattan Flaming Seafood Platter for 2 comes with the following items;
2 Fried Fish Fillets, Calamari, Fried Oysters (which were not available when we went), 4 Flaming Prawns, some vegetables and you can choose if you want fries or rice.

Okay so they are definitely trying to shake things up with the Flaming Prawns. I guess it's probably their signature item which is definitely not offered if you were to go to Fish & Co.

So when they serve you your Platter, the guy comes with this mini-blow torch like he's ready to burn the hell out of your dish right.

The prawns themselves are covered in this creamy mayonnaise-like sauce that will scorch once the torch does its magic.

The prawns at Fish and Co have their deilicious signature Lemon Butter sauce which is definitely a proven favourite especially with the prawns but this flaming-mayo is definitely a new approach that I guess isn't half as bad as you might think...

 Anyways, if you think you might enjoy it, you can order the Flaming Prawns as n individual platter which is a separate item on the menu.

Another thing to note is the difference in serving compared to Fish & Co.

The Fish & Co. Seafood Platter for 2 comes with 10 (!) Tiger Prawns plus Mussels along with (either fried or grilled) Fish and Calamari together with rice AND fries. And the price isn't that far off either.

And sure I guess we could debate about a few things between Manhattan and Fish & Co and I don't think the argument would end...

I guess there's only one clear way to differentiate the 2 platters.
It looks like we need to have a Platter vs Platter one of these days...

Oh and before I forget...

Mediterranean Baked Fish ($15.95)

For all you fish lovers who don't like it fried, here's an alternative.
And for some reason, they state on the menu that this is a "hot favourite for the ladies".
Is that true??

Well it's basically fish baked with some herbs and garlic herb rice and veggies.
Not too bad as far as baked fish goes. My darling wife enjoyed it and says it's tasty but like almost everything else, the serving was too small.

Adam's Verdict
Seafood Platter 2.5/5 -- Seafood Chowder 2/5 -- Caesar Salad 3.5/5 -- Fried Calamari 2.5/5
Fried Country Mushroom 1.5/5 -- Mediterranean Baked Fish 3/5

Maryah's Verdict
Seafood Platter 3/5 -- Caesar Salad 2.5/5 -- Fried Calamari 2.5/5
Fried Country Mushroom 2.5/5 -- Mediterranean Baked Fish 3/5

So is it really fair to say that Manhattan Fish Market is just a "rip-off" of Fish & Co?
I mean, they do have some pretty unique items on their menu you know...
Well, like I said, maybe the only way to truly know is to have a head-to-head between the two rivals.

So look out for a Makan vs Makan soon!

Anyways we ate at the outlet located a The Central.
Check out their website for more locations near you!

The Manhattan Fish Market

The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street #02-79/90
Tel: 65347903
www.manhattanfishmarket.com

Operating Hours: 11.00am til 10.00pm Daily