Sabah Keratang KL — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Fish lovers got to try the Giant Grouper here at least once. Prolific in the eastern shores of Sabah, these fish do not come easy and often. Even Sabahans got to wait for the occasional huge and wild ones. This restaurant has tried to bring this particular species to KL.

Having eaten it quite a few times in Sabah, esp at Tung Fong, Inanam, Sabah, where their seafood and fish noodles have achieved legendary status, this particular shop excited me. Can't forget Tung Fong's fish head, fish lips and fish fillet with noodles.

I went over there twice at lunchtime and the crowd was there. Get there before lunch before the hordes come in. Is the food as good as Tung Fong? How was the broth? Is the fish fishy (hard question to answer)?

The two things I liked were the Keratang skin. Thick, luscious and crunchy. A desirable part of the fish. Collagen abundant and texture-wise, hard to find this as most fish either have soft skin or tough skin. Not crunchy and tight. The fillet came thick and dense. By examining the pectoral fins, the fish was large. Love the texture too, the meat felt solid and it was a great chew and that meant the taste was not lost but fully explored at the taste buds.

I did not get the best from the head. Too bony as I would like parts with meat and skin. I do hope the shop will freely and randomly distribute the various portions into the bowls.

The soup was a tad salty and felt thirsty after the meal. Also, the soup has a slight fishy smell. A bit too much for me. It may be in the cleaning, processing or storage.

Overall, still an exciting restaurant in my area that I can go at leisure every time I am hit with the giant...

We tried this place for lunch and we were there early, so there was ample parking. This place specialises on fish noodles, with grouper fish farmed in Sabah and presumably flown over to KL.

The restaurant is cool and airy and the staff attentive and quick on their feet.

We ordered the classic fish head noodle and sabah assam fish noodle with grouper mix set. We also ordered a side dish of deep fried tofu.

Both the classic and assam fish head noodles came in quite good portions and the chunks of deep fried fish in separate plates. We like the stock soup of both classic and assam, which had plenty of umami, though personally I feel that the assam had more zing. While we ordered for the grouper mix parts, thinking that some parts of the fish are usually more favoured due to the perceived tenderness and sweetness, on hindsight, in the future, I would just go for the grouper fillet instead. This is because I find that some of the parts are not meaty enough and more dough than meat. Just a personal preference.

We found the tofu dish pretty average and would probably not order it again if we return.

Overall, we thought that the food was very palatable and worth the money. You can see how much each dish cost from the photos. We may return if the craving for fish returns. Wish they'd use Kunak chili instead of what was offered, just for more authentic...

To have a shop dedicated to Giant Groupa, this place is not the first nor the only one BUT making it abundantly available to the extend their offerings are not only affordable but also “fresh”(not off the boat kind of fresh) but rather properly frozen and hence will not have those fishey flavors even after ton of ginger or spices are blended in to cover the after taste. The Sabah Karetang is however, I believe is the first restaurant that is so focused that the giant groupa flesh is made affordable via noodles and also rice dishes. Soup based, stir fried or deep fried they offer singular dishes that’s’ below RM20 and you could even order as a main dish with other home cook dishes for a great family get together lunch or dinner. For the two of us, today’s lunch with drinks was merely RM 41 and seriously I just giggled while happily paying the bill for todays Giant Groupa Lunch...