Chew Heong Fish Pot (Closed)

Item: Chew Heong Fish Pot
Author: Catherinesee

潮鄉魚頭爐

Kepong

RM11 - RM20

Chinese Seafood Restaurant

Catherinesee

Level4

579

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Looking at the name of this place, we initially thought that this place only sells steamboat. I was surprised that they actually serve seafood which is so amazing.
The best part was the highest Seafood Lego in the world. It was stacked up like a very high tower, almost like a mini steel skycraper and placed on top of a small fire, cooking in the middle. Mind you, don't even think of it as a camp fire! To me, this is the highlight of the entire meal! It was said that we need to order perhaps in the morning, if we want to eat at night. The price for 2 layers of Seafood Lego is RM 128 and RM 198 for 3 layers. The owner said that we could stack as high as we like.
There are different kinds of seafood in each layer. Ours had 3 layers. The first layer has 8 tiger prawns, clams, a very big octopus and a humongous crab. Under these delicious seafood, lies a bed of cabbage. The second layer has another humongous crab with 8 mussels, fish maw, scallops and abalone. The fish maw is just normal but still acceptable for me. Thank god it was not too rubbery or chewy. The mussels were very hard and so tasty, and does not have any of the smelly seafood smell. The scallops were also very fresh and just the right taste, not too springy. I totally love the scallops. The best part is the abalone which I love so much. The abalones were thinly sliced and placed delicately on top of each other.
Th crabs here, I would say, is what makes it THE CRAB HEAVEN. Breaking the hard-shelled crab was like breaking into a brick wall. It was akin to breaking a tough person with a cold heart, who deep inside, has the world's kindest heart ever. Inside the pandora's box, it reveals pure delight of the almighty. Digging into the crab like a baby digging into her findings, I relished in the freshness and juiciness of each morsel.
At the last layer, was the fish head soup which was cooked together with yam to make it sweeter naturally. They have succeeded in making it really sweet. The top 2 layers were ladden with a lot of seafood so that the sweetness of the seafood would drip and contribute to making the soup sweeter. The result? Almost perfect, even if you weren't a seafood lover, you would love it, and I swear to it! One can also add in any steamboat ingredients into this delightful and sweet soup.
The only disadvantage of this dish is that the chef has used a tad too much corn flour, resulting in a thick gooey sauce on top, which to me, became a small spoiler to this amazing dish fit for the emperor. I gave that feedback to Chef Low Teck Chun but he said that the reason he made it thick was because the entire 'tower' was steamed so he need to prevent it from being dry from over steaming.
Considering I just bit my lips 3 times in a row after eating soft shell crab, I was a little hesitant to touch this dish. However, the foodie inside me made me resolute to try it because I cannot pass by any dish without trying it. The Salted Egg Soft Shell Crab was so flavoursome that one could have felt that they probably used the entire salted egg to make this dish. You could totally feel and smell the aroma of the salted egg. The crisp of the soft shell was still evident too. Sinking my teeth into it was like a vampire sinking my teeth into the shell of something and it felt amazing though deep inside me, I was afraid of facing a sorethroat later which I am prone of whenever I eat deep fried food. This salted egg soft shell crab costs RM 25, which is so much cheaper than the few pieces of soft shell crab I ate in Barn Thai or the 2 pieces of soft shell crab I ate in Marini's 57. I can fondly remember my best BFF girl friend who loves soft shell crab and must make it a point to bring her here.
The Signature Steamed Lala (Small: RM 18, Large: 28) was quite tasty too. The big plate of small lala was served in a very big plate. There was a little remnant of oil at the bottom. There was some ginger placed on top. The ginger was so thinly sliced that you could have tell the patience of the person behind it. All I can say, it was amazing knife skills! The lala was cute and the other great part about it is that the ginger power has done the trick of removing the smell of seafood from it.
The Chilli Crab which costs RM 25 for a small crab and is priced according to weight and market price after that, was the best one I had ever tasted. It was done a little differently from most cafes whereby usually they would cook chilli crab with eggs but not here. I was thankful they did not do this because I was so awfully full by then. They also added in some cubes of tomatoes which made it a little different from the others, and somehow the taste is sweeter. The fleshy crabs more than stands out for this dish. The freshness and the hardness of the flesh, was so incredible, that inside me, I was screaming in delight. You really have to taste it to believe me. And you will definitely not faint when you see the RM 25 price tag!
My other favourite besides crabs here would surprisingly be the Pumpkin Sambal Prawn. I personally hate pumpkins so in the past, I would not have touched any dish with pumpkin inside. I guessed my perconceived dislike for pumpkin was due to the stir fry pumpkins my babysitter likes to cook when I was young. As I grew older, or shall I say more tolerant of other food, I began to accept pumpkin and even learnt to like pumpkin soup! Anyway, back to the topic of pumpkin sambal prawn, the prawns were thoroughly wrapped up in thick pumpkin sauce and each lick or bite of the fried prawn will enable one to savour the taste of the thick pumpkin smash. The weird thing was that I did not even realize it was pumpkin, so if you dislike pumpkin, rest assured you will be able to eat this. The chef really deserve high praises for being able to coat the prawns so well with pumpkin that we could not tell it was pumpkin yet could feel a thick sweet sauce with high vitamins throughout the experience! Kudos Mr Teck Chun! Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to mention that the prawns here cost RM 3.50 per piece and could go by weight too depending on the type of prawn chosen. Do bear in mind that we need to order a minimum of 6 prawns.
The Lemon Steamed Octopus was another favourite dish of us girls and guy, might I add? Haha! It acted as the perfect appetizer. It was served in a fish-shaped steel dish which restaurants usually serve steamed fish in. The amount of lime and lemon was in a quantity that makes this almost similar to a Thai dish I tried in Puchong, and that fact makes me fall in love with it. It was like marrying a thai girl in a Chinese restaurant! The giant octopus was so fresh and juicy and did not have the rubbery taste that most octopus have. The entire octopus dish is placed on top of fresh pandan leaves which did not have a show of dirt or yellowness due to dryness of the leaves. The pandan leaves lent the aroma to the dish, somehow. There were also slices of garlic and something like dried beancurd (but most probably not) which makes this an interesting and unique concoction. This shows the skill of the chef again and mind you, I am generous with praises only when it is true but terribly selfish with it when it the food is horrible. I never lie, a principle I hold dearly to. The price? A whopping RM 18 for octopus! It would have cost double in the Thai restaurant or even open air cafe!
The "Mai Pian Sian Ku Rao" (don't attempt to trust my Mandarin translation) or Nestum Prawn Mantis was a delightful twist from the normal black pepper or kong po prawn mantis I usually eat. The chef here is very adept in coating the food items, so much so that you can trust him with coating anything! This time round, the prawn mantis is evenly coated with nestum which is already smashed into such small pieces that you could not tell it was nestum at all! Such amazing work of a man! The only thing I wish could have been done better was that the prawn mantis could have been fatter as I felt like I was just eating flour. But then again, I cannot hope for that much for only RM 18 for a small plate or RM 28 for a big plate.
It seems that most of the small portions cost RM 18 and RM 28 for big portions. Probably it was done this way to ease memory for the cashier.
The Jinjang Sauce Pai Kut/Pork Ribs (S:RM 18, L: RM 28) was by far, the best pork ribs I have ever tasted in my entire life. It seems a little too far fecthed to say it this way, but for your information, I am a pork hater, so this review coming from me, means a lot! I am someone who is very fussy when it comes to pork because this is what makes me fat and I am not very much into meat so when I really care to eat it, of course the taste has to justify the risk I have taken into obesity, or so, I thought! The jinjang sauce was so amazing that I just became lost for words. Sinking your teeth inside is like a dog sinking its teeth into his favourite bone, the only difference, is that the pork ribs have more flesh than a dog bone and is 10 time better, obviously! The taste is just remarkable and even better than marmite fried pork ribs which is the conventional dish in da chao in Klang Valley. The fragrance of the sauce which, again did a tremendous job in coating the fried pork, was so sinful that even eating it, makes me forget this world!
Seafood here is very fresh and can be chosen from the swimming crustaceans and creatures in the open aquariums or from the ice. Either way, freshness and affordability are guaranteed, so one can pick without fear of ending up with a burnt pocket.
Oh, did I tell you the breaking news that a plate of seafood set (uncooked) for steamboat purposes only costs RM 7.90? You can eat steamboat with free tom yam or clear soup. You can top up with any ingredient of your choice from the freezer, in the price range below. There are many varieties to choose from too.
RM 3: Beige Plate,
RM 6: Black Plate
RM 9: Yellow Plate
RM 15: Red Plate
Is your jaw dropping now? Oh, no need for that as your saliva probably drool when you have THE DISH - The Grouper Pot (RM 38) which was the most amazing claypot I have ever laid my eyes, and lips on? NEW FLASH TO ALL FISH HEAD LOVERS! Never give this dish a miss if you ever make your way here! Well, I certainly have fallen head over heels in love with this! I am sure my good friend deep down my life would love this too as he is an ardent fan of fish head! Anyway, there wasn't a hint of fishy smell inside too. The skin of the fish is so soft, silky like silk even though the fish was probably fried beforehand. The soup was full of nutrients from the fish, which was extracted from all the boiling. Cabbage was placed inside to lend the natural sweetness.
One good thing about eating steamboat or any soup item here is that surprisingly, unlike all those seafood joints outside, you do not feel thirsty after the meal! Surprised? Don't be!

The Fresh Oysters (RM 8.90) were not that fresh and not worth the money. I think they should have placed it on a bed of ice instead of out there like that.
The Thai Coconut was so sweet and juicy and a refreshing finishing to the entire meal, thus making you sway with the coconut, feeling like you are on Pattaya Beach despite being the hustle and bustle of Kepong.
So what do I recommend here? Do bring a party of at least 10 pax to taste every single item mentioned here! If you are lack of cash, you can let go of the Seafood Lego as it is too much to eat and probably might weight a little too much for your pocket unless you just feel like splurging! If you come in a couple, a grouper soup and a some raw vegetables would be perfect especially if you are on a budget. Oh ya, shall I add, this is a place that is friendly with us, foodies who can eat freely in the post-GST era where dining outside is expensive yet we are always itching to go out for food hunts!
So do escape to Chew Heong Hotpot if you feel like having a nutritious, healthy meal which brings you to whole new world, tantalising you with its remarkable delights. One thing is for sure, you will never end the night disappointed at your finding after braving the LDP jam to reach here! It was like reaching the peak after a hard climb!