Batam Bagus - Kelong Dinner

The kelong dinner was one meal that all of us were looking forward to. However, if you're a newbie to Batam taking a cab down to the restaurant, you'd think you had been kidnapped. The cab would suddenly turn off a bustling road into a dark and dingy dirt track lined by sporadic shanty huts. There're hardly any street lights and the road is illuminated mainly by the car's headlights reflecting off the luminous paint. Then suddenly, you emerge into a brightly lit carpark which flanks the kelong restarant.

As you enter, an efficient waitress leads you to the tanks by the side to select your seafood. 

After making our selection, we sat down and waited eagerly for the food to arrive.

First the mussles and dong dong. Don't know about you but I love prying the soft chewy flesh from the shells.

The best way to eat fresh prawns is to have them steamed in garlic and their own juices.

Ahhh...the highlight of the meal. Now this is what I call sambal crabs. Definitely not for the faint hearted.

There were more dishes, but by then I was too busy polishing off the crab.