Resipi Grobok Salai is usually quite busy and crowded, but the flow goes pretty fast as you walk through the displayed food and select what you want. The dining area, next to a river, is also huge enough to feel spacious and not stuffy.

I had their signature Itik Salai Masak Lemak Cili Api (smoked duck with rich spicy hot sauce), Daging Salai Masak Lemak (smoked beef with rich spicy hot sauce), Ikan Keli Masak Lemak (catfish with rich spicy hot sauce), Siput Sedut (sea snails, also in the hot sauce), and Telur Itik (duck egg, hard-poached, in the hot sauce).

The smoked duck was surprisingly good as it wasn’t dry or tough. The combining flavors of smoked duck meat and the rich spicy hot sauce pair super well! The smoked beef was also very tender and delicious! Even though both dishes probably use the same hot sauce, each one has a different flavor profile, especially after being smoked. The catfish is also good but less special compared to the duck and beef.

If you have more space available in your tummy, try the poached duck egg. It has a slightly different flavor and texture compared to chicken eggs. And if you taste bud can still handle the spiciness, the seas snails is a good snack to ‘suck’ on (the trick is to suck on the broken hole at the pointy tip of the shell first, followed by sucking the big hole at the base to get the snail meat).