Hung Makanan Laut Siput Balitong, Esplanade, Penang

On cool windy nights, having drinks at the open air stalls, at the medan selera by the sea in Esplanade is one of the perfect choices for Penang hangouts. You get to enjoy the sea breeze, savour variety types of food offered by the stalls, like fried noodles, hor fun, bee hoon and stuffs,  pasembur, western food, “zhu char”, grilled fish and other seafood, and the the other stalls I regularly patronize is the Hung Makanan Laut Seafood Balitong, which only serves balitongs, fresh clams (kepah or known to hokkiens as kapah), thanh, and fried oyster omelette and the fruit stalls, serving fruits rojaks and also chilled freshly cut fruits of your choice. You name the fruit, they have it. and with that, you can opt to have fresh fruit drinks, coffee, tea and stuff or another best pair with seafood, beers!

Previously, this guy here can be seen singing around the food court, well earning that extra income… but the last 2 times I went, I did not see or hear him though…

Regular orders would be the yummy oyster omelette (orh chien) with huge juicy oyster, cooked to just perfection but, sometimes could be tad oily. My friend though adores the orh chien a lot and claims no other orh chien could beat this one.. haha…. it’s not too starchy, and it’s not all about presentations, there’s no spring onions sprinkled to add colour and add flavour. Perhaps that’s why my friend loves it so much, causes she hates spring onions…

Secondly is the stir fry fresh big juicy clams with spicy sweet thick sauce.. with very strong flavour and the sweetness of the clams combined, this is just simply one of the best I’ve tasted so far. Not sure if MSG is added though, cause sometimes I do feel thirsty after the meal :D But it’s still taste good anyhow…

The thanh.. I never manage to find out what is it called in english.. it’s something like razor clams… longer slimmer clams with thinner shell, also very fresh and juicy stir fried in another type of spicy yet flavourful and palatable sauce…and yes, all this can be really oily sometimes.. so need to remind the uncle to cut down the oil :P… each cost around MYR 8 to MYR12, depending on the size ordered.

Sometimes, orders can be a lot, you would have to wait and queue, sometimes or even coming to an hour before they serve your your food, they’ll inform you though to expect delays. That indicates good business i guess.. haha… but sometimes, they will come and ask tables to tables if you would like to place orders…

The fruit rojak, with variety of cut fruits and even cuttlefish, mixed in rojak sauce, topped with aromatic crushed peanuts.

My friend ordered and asked of extra cuttlefish, well, we actually meant to have the fresh cuttlefish added, but it cam with.. jeng jeng jeng.. special one… dried cuttlefish…

Fresh fruits platter… of any fruits of your choice.. you make your order form the stalls, naming the fruits you want, and they’ll have them cut and topped with ice to keep the fruits chilled. It can be pretty expensive though compare to if you go buy the fruits yourself and cut at home… but sometimes, just too lazy, so wouldn’t mind spending once in a while for someone to cut and serve you these yummy chilled fresh fruits…