Sara Thai Kitchen Balok — Restaurant in Pahang

When we decided on Kuantan Malaysia as our next vacation destination, we set up two culinery gosls.

Eat ikan bakar (grilled fish) Eat a sting ray

We researched seafood restaurants and even though it's pretty out of way, we called grab and went to one.... it turned out to be CLOSED while the google said otherwise.

So, we asked one of our hotel’s employees, who told us about this Sara Thai kitchen. We were researching on Malaysian restaurants, so we could not find this place. It is happeningly only 2 km away from our hotel, so we decided to try it out as our seafood dinner.

The staff in there only spoke Malay (or Thai?) to us. We just kept saying “Ikan bakar” at first. But they have several choices of fish and the way to cook them, steam, stir-fry or bake the whole thing. We know “sea bass”, so we tried to order sea bass but the staff took us into the fish station on the side, and it sounded like he wanted to make sure we are okay with sea bass because it is a pretty big size.

So we started to look other fish under ice cubes. And my wife asked him to show us one of them…. It WAS a stingray. So luckily, we could order Ikan Bakar with stingray, to complete our goal here.

Sting Ray was great. Perfectly cooked with lemon grass and pandan leaf. The flavor is earthy but a bit citrus-y. Meat was easy to flake with a fork. And they gave us 2 different dipping sauce, sambal and lime pepper one. Sambal was too spicy for us but lime pepper sauce was flavorful. It was still spicy but we could dip the fish meat just a tiny bit into the sauce, then the explosion of the flavors was very impressive.

I also liked carrot susu, which is a carrot juice with condensed milk. We tried a roti sakaya as a dessert, which has steamed white bread with pandan custard. I loved this pandan custard. It is so unique and shiny. We will keep looking for this Thai dessert from now on when we try any Thai restaurant in the future.

Overall, we enjoyed this place a lot. Without the language barrier, it was a little confusing first, but workers were kind and informative, and they offered the great characteristic foods. And unexpectedly they helped us to reach our goals with one dish.

If you want to try a local seafood restaurant in Kuantan area, I would recommend Sara Thai...

Sara Thai Balok Restaurant offers a decent Thai dining experience in a spacious and inviting setting. From the outside, the restaurant looks appealing with plenty of tables and ample seating—ideal for group gatherings or family dinners. The environment feels welcoming, and the layout is clearly designed to handle large crowds comfortably.

As for the food, it falls somewhere in the middle—not exactly memorable, but certainly not disappointing. We were served the chilli chicken, which was decent and flavorful without being too spicy. The Thai-style seabass stood out for its freshness and clean, balanced taste. The grilled fish came with a sweet and sour profile that was pleasant, though nothing particularly exciting.

The battered prawns with Thai sweet sauce were alright, offering a familiar taste that’s hard to dislike. Dishes like the mixed vegetables with seafood and squid with vegetables were both fine, though neither offered any standout elements. The clear tom yum soup had a nice tang, but strangely, it wasn’t served with individual bowls, which made sharing a bit awkward.

Overall, Sara Thai Balok seems to play it safe with its offerings. The menu covers the usual Thai staples and delivers them in a passable, no-frills manner. While there was nothing to rave about, there was also nothing to truly complain about. It's a decent spot if you're nearby and craving Thai food, but don’t expect bold flavors or anything too memorable. Suitable for a casual meal, especially with...

It was 3 pm after our batik painting activity ended at the nearby Natural Batik Village, and we were famished, even though we had a late breakfast. A quick search online pointed us to Sara Thai Kitchen Balok, a Thai restaurant located just a few hundred meters away.

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant was completely empty when we reached it. We were worried that their kitchen might be closed at this hour, but thankfully, they were still serving. As we sat down and studied the menu, another family also walked in for a late lunch. The dining hall was a roofed, open air area, and it was well ventilated. Even though it was a hot afternoon, we felt quite comfortable dining here.

As usual for a Thai restaurant, we ordered Seafood Tom Yum. The soup was thick and savoury, the squid was tasty, but the prawns were a little mushy. Overall, it was adequate, and nothing to shout about.

I enjoy salted egg dishes, and the Salted Egg Squid did not disappoint. The squid was covered in fragrant salted egg yolk sauce and cooked just right. It was firm but tender, and not chewy at all.

To complete the meal, we also ordered two more dishes: Mixed Vegetables and Mixed Mushrooms. Both came with flavourful gravy and large prawns, and these prawns tasted better and not mushy.

Overall, the portion sizes of the dishes were just right, and everything tasted great. We left the place feeling completely satiated. The price was also surprisingly reasonable. This is a place I'd recommend...