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Review: Big Eater Seafood
By daniel | July 15, 2007
Fellow foodie Martin Goh recently recommended Big Eater to us, raving especially about the zhi-char place’s KL-style hokkien mee and liked that it came with “lots of yummy fried lard bits”. Hmmm not exactly something which attracts our weight-conscious Esther, but she did like this style of hokkien mee.
Big Eater is located in Picardy Gardens, along the same row with Foo House which we’ve been to. It’s surprisingly clean and well-kept for a zhi-char place, so we think that it’s a good place to bring the entire family to if we find that the food is good. It wasn’t crowded on the night we went (a Friday), so we weren’t sure if it was a reflection on the quality of the food served there.
A look at the menu revealed that the served pretty much everything that a good zhi-char place should, including all manner of seafood such as chilli crabs, steamed prawns and even sharksfin soup. However, we came for the hokkien mee and we promptly ordered that, together with a seafood fried rice and their signature crispy rolls. We’re surprised by the friendly service which is uncommon at such a place. When we told them we had ordered Diet Coke instead of the barley they brought us, they were sincerely apologetic and immediately changed the drinks.
We were excited when our dishes arrived.
The signature crispy rolls ($8) with mayonnaise was surprisingly good. The deep-fried beancurd-wrapped fish paste morsel was deserving of its name, having a satisfying crunch to the bite. We can’t tell what manner of fish went into the paste, but it tasted good.
The seafood fried rice ($8 for small) was impressive for a small portion, and came studded with chunks of seafood - sizeable pieces of prawn, squid, scallops and fish. Well-fried with the requisite “wok-hei”, the rice was scattered over with scarlet crab roe which was an interesting (and pretty) touch. We felt it lacked salt, but it was fabulous once you mixed it with sambal belachan chilli. This would easily satisfy one big eater.
Then the moment of truth - the hokkien mee ($6 for small):
The thick, almost-roundish yellow noodles simply oozed in its drippy soy sauce. The best kind of noodles for this dish should have the texture of Japanese udon, and the one served here at Big Eater delivered. True to Martin’s recommendation, the dish did come with plenty of fried lard bits. I loved it, even if Esther didn’t, but it can be cloying after downing one too many. The thick, rich dark sauce was wonderful and we couldn’t have enough of it. We mopped this up easily.
I think we made a mistake by coming here alone, and should’ve come with more people. Then we could’ve ordered more dishes to try, especially their seafood dishes. Hmm…. there’s always a next time. As we left, we found out that they actually had a valet service, which was very smart, as it was quite difficult to get parking around the area (unless you park illegally at the nearby residential areas).
Big Eater can be found at 34 Jalan Pari Burong, Picardy Gardens.
Topics: Local, Restaurant, Reviews |
August 1st, 2007 at 3:10 am
Glad you like the food there.I am looking forward to try their other dishes.
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
It was a great recommendation, Martin, and I’m looking forward to trying the seafood for real next time!
June 15th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I visited the place today with my mum and overall I was disppointed with the service and the place as a whole. Firstly, I was disappointed when I was told the hokkien has ran out from last night (and I guess no effort has been made for the following day supplies) and when I showed and expressed my disappointment the so call manager said he will (sort of pretend) to check with the cook. The 5 minutes or so another waiter came and aksed for my order and I said i am waiting for the KL hokkien mee status and he then told me he was to inform me that it ran out. So the so called manager donb’t have the ‘balls’ to come back to me. What shit service. Then during the course of my order and drink orders I have indicated that I do not speak Mandarin and appreciate if they speak English and no effort was made. Waitress keep coming and speaking Mandarin to me. Horrible service. Then when I paid for the bill I asked if you could arrange for a taxi for me and was told they do not provide such service. Now what’s this I hear about a valet service. I must have gone to the wrong place. I doubt so. I remember the picture clearly.
But I will still go back as I want to try the hokkien mee desrly. My motto is never go back to a bad service place no matter how good the food is but in this case I have to make an exception cos of the hokkien mee, one of my favorite food.
June 15th, 2008 at 10:05 am
I forgot to add that my mum had the sharks fin soup and the hor fun. Nothing to shout about. The first taste of the sharks fin soup was excellent (like tasting the 1st sip of beer after a hard day;s work) but I tasted more it was quite watery. Quantity ok but quality leaves a lot to be desired. I suggest they go onj quality and not on quantity. As for the hor fun there were too much bean sprouts and too little of the translucent hor fun. Taste ok but ingredients inbalance.