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Davao’s Ah Fat Seafood Plaza

See the seal at the lower right side of this image? This is practically a government guarantee of satisfaction not seen in all restaurants in Davao City. Truly, this restaurant came up each time I asked a local as where I could sample some of Davao’s famous seafood. Being from Manila, seafood is somewhat too expensive for us to have anytime we want. However, I was not going to let this opportunity pass me by when I stayed in beautiful Davao City. And indeed, my wish was granted; I craved no more.

Notice the nice cars parked in the area? All kinds of people, rich and poor come to this restaurant because its prices are not as high as their restaurant counterparts in Manila. However, a special premium is still paid for the special preparation and no-frills cooking style. They fry when you want it fried, they steam when you want it steamed. They also tell you if the seafood is frozen or fresh and their prices are not the same. Take their tiger lobster for instance, fresh is sold at P2,800 per kilo (US$58.33) versus frozen which goes for P1,800 per kilo (US$37.50). There is a slight difference in taste between fresh and frozen but for the average diner, they practically make no difference in taste because it’s been only frozen for a little above 24 hours. Those lobsters don’t stay long in fridge anyway.

So I will no longer keep the suspense. Here’s the tiger lobster in its full glory. Indeed it was the tastiest dish I’ve ever tried. Thanks a lot to Dr. Jessie Mendez who we chanced upon at the restaurant while shooting an episode of his TV show. Noreen couldn’t help but be wowed by the large lobster and the good doctor invited us to dine with him! He also invited me to give a short interview regarding my opinion of the lobster’s taste. If you can’t hear what I said, I explained how it tasted to me. Lobster tasted like a large chunk of prawn combined with fish meat which was full to the bite. The Ah Fat chef cooked it like a hot salad, which was my favorite of favorites. I admitted to be biased about the dish because I was just totally overwhelmed with the wonderful taste but I had to keep my composure for the cameras, hehehe.

You might also want to see the other wonderful dishes I got to try. Remember these images so that when you go to Davao you know what to order.

The crabs are fresh, no frozen version here, and go for P75.00 (US$1.56) per 100 grams.

Now you know what that yellow dome is! It’s their Special Shanghai Fried Rice which sells for P180.00 (US$3.75) per order. Each order is good for three people.

This is their Pompano (Jack fish) in Alexander sauce. So it was slightly on the salty side, so best to down this with plain rice rather than fried rice.

Fried to perfection, this is happiness for only P70.00 per 100 grams (US$1.46). This order tipped the scales at 500 grams so I paid P350.00 (US$7.30). Not bad! It was good for three persons.

Same price goes for the steamed version. Noreen loved this one.

A little late but the soup is also worth mentioning.

They call this their Green Seafoods Thick Soup which costs P200.00 (US$4.17) per order which is good for three or four people. The color is a little weird but the taste is heaven. They use fresh seafood like squid, fish and prawns, not the usual scrap used by other Chinese restaurants.

And they have ostrich meat too! I didn’t try this one. It sells for P340.00 (US$7.08) per order and is good for two to three people. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it because, I was just too full and I remembered the ostriches that I saw in the Davao Crocodile Park. They were so cute I couldn’t eat their cousin. However, Noreen said it was soft, tender and very delicious. I’ll take her word for it.

And lastly is this dish that I was just too full to try. Looks like crab cakes to me. Again, I hope the restaurant owners or representatives can provide the right info.

Again, my thanks to the owners of Ah Fat Seafood Plaza and to Dr. Jessie Mendez and his crew. You certainly made my last day in Davao complete!

March 18, 2009 · Arpee · 20 Comments
Tags: ah fat, ah fat seafood plaza, ah fat seafood restaurant, crab cakes, crab with garlic, davao restaurants, davao seafood restaurants, dr. jessie mendez, green seafood thick soup, jack fish, jessie mendez, ostrich meat dishes, pompano in alexander sauce, sauteed ostrich, shanghai fried rice, special frish rice, steamed pompano, tiger lobster Â· Posted in: restaurants

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