Project Penyek Review: XXL Fried Seafood Platter At ABC Brickworks Food Centre

Food at Project Penyek Although Project Penyek is known for their Ayam Penyet, we came here for the huge Seafood Platter ($49.90) that serves about five people. We had to pre-order it one day in advance from the ever jovial chef-owner, Harry.

It comes with five plates of flavoured rice, and each additional plate of rice costs $1 . Coupled with the intense bubbling of oil and sizzling of the seafood, all it did was make me hungry.

When the seafood platter was set down in front of us, we couldn’t believe our eyes. The platter was filled with huge deep-fried portions of squid, a whole pomfret, massive tiger prawns, and flower crabs, all covered majestically by crispy batter.

All eyes were on the seafood platter, and its sheer size drew many onlookers from the busy lunchtime crowd. The white meat was succulent and moist, and didn’t taste too fishy for my liking. When paired with the piping hot rice and sweet chilli, the combined flavours of each spoonful had me craving for more.

Having been cooked in good amounts of chicken stock and fat, the rice was flavourful. Compared to the other seafood, the taste of the pomfret was rather mellow, and the sweetness of this chilli helped bring out the collective flavours of the fish. We did not expect the prawns to be tiger prawns, and it was a pleasant surprise.

When dipped into the zesty and spicy sambal, the prawn meat combined beautifully with the sauce to become a match made in heaven. Chef Harry intended for the crab’s exterior to be broken by hand, which we failed to do a few times. For the parts where we did manage to obtain the crab meat, the meat was juicy but not as flavourful as we had anticipated.

Though magnificent looking, the crab was not as impressive as the rest of the seafood. Hence, you should be able to enjoy a hearty plate of rice and deep-fried seafood comfortably.

Having to pre-order at least one day in advance is a testament to Harry’s attention to detail, as once he receives an order, he will head down to a nearby marketplace before dawn to personally select the freshest catch for his customers. Quality ingredients and honest cookery methods are his top priorities, and this has led him to continue serving good food to the residents of Bukit Merah for the past 10 years.