Dancing Fish: Where Tradition Dances on the Palate

In an era where food often bends to fleeting trends, Dancing Fish has chosen a more meaningful path: to preserve and present the bold, layered, and deeply personal flavours of Malay-Indo cuisine. With locations in Bangsar Shopping Centre and The Campus, Ampang, the restaurant has earned an almost cult-like following, attracting everyone from Southeast Asian diaspora families to curious epicureans and award-winning chefs. For the third year running, Dancing Fish has secured its place on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list (2023–2025) — a recognition reserved for restaurants that deliver exceptional food at accessible prices

This is a place where food is treated not just as nourishment or luxury, but as identity, history, and celebration. At the heart of its philosophy: real food made with real care.

Emping with Sambal Terasi

Delicately crisp melinjo nut crackers, their subtle bitterness elevated by the bold, umami-rich punch of our signature sambal terasi.

Appetizer Platter

A curated selection of their most-loved starters — perfect for sharing and exploring the bold, vibrant flavours of Malay-Indo cuisine.

• Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Satay

Marinated in aromatic spices and grilled over charcoal for that signature smoky char. Served with our rich, homemade peanut sauce.

• Pepes Goreng Sambal Matah

Minced fish steamed in banana leaves, then lightly fried for a crispy edge. Topped with Sambal Matah — a punchy, Balinese-style raw chili relish with lemongrass and shallots.

• Salad Mangga Mangga

A refreshing green mango salad tossed with peanuts, chili, and tamarind-palm sugar dressing — sweet, sour, spicy, and crisp.

• Cumi-Cumi Goreng

Crispy golden baby squid, lightly battered and fried. Addictive and perfect with sambal or a squeeze of lime.

Dancing Fish with Sambal Dabu-Dabu

The dish that gives the restaurant its name — the Dancing Fish with Sambal Dabu-Dabu — is an edible sculpture of tradition and technique. A whole freshwater Nile tilapia is cleaned, deeply scored, and marinated before being fried upright in searing hot oil. The result is a glorious golden fish, fanned open like a blooming flower, with skin that’s shatteringly crisp and meat that stays moist within. We love the Sambal Dabu-Dabu that accompanied with the fish, that brings you with the tangy, Manadonese salsa of chopped bird’s eye chillies, torch ginger, tomatoes, shallots, and lime juice. Spoon it over the hot, crunchy fish and you get a symphony of contrasts: acid against fat, crisp against juicy, raw heat against deep umami.

Other variations include Sambal Terasi, Sambal Tempoyak (fermented durian sambal), and Kicap Pedas, allowing returning diners to experience the fish in new ways every visit.

Buntut Belado Enak

The oxtail is braised low and slow for over four hours, until the gelatin and collagen break down into silky richness. Then it’s flash-grilled over open flame and smothered in Sambal Belado, a padang-style chili relish made from slow-fried red chillies, garlic, shallots, and lime leaves. Each bite is sticky, smoky, spicy, and rich, with the meat falling off the bone and the sauce clinging like velvet.

Udang Sambal Hitam Madura

For seafood lovers, the Udang Sambal Hitam Madura is a revelation. The prawns are bathed in a dark, savory sambal that’s rich in depth — smoky, slightly sweet, and intensely garlicky. The freshness of the prawns contrasts perfectly with the boldness of the sambal, creating a dish that lingers long after the last bite.

Bebek Goreng (Crispy Duck)

A beloved Indonesian classic, this dish involves meticulous preparation: the duck is first marinated overnight in turmeric, coriander, and lemongrass, then slowly confit-cooked until tender, and finally fried to achieve a skin so crisp it audibly crackles. It’s served with Sambal Hijau — a punchy green chili sambal laced with lime and anchovy — and warm rice. The contrast of the duck’s rich, gamey meat with the bright, piquant sambal is pure indulgence.

Gulai Pucuk Paku

A heritage dish of young fiddlehead ferns luxuriously stewed in fragrant turmeric and coconut milk, offering layers of earthy, creamy, and spicy depth—best savoured with steaming white rice.

🍧 DESSERTS THAT CELEBRATE NOSTALGIA

The dessert menu honours familiar Malaysian sweets, reimagined with finesse.

Cendol Gula Melaka: Pandan jelly noodles swimming in shaved ice, fresh coconut milk, and thick, smoky palm sugar syrup. A sweet reprieve after a spicy meal.

Each dessert channels the soul of a kampung childhood, elevated with restaurant-level polish.

DRINKS : SEASONAL INFUSIONS & TROPICAL COOLERS

To tame the fire of the sambals, Dancing Fish offers cooling house-made drinks:

Winter Assam Boi – Dried plum, calamansi, and mint.

Spring Passion – Passionfruit, lychee, and lemon grass.

These drinks not only cleanse the palate but extend the sensory journey, often ordered in pairs or trios like a mini tasting flight.

To eat at Dancing Fish is to experience a living, breathing museum of the Malay Archipelago — a place where family recipes are protected, where sambals speak dialects, and where the past is honoured through every spice and sizzle.