Year End Celebration Rootian Seafood Restaurant, Langkawi

Popular for delicious fresh seafood cooked Chinese style, year-end dinner celebration is a must at Rootian Seafood Restaurant in downtown, Kuah, Langkawi.

Where to eat Chinese Style Zhu Zhar in Langkawi?

Langkawi is not just all about island hopping, sun, sea, and sand. There’s plenty of savory local noodle dishes and glistening fresh seafood to enjoy when on the island.

Seafood is plentiful, cheap and abundant in Langkawi.  The seafood restaurants in Kuah town near the duty-free shops are always packed with tourists at mealtimes.

Reservations and ordering ahead is a great idea in getting a good table. The time spent waiting is wisely utilized to get some seriously good wines.

My last trip there was a fabulous year-end dinner with my excellent and generous hosts who bought a year-end dinner at Rootian Seafood Restaurant.

Chinese Style Zhu Zhar in Kuah

Rootian Seafood Restaurant is popular for plentiful fresh seafood cooked Chinese style dishes in Kuah town near the duty-free shops in Langkawi.

The restaurant serves a variety of food which includes pork, chicken, duck, lamb, beef, frog and bean curd dishes at reasonable prices.

Downtown Kuah at Night

The corner coffee shop style restaurant located is smack in the middle of downtown Kuah, right next to the intersection and traffic lights.

The place is down to earth and friendly with a casual environment.
All the tables are arranged along the verandah way. The interior of the shop is a prep area, the cooking area with the hiss of the roaring fire, the wok, and steamers are at the back of the shop.

You can’t miss it.

Our host KC and KS brought excellent red wines to start off the celebration dinner.

Master Chef cum owner Mr. Jacky popped in to check on our orders. His recommendations are good and definitely whet our appetite for more. A Blue Ribbon chef Mr. Jacky remains humble about his cooking skills.

Chinese Dinner with Duty-Free Red Wine!

Dinner with the boys is great. Sitting outdoors, under a cooling fan. Lots of laughter after a long day in the sun.  KC and KS always start dinner with some chocolates to munch on. The pralines in pretty pastel wrappers are nice starters.

Hokkien Style Fried Thick Noodles

To whet our appetite, the first dish was a simple Tai Lok Mee (hyperlink). Fat and flavourful with lard oil, this dish can rival that in KL.

Fried Squids with Salted Egg

Coastal ports in every country around the world have different ways of preparing squids. In Langkawi, squid fishing boats dot Pantai Cenang with their green blinking lights to attract the squids.

The squids are a fresh staple in seafood restaurants.  The popular recipe is for fried squid (fried calamari).  The squid rings are tender and sweet. Generally, squid has no notable odors but take on the crispy fried batter coating well. There are two Asian preparation styles; ‘salt and pepper fried squid’ or ‘squid with salted egg’.

Our order of ‘squid with salted egg’ had curry leaves, chili, and salted egg yolks. Often served as a starter or a bar snack, eating fried squids is an experience not to be missed.

Prawn Spring Roll

This version is made of stir-fry the vegetables, chilies and coriander and prawns cooked in a thin batter in a disk-shaped like a pancake. It is cut to bite size and served with sweet chili sauce.  Overall this is a pretty good dish.

XXL Tiger Prawns the Size of a Dinner Plate!

The prawn are served split in half, batter fried and then stir-fried in a creamy butter sauce. The flesh texture is dense, like a lobster and the prawn head is full of orange roe. Master Chef Mr. Jacky wasn’t kidding when he said two people could share a tiger prawn.

Each prawn fills up our dinner plate! This is a rare pricey treat and very delish! Great for a celebration dinner!

Chai Por Hoo

Chai Por Hoo is dish popular and not to be missed. Rootian serves the deep fried fragrant crunchy chai por (sweet preserved radish bits), garlic chips and little chilly bits separately.

The fish, a giant Dao Tay is a big fresh fish, its flesh is silky, tasty and smooth. Doused with premium soy sauce and fragrant oil, this goes well with white rice.

We enjoyed munching on the crunchy chai por.

Braised Pork Trotters In Brown Sauce

Slow cooking makes Braised Pork Trotters an irresistibly tender and juicy dish served with rich gravy. The pork shank which comes from the front leg of the pig is preferable as it’s meatier. The shank is deep fried until the fat melts from under the skin before it’s braised.

The braising liquid has light/dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, black vinegar, and brown sugar.

The result is flavourful meat that falls off the bone and sweet flavourful ready-made brown gravy that is suspicious!

Plus point, just enough vegetables and plenty of sauce to serve it over white rice.

Omelet with Chopped Onion

This is a classic Chinese dish that every new home chef will cook and the family will crave for. Getting the Omelet just right is the hardest part of this ultra-easy recipe. The onions are fried until “soft and brown”make it sweet as it caramelizes. The will flavor the Omelet and makes it aromatic.

The fiery temperature of the wok transforms the omelet into a more delicious dish that a home cooked version.

Penfolds ‘Bin 407’ Cabernet Sauvignon

We started with the expensive Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 which scored an average of 90 points in 47 community wine reviews. For a teetotaller like me, this is a remarkable wine that I finished slowly.

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz

This Cabernet Shiraz is a marvelous blend that has matured in the same barrels that held the previous vintage of grange hermitage. Smooth and rich.

Now I know why I don’t drink. I wasn’t presented with an opportunity to sample some of the excellent vintages apart from some party celebration.

After drinking, our hosts like to order a little something too much on. Just to line to tummy.

Kiam Hu Beehoon (Fried Rice Noodles with Salted Fish)

Not every dinner needs to end with a Yee Sang toss. A good chef who is able to control the fire of his work and precise quantity of oil make this bee hoon dish a dream. The Kiam Hu Beehoon is tasty. It’s fluffy, soft and airy. The bee hoon is not soggy with oil or clump together. Topped with deep fried salted fish bits, a squeeze of lime brightens this dish beautifully.

Rootian Seafood Restaurant (NON-HALAL) | 89, Jalan Pandak Mayah 5, Pusat Bandar Kuah, Langkawi, Kedah | Telephone: +6012-474 8838 / 433 3338 | Business Hours: Daily 5.30 pm to 11.30 pm

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