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PULAU AMAN FLOATING RESTAURANT

Posted by Criz Lai On December - 19 - 2008|

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Please bear with me this time on the lengthy post as it involved traveling and trying out new food during a totally out of the way island hopping adventure trip. I was off exploring for great food again and this time it was an adventurous trip involving traveling by land and by sea. The destination was Pulau Aman, an island covering an area of 288 acres and is 25 nautical miles from the mainland just off the coast of Seberang Perai’s southern district of Penang, Malaysia. It’s quite a nice island to be on with affordable chalets. You could also book your lodging through KOPEL HomeStay Project or Ministry of Tourism HomeStay Project to stay with the locals and experience their daily lifestyles. There are many activities on Pulau Aman as well as nearby Pulau Gedung such as fishing, snorkeling, camping, hiking, jungle trekking, kayaking, canoeing, historic site visits or just a visit to the bullet warehouse plus the pirates’ cave. It’s truly a back-to-the-nature outdoor experience for those who won’t mind roughing it out in the wild.

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A 10-15 minutes boat ride from the Batu Musang new jetty brought us to Pulau Aman where there existed the famous floating seafood restaurant. The seafood is real fresh as you can see fishermen bringing in all the live catch, which include varieties of shell fish, fish, flower crabs, prawns and mantis prawns. You can even try catching your own and get the restaurant to cook for you at minimal charges.

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The only disadvantage of patronizing this restaurant is their limitation of food choices. There are only three choices of rice/noodles dishes for you to choose from. Each plate of rice or noodles would cost differently depending on the sizes of the fresh prawns given. It could be as low as RM5 and as high as RM10.

The first dish that arrived was the Prawn Noodle Soup (RM5.50). This was the best prawn noodles I had tasted so far. The soup base was slightly sweet but was rich in flavors with one fresh gigantic prawn, some slices cabbages and fried bean curd. The prawn was almost half the size of the plate of noodles. This is a must to have if you ever visit Pulau Aman. In fact, this dish is one of the most ordered in this restaurant.

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The next was the Fried Prawn Noodle (RM5.50). The fried noodles were cooked in a different way compared to the Indian style fried noodles which was slightly drier. It has 3 medium sized prawns, some cabbages and bean curd slices, garnished with chopped spring onions and chillies. Somehow the Malay lady cook knew the combination of sauces real well. The dish was also superb.

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Fried Rice with Large Prawns (RM5.50) was served next. I had frequent so many Malay styled hawker stalls and restaurants but normally found their fried rice to be a bit damp. This Malay lady cook surprised us with one of the best fried rice I had eaten. I could not had imagined how such an elderly lady would be able to provide us with a plate of wok hei (high heat cooking) filled fried rice full of flavors. Accompanied by 3 large and juicy prawns, I almost ordered a second round. Unfortunately, she was out of rice. What? At 1.10pm? She must have a great demand for the day.

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Since we had almost an hour and a half left before the next boat leaved the island, we went for some sightseeing. It was quite an experience witnessing the lifestyle of the Malay villagers on the island. Although the villagers were living a simple life with basic necessities, they were filled with smiles and contentment. Children were seen playing along the trekking paths and by the semi mud filled beaches but they were seen to be very happy. Even the school and clinic available were such a small scale compared to how fortunate we were to be in the city. One thing which caught my attention was the stray animals on the island. There were barely a handful of dogs but cats could be seen everywhere even by the beaches.

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Visiting a historic site on this island could be real taxing as every site seemed to be so far apart, although it did look near in the map provided on the sign board on the island. We were traveling almost a quarter of the island before we managed to find the Telaga Emas (Gold Well). History stated that a villager found some “gold” in the well. Eventually, those were discovered to be some colored stones. What amazed most of the visitors was that in it contained fresh, energizing and pure water. Although the well was dug just next to the sea, it did not contain any salt water taste in it.

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Strolling within the fishing village, we noticed an abundance of a certain 20m trees. It has leaves almost similar to that of a papaya tree, fruits with texture similar to our cempedak and flesh as white and powdery as tapioca. The locals called them Buah Sukun (Breadfruits), a fruit native to the Malay Peninsula and western Pacific islands.

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We happened to see a stall selling some fried chip-like food by the jetty and thought it was potatoes. As an adventurous foodie, I immediately bought a few packets of the fried chips home, after knowing that they were breadfruit chips. The taste was unique. It was like munching a cross breed of potato and tapioca chips with a hint of jackfruit flavor. After all, a pack was not expensive as it cost me only RM3.50 for a small one and RM5 for a big one. In fact, I bought 3 packets of the smaller ones for only RM10.

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The nearest way to reach the island would be at Batu Musang Jetty (GPS: 5.265888, 100.406928), Batu Kawan, Seberang Perai (Butterworth). A trip from this new jetty at Batu Musang to the island would take about 10-15 minutes or at the Bukit Tambun jetty which would take about 30 minutes (Update: all transports had been redirected to Batu Musang Jetty unless there are some private operator available). If you find it rather taxing to drive all the way to Batu Kawan, you could always board a boat at Batu Uban or Batu Maung jetties but the charges would differ as it would be run by private operators. It would take about 45 minutes to reach the island. Going to the floating restaurant won’t be a problem after all as it’s at the old jetty which is next to the new berthing area. Please get a sea sick pill or a sea sick wrist band from the nearest pharmacy if you are sea sick prone. Just as a precaution, make sure you call up to ensure that the restaurant would be open on the day of your visit (although it’s supposed to be open daily) or you might just waste your effort visiting the island to try out their delicious food. Boat trip charges for return ticket would be RM6 per person (collected at Pulau Aman dock). Operating time would be 8am-7pm (Scheduled ride from Batu Musang: 10am/1pm/4pm/7pm. From Pulau Aman: 8am/1pm/3pm/6pm. There are more trips on weekends and holidays or if there are more passengers to and fro.)

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As you come out from the toll plaza, you would reach a T-junction. Turn right and go over the overhead bridge towards Batu Kawan. Drive a few meters away and you would reach a cross junction. Turn left towards the Batu Kawan Stadium (There will be a signboard showing left towards the stadium. You would pass by the stadium on your left. Drive on until a roundabout. Drive towards your 12 o’clock (leading to Jeti Bandar Cassia) and go straight until you reach a turning on your left (no through road ahead). Turn left into the road (a quarry is on your left) and it would lead you to the Batu Musang Jetty. Take a 10-15 minutes boat ride to the floating restaurant.

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Name: RESTORAN TERAPUNG PULAU AMAN
Address: 120 Pulau Aman, 14100 Simpang Ampat, Penang, Malaysia.
Contact: 016-495 5125, 019-476 6125
Opening Hours: 11.00am-9.00pm (daily)
GPS: 5.268310, 100.391495

RATING:
Ambience: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 classy)
Food Choices: 4/10 (1-4 limited, 5-7 average, 8-10 many choices)
Taste: 7.5/10 (1-4 tasteless, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)
Pricing: 7/10 (1-4 cheap, 5-7 average, 8-10 expensive)
Service: 7/10 (1-4 bad, 5-7 average, 8-10 excellent)

 

21 Responses to “PULAU AMAN FLOATING RESTAURANT”

  1. PenangTuaPui says:

    wa.. go over to Pulau Aman… we are abt to plan a trip there for their mee udang… yum yum

    Haha.. make sure you wear shorts and track shoes as the places of interest could be real far apart. Anyway, it’s great place to lose some weight. LOL! Anyway, don’t forget to buy the breadfruit chips…many many many packets. I still could not stop munching them until now as they are so crunchy and nice. Get me some more please… 😛

  2. Selba says:

    The stray cats by the beach are so cuteeeeeeeeee….. 🙂

    All showing butts.. haha. I love that shot too 😛

  3. SimpleGirl says:

    nice island….and the prawns look really good…and thanks for the details sharing of how to get there…superb! Must go and check this place out also…

    The prawns are real fresh. The direction has to be very detail as the road leading to the jetty is rather quiet and I’m afraid that some might get lost and be eaten up by cows (lots of them there :P) haha! Buy the breadfruit chips.. thumbs up!!

  4. wow…. the prawn noodles look good. Yummy! and keropok some more. lol

    Everything is yummy here.. LOL!

  5. cariso says:

    I have no complain anymore on the map now! So nice with pictures somemore 🙂

    Aiya.. people look at the food and you look at the maps? LOL~

  6. wah… nice and big prawn. next time remember to call me go if u got revisit again.

    Sure… Somewhere in January 2009 I guessed. Missing the Kerepek Sukun right now 😛

  7. desmond-t says:

    it’s been sometime since i came here Criz! Long time no see..

    well done!!! ur blog is simply fantastic!

    Well, I’m glad that you like what you see here Desmond. Anyway, welcome back. 🙂

  8. NKOTB says:

    wow, you rock la!!! all the way to Pulau Aman!!

    Sometimes it’s good to be more adventurous to try out food from foreign land 😛

  9. mimid3vils says:

    How’s the Buah Sukun taste like?

    It was stated in the post. I guessed you missed it 😛

  10. gill gill says:

    At least i’ve learned what is buah sukun in your blog…heee

    Yeah… The locals even joked with me that the fruit is called buah sukun and not Koh Tsu Koon.. LOL!~

  11. kellyfish says:

    thx for showing us this great place.anyways,except fried mee n rice,realy dont have others food?

    Well, this is just a small island with fishing villages. You can’t expect too many patrons too right? Most of the patrons were either workers on the island, anglers or some visiting tourists.

  12. lingzie says:

    heehee you had to include a photo of the stray cats didnt you? lol
    but me also same la. cat lover also! 🙂
    the mee udang and the kerepek sukun looks GOOD!
    ok ok must plan a trip there liao… thanks for the detailed maps and photos!

    Haha.. what to do, I’m the “meow” man. 😛 I hope you can make a trip there. 🙂

  13. […] been in quite an adventurous trend for the past few weeks visiting restaurants by the beach or on an island within the Penang areas. This time it was a combination of both. I was by the beach watching the […]

  14. […] since my adventurous trip to Pulau Aman to discover the wonderful and tasty Mee Udang (Prawn Noodles), I have been yearning for the similar […]

  15. […] since my crazy adventurous island trip to Pulau Aman just to try out the famous Mee Udang (prawn noodles), who would have expected that I would go for […]

  16. Kimi says:

    Aisay all of you missed something besides the mee udang and kerepek sukun….the local balacan is seddaaappp.

    I’m aware of the belacan being sold there but the ones I saw had “Made in Balik Pulau” imprinted on the wrapper. LOL!

  17. SK Tang says:

    Criz,

    How much is the ferry ticket from Batu Maung jetty per way? How long is the boat ride from Batu Maung?

    Thanks.
    SK.

    A trip from this new jetty at Batu Musang to the island would take about 10-15 minutes or at the Bukit Tambun jetty which would take about 30 minutes (Update: all transports had been redirected to Batu Musang Jetty unless there are some private operator available). If you find it rather taxing to drive all the way to Batu Kawan, you could always board a boat at Batu Uban or Batu Maung jetties but the charges would differ as it would be run by private operators. It would take about 45 minutes to reach the island.

  18. cutegirls says:

    haha…. i’ve been there.. the food was really,really,really delicious…. yummy!

    so, what u waiting for? try it, believe me really delicious with the fresh prawn!

    Love the fresh prawns~ 🙂

  19. ana says:

    is there any other interesting place there? or anything else that can be shared to invite visitors there?

    It’s an island for getaways… Nothing much there for amusement except if you are into angling. There are a few “home stay” houses for rent of course but hardly any takers since the whole island was not developed well yet.

  20. […] first experience for many of the participants. Upon arrival on the island, we were directed to the Pulau Aman Floating Restaurant, a much sought after restaurant on the island, notably for its fresh seafood. We had Mee Udang […]

  21. anthony says:

    just been there this afternoon. Seafood quite fresh, but problem is the floating restaurant staff and owner attitude really bad. This is my 2nd visit, it was not that bad 2 years ago, but may be recently due to increasing visitors, they increase the seafood price quite a lot and with very bad attitude. Price tag is not provided too and they will not happy if you ask them about the price of the seafood.

    I also realized the issue too during my recent visit. It’s really a bad time to visit the place during peak hours during weekends. It’s even worst if it’s during school holidays. By the way, the seafood vendor is not under the same management as the restaurant. The restaurant will only help you to steam the seafood you had bought form “next door” at a certain price based on the weight of your seafood.


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