Hammer Bay Ikan Bakar @ Bayan Bay

There was this sudden craving for ikan bar (grilled fish) that landed me here at Hammer Bay Ikan Bakar Special. It was my first trip here after reading about it on other food blogs. It is located right behind Gold Coast Resort Condominium, by the seaside.

You can either choose to dine 'al fresco' or dine in a small hut with thatched roof. The outdoor ambience is really cozy. What a splendid view of the sea and the Penang Bridge being fully lit up. Priceless...

Now, let's get on with the fish. You can choose the type of fish and its size before they grill it. As they do not have stingray, we ordered 'ikan siakap'. It came wrapped in a banana leaf and after we unwrapped it, the fish looked fiery in red colour. Though intimidating, the chili paste spread over the fish was surprisingly not spicy. The taste was rather nice. The fish was fresh and not overcooked. To make it more spicy, I dipped it with the extra hot 'sambal' with onions that came with it. Ecstatic!

Ikan bakar (grilled fish)

RM20.00

Lala masak halia (clams cooked with ginger)
RM8.00

Apart from ikan bakar, they do sell other side dishes. We ordered 'lala masak halia', another cooking style is 'masak pedas' (spicy). The lala came with quite a lot of empty shells. We were rather disappointed with the bland taste. Nothing out of the ordinary and definitely not worth the price.

Sotong goreng tepung (fried squids in flour)
RM5.00

The next side dish, or supposedly a snack is sotong goreng tepung. It seems that the fried squids were precooked. The squids were served cold and had a rubbery texture which was hard to chew on. Another disappointment.

After paying the bill, the owner of the stall gave us a discount card. The card offers a 5% discount on total bill that is more than RM50 per visit. Furthermore, there is no expiry date. What a great marketing strategy!