Seafood dinner at Sungai Rengit in Malaysia

Yesterday - Sunday March 29 2009 - we went over to JB (Johor Bahru) and the Eastern Peninsula area of Johor with friends. Lesley and Darrell have a vehicle so it was like luxury for us to be able to travel by car!

We had already intended to go by bus to JB yesterday. But when they offered to take us out for the day - with a side trip to JB - we certainly appreciated it and what a great day it was.

Won't go into all of it here, but we did travel many kilometre's and ended up ............. at for a Delicious Seafood Dinner at Sungei Rengit.

This posting is all about FOOD any details about the kampong itself and the events of yesterday will be posted over the next couple of days!

The Jade Garden Restaurant would not be what one might call 5 star, but certainly the food was delicious. This photo was taken from the roadway looking at the restaurant....

(if reading this via FB, you may prefer to go direct to the blog as the quality is a little better)

and you can pick and choose your meal, sort of like playing eeny meeny miny mo!!
We ordered enough food for the fours of us to share, which included what was called FLAT CHICKEN and when you see this image, yes, it is certainly flat..... makes you wonder what they did to the poor chicken!
The fried rice was delicious, the first plate disappeared in no time at all and so we ordered another.
Fried Squid .... this is the second time I have had this..... very different to anything I have had before and nothing like the squid that is served at home in Australia. But we are here in Asia and I should not be comparing food preparation and cooking..... one of the many benefits of living in Asia is that we have this opportunity of trying all this wonderful food.
Sungei Rengit is famous for its mini lobsters.

Sungai Rengit in the district of Pengerang, Johor, is a rustic fishing village situated in the north of Desaru. It is not well known to Malaysians but its scenic ‘kampung’ roads also attract many cycling enthusiasts from Singapore.

Sungai Rengit leads a slow and quiet life. The population is small and the town is made up of mostly shop houses. There are no fancy hotels, shopping malls, restaurants or convenience stores here. There is only one ATM machine from a local bank and only one mini petrol station.

Despite all those, surprisingly, Sungai Rengit has many visitors. It is popular for its fishing community and seafood. Anyone who visits Sungai Rengit would have to have a meal of fresh fish, prawn, crab or lobster.....

and of course we play eeny meeny minie mo again.....

which one would you choose?


it is not easy as they are desperate to get out and the young woman standing close by was there to grab the ones that did manage to and put them back in again .... we tried not to think of those poor wee creatures as the plate arrived at our table soon after.....

The lobsters were served with a 'gravy', most unusual so we asked what the ingredients were, and from what we understood it was made with chicken broth. It is a Halal Restaurant and I guess they would be careful with all their ingredients.
Then came the Sea Snail ..... the waitress said it was sea snail. Somewhere else I see it is called Venus Clam. Whatever you want to call it, it was quite delicious. Served with sliced cucumber. mango, chili and some fine chopped nuts. She brought out the shell to show us its size and what it looks like.... similar in size to a football!




oh yes, we did have some green vegetables and about large 5 bottles of Tiger beer to quench our thirst.....
"This river that supports several fishing villages is worth a visit, not only for its great seafood but also to experience what life is like in a slow-paced fishing community."

to get there......

By car

Sungai Rengit is around 35 km south of Desaru, or 120 km from Johor Bahru.

By boat

Bumboats shuttle from Singapore's Changi Point Ferry Terminal to Pengerang from 7 AM in the morning to 7 PM in the evening, operating on a first-come-first-served basis: once 12 people show up, the boat leaves. The journey takes about an hour and costs S$9/person, plus S$2 for a bike. The last boats back leave by 4 PM.

If you miss the last bumboat, you can also take the Sebana Cove ferry back to Singapore (4/5 services daily, last departure at 9 PM), but this is much more expensive (S$38 one-way) and you'll need to arrange a taxi to take you to Sebana Cove first.

tomorrow I will post some images of the kampong area ....