Shell Out Seafood @ Kota Damansara Unknown5:27 PM 2 comments

I am a fan of seafood cuisines but living in around Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya could also mean one thing. It is hard to get good and fresh seafood to satisfy my cravings. I was recently invited to review a seafood restaurant in Kota Damansara and I jump to that chance immediately. Who knows I will be able to find my regular seafood joint in Petaling Jaya.



Shell Out Restaurant was located nearby Sunway Giza in Kota Damansara. It was located at the shoplots opposite Sukiya's row.

Interior of Shell Out

The Dining "Plate"

As I walked into Shell Out, I noticed a rather peculiar scene. Customers are not only eating with their hands but also on the table.  Shell Out uses a concept of dining with your hands and you eat off a large piece of waxed brown paper like those nasi lemak vendors use. This concept is pretty interesting and I somehow felt seafood can only be truly enjoyed when you get down and dirty prying open shells after shells.

Fried Sweet Potato - RM8.90

We were  first served with this sweet potato fries is I personally do not really enjoy. The reason for that is that the outside of the fries was not crispy enough for my liking.

Fried Fish Basket - RM10.90

This fish basket is consist of nicely fried baby pomfret and despite the earlier disappointment from the fries, this fish basket is quite good. The fishes were fried till very crispy on the outside and what's more, the fishes use were fresh. I have my hopes up for the food to come.

How the food came to us

The way the food presented to us was indeed unique. Those seafood were packed in plastic bags and as they arrived, the waitress would tear off the plastic bags revealing a very fragrant smell of the spices and food alongside some delicious looking seafood.

Scallop in 1/2 Shell with Butter Garlic Sensation (mild)

The one we had here for a pax of 5 people is 250g. The price of these scallops are at RM17.90 for 250g and RM35.90 for 500g. The scallops are marinated very nicely with generous amount of spices with Cajun flavor as its base. The butter and garlic taste are apparent but they aren't too strong as well. The scallops have a spiciness level of mild and sure enough you can taste the spiciness which makes me beg for more.

Clam In Lemon Pepper Sensation (mild)

The clams were priced at RM15.90 for 500g and also RM29.90 for 1kg. The lemon pepper sensation has a very unique taste which struck my heart upon tasting it. This flavor too uses Cajun flavoring as its base but the sourness from of the lemon used is definitely a taste to remember. The chilli pepper taste wasn't too strong and just about right as well.

King Prawn In Butter Garlic Sensation (mild)

For the king prawns over here, they are priced at RM28.90 for 300g, RM39.90 for 500g and also finally RM75.90 for 1kg. The flavour we opt for the king prawn is the butter garlic sensation which is the same flavour we had with the scallops.

Crawfish (YABBIES) in Cajun Sensation + Butter Garlic + Lemon Pepper Sensation (OMG)

The crawfish are priced at RM45.90 for 500g and also RM78.90 for 1kg. You can actually even add on sausages and corn inside as well for flavouring and I must say I am glad we did. This flavour was marinated thoroughly with generous amount of herbs and spice. The level of spiciness we had for this is actually the level OMG. I was expecting a tongue numbing experience with this level of spiciness but I was disappointed. The level of spiciness is nowhere near for me to yell OMG but there is still quite a noticable difference of spiciness between the mild ones and the OMG. The combination of spicy and sourness is really good here. I somehow felt the butter garlic taste was overkilled by the taste of lemon pepper.

Japanese Snails in Cajun Sensation + Butter Garlic + Lemon Pepper Sensation (mild)

One of the most unique dishes we had at that restaurant is this Japanese Snails. Despite loving seafood, I have difficulties dealing with slimy creatures. I hate snails and frogs. I have no problems with spiders and cockroaches which most people have but whenever I see frogs or snails, my hair will start to stand. Seeing these snails served to me brought me on my edge. I was contemplating whether should I eat or not but after some persuasion from Bok, I decided to give it a try. Here is my verdict of eating the snails.





The snails taste quite similar to clams. From the picture above, the top part is actually the head and main body of the snails and the tail is the greenish part of the entire thing. The chewiness reduces as you bit from the head to the tail. If I was blindfolded and being fed with it, I would most probably mistaken it for a type of clams. It was quite a nice texture to chew on if you ask me but I still wouldn't have any of this as thinking those were snails still manage to make my hair stand. I didn't include the pricing for this as it wasn't available on the menu. Do check with the owner with the availability of this dish.

Crab in Cajun Sensation + Butter Garlic + Lemon Pepper Sensation  (mild)

One of the most important criteria in crab dishes is the freshness of the crabs. In Shell Out, I would say the crabs are definitely one of the freshest in Petaling Jaya. The meat were succulent and juicy and there is absolutely no powdery texture at all. The pricing of crabs here differs each day as they are charging according to the market price.

Overall, I found the food here to be rather good as the seafood they serve are quite fresh. It is actually hard to differ each flavor as they uses Cajun Sensation as a base for all of it. I would prefer the Lemon Pepper and Cajun combo as the sourness from the lemon brought out my appetite and also it tasted really good. But giving it is a seafood restaurant located in the heart of one of the busiest streets in Petaling Jaya, the food doesn't come cheap. Do expect to pay a little more. I found their concept of serving food and also the flavors are pretty unique. You don't get that anywhere but here. The staffs are extremely helpful as they even taught us how to eat each of the seafood properly while getting the most meat out of those shell food. If you ever choose to dine here, CHOOSE TO ORDER BEER, the food goes really really well with beer.

Customers are allowed to doodle all over their place and this is what I did.

Cutelery's Rating - This rating is based on my personal taste and experience and it may not accurately represent how you will feel towards the food and dining experience. I will not be held responsible for false reviewing if your opinion differs greatly from mine. Dine at your own risk.

Food: 7/10

Environment: 8/10 (Quite comfortable although the messy situation while eating might turn some off but I like it)

Service: 8/10 (Staffs and the owner are quite helpful and friendly in teaching us how to eat)

Shell Out Seafood Restaurant

16-1, Jalan PJU 5/15,

Dataran Sunway Damansara,

47810 Sungai Buloh

Opening Hours: Mon-Thu (11:30am~2:30pm) (6pm~10pm) | Fri (11:30am~2:30pm) (5pm~11pm) |Sat (5pm~11pm) | Sun (6pm~10pm)

Tel No: +603 - 7497 1137

Facebook: Shell Out