Zhang Xiang Yu Jia (樟香渔家) @ Nanao Island

Seafood.  Yes, seafood is something that I have been expecting from my entire Chaoshan trip. One of the best decisions that we’ve made in our trip is to make a visit to Nan’ao Island which is popular for their seafood flavors. Oysters, prawns, lobsters, cockles… you name it, and the Nan’ao got it. That’s exciting.

Prior the trip, we have been researching for famous seafood restaurants that serves good and affordable seafood dishes using Chinese travel apps like Mafengwo & Baidu Maps. In the end after much contemplating, we decided to make our reservation at a small family seafood restaurant called the Zhang Xiang Yu Jia (樟香渔家). Apart from the price, one of the reasons why we chose them is for their concept of dining on a sea raft restaurant. Having your dinner on a sea raft restaurant is definitely not something that you can experience regularly, right?

Sea Raft Restaurant is basically a “Floating” restaurant concept out at sea. Guests normally choose the fresh & live seafood to order and the restaurant will then cook it accordingly to each own preferences.

Zhang Xiang Yu Jia is started by Mr Ye along with his wife, Ms Zhang. We were quite early for our dinner and arrived at the boat pier at 4:30 PM. Mr Zhang was there waiting for us and we got into a small wooden boat which take us further out at sea to the sea raft restaurant. It does seems the case that each sea raft restaurant in Nao’ao Island has their own personal boat for ferrying customers.

The boat journey to the sea raft restaurant is extremely enjoyable, with lots of nice scenery along the way. The sea breeze is cooling and refreshing too. Check out the photos that we’ve took during the boat ride.

After 10 minutes, we alighted the boat and were fascinated by the sea raft restaurant. This is my first time on a sea raft restaurant and I totally love it. Outside the restaurant are wooden planks with nets. I believe this is definitely for fishing and breeding purposes. The mountains, the sea, the breeze makes dining on a sea raft restaurant extremely delightful.

Let’s check out the seafood we’ve ordered in the restaurant. There’s no definite menu in the restaurant, thus all the prices of the seafood are based on market price, and of course negotiable. Be prepared to negotiate well, and who know the boss may throw in a few free dishes for you.

Note that all the seafood are LIVE and only cleaned and cooked upon order. Therefore, you can be assured that the seafood is really FRESH.

Steamed Boiled Prawns

I love the steamed prawns. The prawns are big, fresh, juicy, and sweet. There’s also sauces like the wasabi  & garlic chill to dip the prawns with.

Steamed Mantis Shrimps

This is my first time eating the Mantis Shrimps. This is really hard to eat – In the sense that removing the shells is a real challenge. The meat taste similar to that of the prawns.

Boiled Oysters

Chaoshan is the land of oysters. We decided to boil the oysters instead of making it into a dish like the omelette egg. Best decision ever made.

Soya Sauce Steamed Fish

I can’t remember the name of this fish, but their fish is delicious. The fish meat is sweet and springy and the soya sauce blended perfectly with the meat.

Salted Vege With Clams Soup

Mixed Vegetables Claypot

Stirred Fried Sea Mussel

This sea mussel is quite hard to chew! I am not a fan of this dish. I think we should replace this fish with more prawns! But, you never know if you didn’t try.

Green Vegetables

Seaweed Fried Rice

This is my first time trying seaweed fried rice, and I got to say this is one of the best fried rice I ever ate. I didn’t know that seaweed fried rice can taste so well. Mr Ye is super generous with the serving and we even have to request for pack away in order to not waste the food.

We finished our dinner at around 8:30 PM where we took the wooden boat back to Nao’ao Island.