Orkid Ria was recommended to me by the barman at the hotel we stayed at in Langkawi and seeing as we had no idea of where to start exploring the Langkawi dining scene, this was as good a recommendation as any. Located on the main “strip” in Pantai Cenang,a bustling street filled with restaurants, bars and tourist shops, first impressions were not brilliant but we pressed on with our plan to dine there and I am glad we did.
The menu is predominantly seafood and leaning towards Chinese in preparation. We decided we would share some dishes amongst us so took it in turns to pick something from the menu, my Fathers first choice of grouper was thankfully passed over as the only grouper they had were around 800grams in weight and as we were ordering so many other dishes I decided that we wanted a fish of around half that weight.
Whilst this was clearly a smaller fish than they usually served, the waiter came up with a beautifully fresh looking pomfret which was far more to my liking and the perfect size so we took one of those grilled as well as some crispy squid, chilli prawns, sizzling Chinese style chicken, bee hoon noodles and some sambal belacan kang kong which I have become somewhat partial too during my time in Singapore, the dried fish and chilli proving the perfect seasoning to this crunchy green vegetable which would otherwise be a little dull.
The dishes were bought to our table as and when tehy were prepared which gave us perfect timing to enjoy each dish before the next arrived which we were thankful for as the dishes were universally good and devoured without much ceremony.
With a few Tiger Beers each, I think the cheque came to around $10-$15 each, astonishing value for the quality of the dishes served.
Orkid Ria
Lot 1225, Pantai Cenang, Mukim Kedawang, 07100 Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
+60 4-955 4128
Open Daily 12-3/6-11pm
A British Girl Abroad 