Pulau Aman (Food)
This is the boat we took to go to Pulau Aman
The boat ride costs us RM6 per person. It is only a 15 minutes ride to Pulau Aman.

Here's a look at the Batu Kawan jetty from the boat as we head to Pulau Aman


Our first glimpse of Pulau Aman as the boat approaches the tiny island which is mainly a fishing village

I’ve stayed in Penang for the whole of my life and though I’ve heard of Pulau Aman, I’ve never been there! So, I didn’t know what to expect as we slowly approach the tiny island off our coast.

This is the Pulau Aman floating restaurant with the super-delicious Mee Udang


Here's a closer look at the restaurant

They only have three types of dishes to order: Mee Udang, Mee Goreng and Nasi Goreng. (Shrimp Noodles, Fried Noodles and Fried Rice) Since it is operated by Muslims, it is a halal restaurant. The one common thing about its dishes is that all of it comes with large fresh prawns!

Here's the two main chefs preparing the food in the open plan kitchen

The scenery in this sleepy little fishing village is so beautiful

Okay, okay, I know you’re impatiently waiting for the food! Here they are…

Mee Udang


Just look at the size of the prawns and eating this with such beautiful scenery around us


I can't help it, the noodles are so good, I need to put up another shot of it

This is by far the best Mee Udang I’ve tasted EVER. Seriously. Not because of the sea air or the boat ride or the anticipation. In fact, I went with such high expectations, I thought I’d probably end up getting disappointed. Instead I was wowed by the exceptional taste.
Instead of tasting like they slop together some ketchup and chilli sauce to make it, this tastes like it is lovingly prepared (although the two ladies who cooked this pure bit of heaven have sour expressions the whole time). It has just the right amount of tomato-flavour with a mixture of salty, sourness, spicyness and sweetness all combined. The prawns, obviously fresh from the sea, are large and added more sweetness and a taste of the sea to the dish to make it truly exceptional!

Fried rice with prawns for Mr Picky who MUST have his rice

Since I was wowed by the Mee Udang, I didn’t expect much from the fried rice and once again, I was pleasantly surprised. Mr Picky ate almost the whole plate of rice which is something considering he always spit out rice that is not cooked to his liking. He’s a Food Critic in the making, I tell you Like father, like son.

Fried noodles (Mee Goreng) with prawns

I love mee goreng. More than I like char koay teow. I’ve tried quite a lot of mee goreng everywhere and I can tell you, this is one of the best mee goreng I’ve tasted. Of course, the prawns do give it an added flavour!
Now, right before walking into the restaurant, we saw a sort of a station outside where the fishermen drop off their fresh fishes, crabs and prawns.

Here's the fishermen coming in with the fresh catch of the day


Here's the small station handled by the fishermen where they also sell some of their fresh catch to people who passes by before they bring the catch to sell it off to the middleman.

Being a through and through greedy foodie, we learnt that we could buy from this station and then get the restaurant to cook the seafood for us! So, we bought these…

Sea crabs and mantis prawns

The restaurant steamed it for us. For three sea crabs and two mantis prawns, it costs us around RM70. Remember, these are fresh and still alive when we chose them.

This is the size of the mantis prawn


The restaurant even supplied us with 'equipment' to deal with the shells

I’ll have to say that with such fresh seafood, steaming it is probably the best way to eat it! It is SO sweet and tasty, I think I’d never eat another sea crab that’s not freshly caught from the sea.

At the end of our meal, we noticed this huge bee buzzing around and then grabbing our leftovers straight from the discarded shells!

So, my final verdict: This place is a MUST TRY. The boat ride is worth it. The drive to the jetty is worth it. The half day trip there is worth it. Oh, by the way, each plate of noodles or rice comes with 5 large prawns!
Rating: 9/10
Price: $$ (RM5 per plate of noodles / fried rice)
Here’s the details of the restaurant:
Restoran Terapung Pulau Aman
120, Pulau Aman,
Simpang Ampat,
SPS.
Tel: 016-4955125 / 019-4766125
Opening hours (daily): 11am - 9pm