Most of us know Alicafe as the tongkat ali infused canned coffee drinks. In fact, it is my favorite driving companion to keep me awake whenever I’m on one of those balik kampung drives on the highway.

There’s more than just drinks when it comes to this brand, now there’s an Alicafe TigaRasa restaurant. I was one of the lucky few who was invited to get a taste of what they have to offer just a few days ago.

Update 3/1/2016: this place has since closed

Alicafe Tiga Rasa restaurant, at USJ Taipan
Alicafe Tiga Rasa restaurant, at USJ Taipan

Located at USJ Taipan, Alicafe TigaRasa restaurant offers Malay cuisine in a contemporary setting and pretty good range of menu. The restaurant is tastefully decorated, giving it a bit of a kampung feel, but of course, dining area’s air conditioned.

The kitchen area is separated by glass, you can actually see your food being cooked (side effect: they always have to keep the place spotlessly clean).

here's the tiga rasa secret - sambal lemak, gulai lemak, and hebi-hiam
here’s the TigaRasa secret – sambal lemak, gulai lemak, and hebi-hiam

Now here’s how this restaurant got it’s name, tiga sara (three flavors) – from the three different traditional Malay sauces:

  • Gulai Lemak – the creamy coconut based sauce with kunyit, sambal, and lemongrass. Rich and flavorful
  • Sambal Lemak – a classic with plenty of chili, garlic, some coconut milk, and other spices
  • Sambal Hebi-Hiam – now this one is interesting, hebi means dried shrimp and hiam translate to spicy in Hokkien. So yah, this is  inspired by Nyonya cuisine and prepared with dried shrimps, curry leaves, onions, garlic, and more.

ikan pari, grilled lamb, and grilled chicken in different sambal, vegetable too
ikan pari, grilled lamb, and grilled chicken in different sambal, vegetable

You can then mix and match the three sauces with ikan pari (stingray) or ikan selar (yellowtail scad), grilled lamb chop, grilled chicken, mixed grill, or mixed vegetables. For those who like it even hotter, you can always customize the order with added chili padi too.

I tried the three sauces with pari, mixed vegetable, and lamb, and it is pretty difficult to pick a favorite. Each one offers a different experience, but they share the same characteristic of being rich and flavorful. I like the fact that terung (brinjal) and other vegetable is added onto the meat/seafood dish too. Goes well with steamed rice.

siakap tomyam, curry fish head, and fried chicken
siakap tomyam, curry fish head, and fried chicken

Other than dishes prepared from those three sauces, Alicafe TigaRasa offers dishes such as siakap tomyam, curry fish head, fried chicken and more.

Saikap tomyam (barramundi) is deep fried but served with spicy tomyam sauce, and the curry fish head reminds me of my mom’s style of cooking, the Nyonya version of curry that is slightly milder (unlike some Indian style would) yet plenty delicious.

The fried chicken has a hint of belacan to it, a very different style from some of those “KFC copycats”, and definitely a taste that I’m familiar of from the mixture of Nyonya-Chinese style of food we get in Penang.

this whole set for 4 can be had for RM 69.90
this whole set for 4 can be had for RM 69.90

To be honest, I’m quite impressed with the food at Alicafe TigaRasa, they do fill a niche by offering mostly traditional Malay cuisine with some mixture of other tastes that is still very close to home.

For the puasa month, there’s special promotional set that starts from RM 10.90 that includes a drink, kurma dates, a main course, and Hokkaido cake as dessert. For family of four (or 5), a RM 69.90 set gets you siakap fish, fried chicken, scrambled egg, TigaRasa mix grilled vegetable, Hokkaido cakes, kurma dates, and Alicafe’s homemade Pati Kurma Madu drinks.

the desserts, and the leng lui is of course, Hanis
the desserts, and the leng lui is of course, Hanis

I can’t wait for  them to have more branches!

map to Alicafe tiga rasa restaurant

Address:
Alicafe TigaRasa Restaurant
No.8, Jalan USJ 10/1H,
Subang Business Centre,
47620 Selangor
GPS: 3.047963, 101.586794
Tel: 03-8011 9412

KY eats – Alicafe TigaRasa – now a restaurant at USJ Taipan [Closed]
Tagged on:                                 

28 thoughts on “KY eats – Alicafe TigaRasa – now a restaurant at USJ Taipan [Closed]

  • July 25, 2012 at 10:23 am
    Permalink

    oO I’ve eaten here before. I had the ikan pari bakar set, really liked it as the fish was very fresh. Quite near to my office anyway 😀

    Reply
    • July 25, 2012 at 10:25 am
      Permalink

      suanie: ya, i wish there’re more restaurants like this one, cook-to-order Malay food isn’t very common.

      Reply
    • July 25, 2012 at 10:55 am
      Permalink

      Choi Yen: I’m not sure if that’s the same one..

      Reply
  • July 25, 2012 at 10:56 am
    Permalink

    The curries look really good, but Taipan is a wee bit too far for me….

    Reply
    • July 25, 2012 at 11:50 am
      Permalink

      JD: traffic can sometimes be a bit terrible there, weekends much better tho.

      Reply
    • July 26, 2012 at 2:33 pm
      Permalink

      Sean: haha lets hope so, but I want ss2!

      Reply
  • July 25, 2012 at 3:26 pm
    Permalink

    look so spicy and delicious! hmm.. somehow i feel that this restaurant’s run by chinese?

    Reply
    • July 26, 2012 at 2:33 pm
      Permalink

      lb: it’s actually run by Malaysian! Malay. ehhe

      Reply
  • July 26, 2012 at 10:06 am
    Permalink

    Hehe you changed your blog layout… nice!

    Their Hokkaido cake nice or not?

    Reply
    • July 26, 2012 at 2:33 pm
      Permalink

      Baby Sumo: yaaa 😀 . the Hokkaido cake actually .. i didn’t try. Already too full. lol

      Reply
  • July 26, 2012 at 2:45 pm
    Permalink

    And where’s there famous noodle dishes. It’s actually one of my favorite in Taipan.

    Reply
    • July 26, 2012 at 3:34 pm
      Permalink

      Jesse: oh, looks like I gotta go back there for this!

      Reply
  • July 27, 2012 at 11:19 am
    Permalink

    wah spanking new look for your delicious blog. Nice! But I kinda like the old one.

    Reply
    • July 27, 2012 at 11:50 am
      Permalink

      eiling: nostalgic? haha.

      Reply
  • August 2, 2012 at 3:26 pm
    Permalink

    Pls update your review as the contact belongs to somebody else !

    Reply
    • August 3, 2012 at 10:50 am
      Permalink

      Vijay: that’s done, sorry for any inconvenience caused.

      Reply
  • August 2, 2012 at 3:28 pm
    Permalink

    The contact no for the restaurant in Taipan is NOT correct !

    Reply
    • August 3, 2012 at 10:03 am
      Permalink

      ASSHOLE !
      YOUR WEB SITE WILL BE SHUTDOWN IN 24 HOURS.

      Reply
    • August 3, 2012 at 10:48 am
      Permalink

      Vijay: ops, corrected, i think a lot of websites got the same wrong number.

      Reply
  • February 4, 2013 at 11:03 am
    Permalink

    HANIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  • January 3, 2016 at 11:05 pm
    Permalink

    I just want to tell you that this restaurant closed down over a year ago.

    Reply
    • January 3, 2016 at 11:25 pm
      Permalink

      Kinny: Thanks! updated.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to KY Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *