Still a paradise of cheap and delicious seafood

LANGKAWI: Note to foodies – despite chatter about food being pricey here, there are places to go for a good meal, if you know where to go.

For example, you can find a plate of fried rice with four huge prawns, four large squids and a whole flower crab – all fresh off the fishermen’s boats – that will cost only RM25.

“We watched the prawns, squid and crabs being taken out of the fishermen boats and brought into the restaurant kitchen,” said Mohd Zairi Che Suid, 40, an ice lorry driver from Perlis.

“If you don’t know where to go and only stick to the usual touristy areas, you will of course have to fork out more than RM50 for this kind of indulgence,” he said.

Every few months, his family would crave fresh seafood, so they would go to Langkawi on a food binge.

In fact, they were just here from Monday to Wednesday.

“We went by ferry from Perlis. At the Langkawi jetty complex, I rented a Nissan Sentra for RM45 a day,” he said.

His RM25 plate of fried rice with seafood was found in Pulau Tuba, a largely undeveloped island about 6km south of Kuah town.

Mohd Zairi and his family went by boat, paying a fare of RM5 per person, then opted for a van service to get to the rustic town in Pulau Tuba.

“The prawns were so big. We really satisfied our craving for good, fresh seafood.”

If they had been on the mainland, he said it would have been difficult to enjoy seafood of such quality.

“So whenever we come to Langkawi, we always want to go for seafood,” he added.

Other areas in Langkawi he recommended for affordable fresh seafood included Kilim town, near Kilim Geoforest Park on the main Langkawi island, and in Lubuk Cempedak on Pulau Tuba.

“Go to Langkawi during the weekdays. Avoid public holidays and weekends. You will really enjoy yourself,” Mohd Zairi said.