Belacan Grill

Malaysia, being a part of the association of south east asian nations of which the philippines is a member, has great food that i associate with my peeps. (i know, my mind works in a weird way...)

i decided to trek to redondo beach to dine with a friend to check this place out to get some grub. and grub, we did.

i started off with a lychee drink. it is basically lychee, lychee juice and shaved ice. nothing special or remarkable for that matter. i am sure i could have brought my own canned lychee (which one can buy at any asian market) and put shaved ice on top. at $2.50, it is pricey -- when a can costs less than a buck -- but hey, it's lychee. and no one can come between me and my lychee. bottom line, you can't mess this one up (plus, i was out of canned lychee at home).

instead of ordering appetizers, we decided to order 3 entrees. these are served family style so it all works out in the end.

1. fried crab - this is a whole crab, chopped and pan fried. there is batter coating the crab and sauteed in with some red peppers and tiny salty shrimp. it was pretty good. you bite into it and you can taste the salty shell. once you get through, you are rewarded with the moist crab meat. mmmmmmm....

2. prawns in coconut curry hot pot - anyone on a diet should skip this. once you start, it is hard to stop. my friend was making fun of me because i was just slurping that curry. where to begin... The curry is rich with a slight spiciness added. the prawns are medium sized and generously filled the hot pot -- no skimping here. the curry came with eggplant, which melted in your mouth. double mmmmmm.....

3. sauteed kangkong in garlic - i really don't know what the english translation is but kangkong is close to spinach ... But not really. needless to say, one can't really screw this up. so i was perfectly happy with this dish.

the total bill came to $60. not bad considering all the food we ordered. it does get busy so service might slow down. but, they are not rude or dismissive.... just busy. if you are in town, check this out!!!