[2025 update]: This restaurant was burned down in a fire at the end of 2024. No reopening date has been announced.

One of the prerequisites for a perfect island vacation (in my books, at least!) is to indulge in a seafood feast – which is exactly what H and I did on our recent trip to Langkawi. H did the homework of finding a good, relatively affordable spot – and her choice did not disappoint!

Palm View Seafood Restaurant is located along the bustling stretch of shops that line Pantai Cenang, the beachside area that doubles as one of Langkawi’s most popular evening hangout spots. The restaurant has your typical Chinese dai chow ambience: lots of red, from the lanterns to the table cloths and plastic chairs, and an open-air dining area with fish in tanks in one corner.

Since Langkawi’s population is 90% Malay / Muslim, the vibe is a bit more conservative (there are a couple of bars, but they’re fewer than, say, Phuket / Koh Lipe which is two hours away by boat). Palm View is one of a handful of places that serves alcohol, mostly beers, with a couple of wine by the glass options. Food- wise, the menu offers a decent selection of items such as whole fish (seabass, red snapper, grouper, and tiger grouper – subject to availability and counted by weight), shrimp, mantis prawn, lobster, and squid.

Langkawi is notorious for restaurants that overcharge patrons by not being transparent with the pricing. Thankfully, we did not have this problem at Palm View, and our server was quite happy to tell us the approximate price for the crab dish (which is charged by weight). Other dishes like the shrimp, clams, and squid, are charged according to portions served (small, medium, or large). Dishes are prepared in the typical Chinese-cooking styles: deep-fried, salted egg, kam heong, sweet and sour Thai style, steamed, etc.

H and I went for deep fried squid, ginger and onion lala (clams), and salted egg yolk crabs. The above are regular portions, at RM20 for the lala and Rm25 for the squid. Those are pretty reasonable prices imo.

The squid was nicely battered, crunchy on the outside and springy on the inside. The seasoning was excellent too. No complaints! It tasted especially good with the sweet chilli dip.

I’ve tried lala at different seafood restaurants around the Klang Valley and 9 times out of 10, the clams they serve are tiny. Palm View’s clams are quite large (as you can see in the picture), plump, and meaty – and the flavours were well balanced too, with ginger, spring onions, and oyster sauce coming together to elevate the freshness of the molluscs.

And finally, the star of the show: salted egg yolk crabs. 1kg netted us two large crabs, coated in a creamy, savoury sauce.

A lot of people ‘dislike’ eating crabs because it feels like a lot of work just to get to a tiny bit of meat – but for others, therein lies the appeal. It’s a meal that should be savoured slowly. I don’t know about you, but I feel a sense of accomplishment whenever I manage to ‘free’ a huge chunk of claw meat, or pull out a complete strand of leg meat! It’s also hugely satisfying to get to the nooks and crannies to extract every ounce of flesh.

The crabs served here were fresh and the sauce served to enhance the natural sweetness of the crab meat.

Our bill came up to around RM200++ for the both of us, which I think is fairly reasonable for the portions and the area (Cenang being touristy and all). Google Reviews on Palm View are a mixed bag, but we had a good experience with the ambience, food, and service.

PALM VIEW SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Lot 1584, Pantai Cenang, 07000, Langkawi, Kedah.

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PS2: All travel and food expenses are out of my own pocket unless otherwise stated. Views here are my own and are based on my personal experience. They are not meant to endorse or disparage businesses in any way.