Photo By: Elin Chow

Bagan Tengkorak Seafood Restaurant is a hidden gem tucked away in Kampung Bagan Tengkorak, a quiet fishing village in Tanjung Karang, Kuala Selangor. The restaurant does not have an official name. For easy reference, everyone just call it Restoran Bagan Tengkorak. 

I have visited this restaurant many times over the past decade, and I would say nothing much has changed. The restaurant is in a pretty secluded location and is frequented mostly by locals. 

To get to this restaurant, you can search for "Bagan Tengkorak" on Waze.

If you are coming from Kuala Lumpur, you have to take the Kuala Selangor road heading towards Tanjung Karang and Sekinchan.  Tanjung Karang is largely a one-road town with several off roads branching off on both sides. Therefore, it is not a difficult town to navigate. 

About halfway down the Tanjung Karang road, you would see a road sign leading to "Kg Bagan Tengkorak" on the left. Follow the road sign (best to follow Waze) and drive through the Kampung road for about 4 km until you see a Chinese Temple. You can park your car at the Chinese Temple.  There is a small road right across the temple that leads to a wooden walkway over water. At the end of the wooden walkway, you will find the restaurant, which looks like a run-down shack built on stilts.  

Although the "official" operating hours is from 11 am to 6 pm, I would really recommend you to come early to avoid a long wait. We rarely visit this restaurant because of the horrendous wait time. However, we still come here once in a while because we craved for their food.

We arrived at 10.30 am and was surprised to find the restaurant was already packed full with diners. Therefore, we think the restaurant may be opened as early as 9 am.  Even if you managed to secure a table, you still have to be prepared to wait for at least 2 hours for your food to be served. There are some prawn crackers that you have purchase at the restaurant to fill your empty stomach while you wait for your food to arrive. 

The restaurant does not have a menu so people who are here for the first time might have difficulty deciding what to order. 

The must order here is their Steamed Fish Head with Soy Sauce and Dry Chilies. This is what most of the diners come here for, including us as well. 

The fish head was fresh and cooked to silky perfection before drizzled with sauce. The main highlight of the dish was the deliciously sweet and savory sauce.  A lot of dry chilies are used to make the sauce but surprisingly, it was not overly spicy. This is a dish that must not be missed!

We also ordered Kung Pao cuttlefish. Stir fried with onions, dry chilies with super rich savory sauce, the cuttlefish was firm with a crunchy texture.  Aromatic and flavorsome, this is a dish that goes absolutely well with rice.

A very simple dish but perfectly seasoned.  

I don't really like crabs, but I still eat them occasionally. Crabs are not a must order here. The meat was not firm and the taste was nothing extraordinary. It is not a dish I would highly recommend.