When the iconic Tsukiji outer market closed in 2018, many were dismayed to see it go, but Ken Lai decided to take matters into his own hands. As the founder and owner of Unusual Marketplace, he sought to recreate an atmosphere reminiscent of the old Tsukiji fish market in his restaurant, with vendor signboards and live seafood on display.
Here, seafood reigns supreme, but the dishes are not bound to one cuisine. “I don’t want to be restricted. That’s why we call it the Unusual Marketplace,” Lai says. The restaurant also lives up to its name as a marketplace, operating as a purveyor of seafood that supplies to multiple restaurants across Malaysia, including Michelin-starred establishments such as Molina and Dewakan.
The congee is the restaurant’s signature, and Lai explains how it came to be: “One new year, my friends and I were drunk, and we wanted something to eat. So, I went into the kitchen and came up with this.” With leftover hitomebore rice, smoked eel, and dashi, a dish was born. “I wanted it to be quick, so I used my stone mill to grind the rice grains, which gives it a very different consistency from regular porridge,” he continues. Diners now have the option to add oysters, giant cemiti clams, and red flower crabs, which, according to Lai, are sweeter and richer than the usual blue flower crabs.
The marble goby fish soup is another showstopper and a comforting dish inspired by Chinese tomato soup. “This is a wild-caught marble goby. In Malaysia, most restaurants serve farmed marble gobies. There’s a difference,” the owner-founder explains. Prized for its silky flesh, the wild marble gobies have a cleaner taste, firmer flesh, and are richer in nutrition. Its innards and bones are simmered in the soup, resulting in a depth of flavour like nothing you’ve ever tasted before.
Other highlights include plump Taishan oysters with kimchi and ginger ponzu, roe crab chawanmushi, mala squid, and a seafood ramen served with a 12-hour slow-cooked chicken broth inspired by Japanese mizutaki. “Whenever I am in Fukuoka, I must have mizutaki. So, I came back here, modified the recipe, and incorporated it into our ramen,” Lai says.
Tucked away in the back room of the restaurant, Lai has also sourced some interesting alcohol pairings to accompany the dishes. The Shin Tsuchida Princess Sally is the world’s first and only sake brewed with Basmati rice. It is slightly spicy and lingers longer than Junmai Daigingo, pairing beautifully with more than just seafood. Lai prefers it best at slightly less than room temperature. “The cooler it gets, you’ll find that the taste changes,” he says. And the best way to find out is to try it yourself.
Photography by Law Soo Phye
