Lumut Sojourn – Dinner @ Kokee, Pantai Remis

On the 2nd night of our stay in Lumut, we decided to go for dinner in Pantai Remis, having heard of the great seafood available there. We actually wanted to go to Restoran Ling Song Kee – a highly recommended joint, but unfortunately when we stopped in front of that restaurant, there was a sign there which read “We are closed for business from 6-8 June”….Aarghh! what a bummer! Don’t they know that they should open every day during the school holidays?! There were so many outstation visitors/tourists swarming the town when we were there!

Anyway, so we drove further down the main road of Pantai Remis (it’s about 24km from Swiss Garden Resort), we spotted this…Restoran Kokee…

So we decided to try our luck with this place because we saw many cars parked outside it. Many cars means many customers, means the food must be good, right? We coolly pushed open the main door and very coolly walked in…right smack into a wedding dinner…hahaha! (that explained the many many cars & motorbikes parked outside…duhhh) At that point of time, the bride & groom were getting up to stand outside to thank their guests who were starting to leave…and it was barely 7pm! I guess in smaller towns, they start their dinners early (around tea time kwa?) and they are done before 7pm.

Anyway, the restaurant’s ladyboss invited us to a table away from the wedding crowd and promptly took our orders. Since we were on a roll for Orh Chien (Oyster Omelette), that was the dish we ordered first & foremost! (hahaha, maybe you’re already sien with us for having this again!) However, their version of this turned out to be not-so-good as it lacked the light fluffiness which we liked in BeiKing and Hailam Seafood Village. As you can see, the omelette here looked and actually tasted rather flat.

The Fried Squids was another disappointment. The squids were chewy and they must have screwed up the batter because it was not crispy at all! They have also probably fried the squids in oil that was not hot enough as there was a lot of oil soaked up in the batter.
The next dish – Fish Fillet in Tomato Sauce fared better (thank goodness! I was beginning to lose faith in the place). The fish was fresh, tossed in sourish tomato sauce with crunchy pineapples, cucumber, onions and tomatoes.
I was hankering for crabs and since we didn’t get to eat that in the last 2 meals in Lumut, this was a must-have as we were in Pantai Remis (seafood heaven, right?). The ladyboss recommended their Kum Heong Crabs. While the crustaceans were extremely fresh, their version of “kum heong” differed a bit from what we’re used to in the Klang Valley. Somehow, it lacked a certain ooomph…the dish came out with a mish mash of odd flavours that didn’t quite taste like the usual “kum heong”.
Ahh…finally a dish that’s worth drooling over – Fried Mantis Prawns! This time, they got everything right – superfresh prawns, great flavours, just-right batter, superbly fried crispiness! There was a light coating of egg omelette covering the crunchy morsels – just perfect!
To fill up the still-available-spaces in our tummies, we had Fried Rice. Now, this may sound boring, looked very plain & unpalatable, but I tell you – this was one of the best fried rice we ever had! Serious. Despite its paleness (which usually translates to “tasteless”), on the contrary, this fried rice had all the great flavours of shrimps, chicken cubes and eggs. Yeah, sounds simple but tasted fantastic – not a single grain of rice was wasted, hahaha!
Another stomach-filler ~ Fried Mee+Meehoon. This was rather mediocre – just like any ordinary fried noodles, with some shrimps, chicken fillet and cabbage. Hmmm…the Fried Rice was much better, hehe!
Don’t forget, I need my vege fix – so we had Kangkong – plainly stir fried with garlic, just the way I like my vegetables. Simple dish but no complaints – it met my requirements!
The ladyboss highly recommended their Pig Stomach Soup and this is one recommendation with no regrets! The soup was very “ching” – with just pig stomach, pork ribs and pepper, served with a bunch of celery sprinkled on top. Sorry – this picture doesn’t really do justice to the soup but it’s the only shot I have of the soup.

Well, I must say this meal was a hodgepodge of great dishes/near-misses/downright-flops …hahaha! Anyhow, for all these big portions (for 10 adults + 2 kids, remember?), plus drinks (chrysanthemum tea, again), the bill came to RM170. Pretty good value, I think.

So, if you ever have to eat in this place, just be mindful of what they offer – some good and some not-so-good!