Drools! Hai Boey seafood

Hai Boey seafood is located in Gertak Sanggul.  To get to Gertak Sanggul, you need to go to Bayan Lepas (where the Penang International Airport is), go all the way to Teluk Kumbar and when you reach the pekan (small town), there is a huge sign turning left with Hai Boey seafood sign.  Keep going and watch out for the hidden seafood place.

I hope the fishing nets and trees with the hidden Hai Boey signs give you that fishin village feel?  Hai Boey in Hokkien means end of the sea.  Gertak Sanggul is really the end of this part of the island road.

Compare to Good Friend seafood (in Teluk Kumbar), I prefer Hai Boey because their dishes are more unique.  They have a huge kitchen and hence, service is fast.  I bet all these guys must have ‘graduated’ from some bigger restaurants, looking at the way they handle the fire and woks.
We started with durian fritters which is unique and yummy.

The steam fish comes in claypot which is good because it keeps the fish warm for a longer time.

Their recommended ‘Hong Siew’ belly pork.  It comes in this reddish and very shiny sauce with groundnuts.  The meat is good because it is not oily and there are parts with spare ribs.  Tender and tasty.

Their recommended tofu.  Hahaha, this is our first visit so we asked for ‘everything recommended’.  Another delicious dish because the tofu is firm on the outside and soft on the inside. The mince meat and salted fish balance well and is not too salty (like most places).

Roe crabs fried with some ‘recommended style’ (again!).  This is delicious too.  I have not tasted such sauce before.  It has a simple saltish/sweetish with a hint of butter and curry leaves.

Total costs of the whole meal which serves four adults and two children, including seven drinks : RM120.  Their food portion is good, just the right quantity.  (I hate eating places who give huge portions just to get us to pay more!)
There are many other unique dishes that I will try out the next time.  I saw some yummy looking prawns with tanghoon, some very spicy crabs and brinjal fritters.  If you are entertaining guests, Hai Boey will be a nice place to entertain.  Go earlier so that you can see the sea, beach and sunset faraway.  Around these few weeks (July till mid August), you can stop over to buy  durians, manggis and rambutans from the stalls that line the road to Gertak Sanggul.

Post Author: lilian

Used to be PenangFaces, now known as Food Haven, for all oink-oink foods

16 thoughts on “Drools! Hai Boey seafood

    tummythoz

    (July 10, 2006 - 10:20 am)

    Note to self: Must try a.s.a.p *draw 3 stars in red*

    Mama Bok

    (July 10, 2006 - 11:04 am)

    Hey..Lilian,
    Next time i come to Penang.. you also entertain me here hor..?? kekekke!!

    Prometeuz

    (July 10, 2006 - 2:59 pm)

    Wah, very delicious. Drools. Very hungry now. And also very, very cheap.

    piggy

    (July 10, 2006 - 3:48 pm)

    Oh…Hai Boey…I’ve been there countless times last year. You should see the crowd there during CNY, we had to wait for up to an hour despite making reservations days earlier. But it’s all worth it in the end! Don’t ask me bout what’s good there though, I’m always there to eat only. Haha…

    domestic rat

    (July 10, 2006 - 4:38 pm)

    A sheer coincidence! I just blogged about Hai Boey too! Our paths might have crossed without us realising it. We were there at Hai Boey for dinner too. 😉

    liann ng

    (July 10, 2006 - 9:03 pm)

    What a coincidence, my family, relatives were there too on Sunday!!. The place is quite nice and clean, easy to find with ample parking place.

    lilian

    (July 10, 2006 - 10:47 pm)

    liann – I bet if we are there the same time, you would notice me. ‘Cos me bad. I took out all my cameras and lenses and do poser like real food reviewer. Hahaha, just so happened that my cameras were attached with the wrong lenses, I got to change them there. Then, I wonder if all the cameras will ‘scare’ the cooks into finding bigger, sweeter crabs for me.

    domestic rat – Really? You probably arrive later. I was there around 6+. If you are there, you would notice this woman who act like very clever to take pics like that, with so many gadgets.

    piggy – I usually stay away during CNY ‘cos scare of the crowds. Their food is rather different from the usual seafood places. I also like them who knows how to recommend the menu.

    Prometeuz – Good eat you missed.

    mamabok – OF COURSE, look forward to that. Chloe can play on the beach too.

    tummythoz – Go fast-fast before durian season over.

    Sooi2

    (July 12, 2006 - 6:22 pm)

    wah, i feel like cooking the tofu with minced meat myself…i’m sure those are not japanese tofu rite? prolly a good, homemade one. *slurps*

    domestic rat

    (July 13, 2006 - 12:04 pm)

    I went on a Sat, did you too?

    toxicle

    (July 14, 2006 - 7:42 pm)

    I was there hiking 2 weeks ago but non of my hikemates wanted seafood there 🙁

    Must go in future.

    ET

    (July 20, 2006 - 10:03 am)

    HI Lilian

    Good article..now feel compelled to recce hehe can you pls provide directions to this place?
    many thanks

    ET

    toxicle

    (August 6, 2006 - 10:01 am)

    Just went yesterday after our paintball session. Food was out of this world! Thanks for the recommendation A++++

    lilian

    (August 6, 2006 - 2:25 pm)

    toxicle – Glad to be the guinea pig. LOL

    ks

    (April 16, 2007 - 12:14 am)

    How to go there? Got map ah?

    Jumpman23

    (November 5, 2007 - 12:25 pm)

    I went there twice,

    1st time went there with my wife (2 person) we ordered 2 baked crabs, 1 crab with eggs, the other is meat crab. The baked crabs cost us RM 29.

    2nd time went there with my wife & parents (4 person) we ordered 3 baked crabs, all 3 meat crabs. The baked crabs cost us RM 63. That 3 crabs weight 1.4Kg in the receipt the captain told us they charging RM 45 per kilo. I maybe wrong but is this the most expensive crab in Penang island restaurant? Especially the restaurant with low overhead cost, no aircondition and near the fishing village, and the baked crab is very simple not mixing with anything or cooked by world renowned crab chef. I asked the cashier, those 3 crabs is from local or imported why it cost so expensive? She couldn’t answer me and told me is according to market price? Please tell me how much is a meat crab cost in Penang market, or mainland?

    I tried the steamed duck too with soy sauce, that captain said is good. The sauce they used is very salty. It has dish has lots of fatty duck skin, and bones. The portion for 4 persons is very small.

    The food serving time arrangement is also very bad they serve us one dish then take another 10-20 minutes interval to serve the next dish. Maybe there are too many people, but I’ve seen they serve other dish to other table, which is very disorganize, the dish cold when the next dish is serve.

    If you guys plan to eat crab try check with the price per kilo on that day before you ordered, else they might slaughter you like tourist. I don’t mind paying but do mind if been slaughter like idiots.

    Their claypot look nice only, but the fish choice is not many, there have “white pomfret” “garoupas” and black pomfret, all these are very very expensive fish. I’m not sure why they don’t have any cheaper fish near a fishing village, perhaps tourist prefer more expensive fish?

    Go there earlier at 5:30 pm. The boss there name is Mr. Tan, I hope he can respond to this, because the place is good the food is average but the people who managed the place really need some teaching how to manage the food serving interval and not to overcharge your customer.

    Joanne Loh

    (May 10, 2009 - 12:14 am)

    I must agree with you, jumpman23. Their food is getting more expensive now days. If you ask them the price, they will give you small crabs instead.

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