Other than nasi lemak and bak kut teh, one of my favorite local food of all time must be banana leaf rice. My usual fix for this Southern Indian dish is at Kanna Curry House, since it is rather good and pretty close to where I stay. Mell, however, insist that the best banana leaf rice is this particular Restaurant Nirwana Maju at Bangsar.
Restaurant Nirwana Maju Banan Leaf Rice
Nirwana, as the restaurant is commonly referred to, is located at the heart of the most happening area at Bangsar, just right across Bangsar Village on Jalan Telawi 3. Street parking can be a bit challenging most of the time, but parking at Bangsar Village shouldn’t cost more than a couple ringgit for a meal.
fried brinjal, potato, cucumber, with 2 curries and dal
For those who are not familiar with banana leaf rice:
As you can guessed, the standard banana leaf rice is basically a vegetarian dish. However, you can always add fish, mutton, chicken, fried fish roe and squid, and a host of other side dishes for a meal worthy of any glutton.
Mell and KY, deep fried brinjal & papadem at Nirwana
The rice and curry at Nirwana is as good as any that I’ve had, but the really special item here is one of their standard vegetable served that I haven’t come across anywhere else – deep fried eggplant (the green and white type). The crispy yet savory batter and the sweetness of eggplant is a combination that proved to be very addictive, I love it!
Sri Nirwana Maju banana leaf rice is located next to Bangsar Village
Two sets of banana leaf rice with an order of fish or fried chicken and drinks usually come to some RM 15 for two person. Still pretty reasonably priced despite being located at Bangsar. If you love banana leaf rice, give this one a try!
Address:
Sri Nirwana Maju 43 Jalan Telawi Tiga,
Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.131014,101.670892
Tel: 03-2287 8445
Bangsar is one of the places I haven’t really explore that much as far as food goes, so it was a good opportunity for me to head there with my buddy Horng when I was informed of Ronnie Q restaurant and pub‘s involvement in the Guinness-infused Christmas main course promotion.
Ronnie Q, a proper English pub
If you haven’t found out already, there are quite a few restaurants that are running the same Guinness-infused Christmas Menu (including Cafe Chulo at Jaya One I wrote about earlier, and more to come on this blog).
The promotion is pretty simple:
order main course, fill in voucher, gets a free Guinness Draught and a RM12 coupon too
As a restaurant/pub, Ronnie Q carries a pretty small but sufficient menu. Shepherd’s pie, ribeye steak, chicken chop, fish and chips, chicken boxing, burger, fish fingers, all the classic English foods
For the promotion, there is the Guinness-infused lamb chop, pork chop, and Hainanese pork chop. Horng and I decided to skip the poultry and went for lamb chop and pork chop instead. We also ordered deep fried calamari as appetizer.
deep fried calamari and 2 pints of Guinness Draught
The combination of deep fried calamari with Guinness turned out to be excellent. The big, fat, and juicy squid ring’s saltiness paired with the slight bitter after taste of Guinness Draught brings out the flavor of the seafood even more. Brilliant.
Guinness infused pork chop and lamb chop
The pork chop and lamb chop didn’t disappoint either. The sauce clearly carries a pretty distinct and yet subtle hint of Guinness in it. I do think while being a little unorthodox, the extra ingredient does add character to the otherwise pretty simple dishes that were served with potato wedges, baked beans, green beans, and some sliced mushrooms. The portions were rather generous too.
Ronnie Q is located in the heart of Bangsar Telawi area
An appetizer, two main dishes, and two pints of Guinness Draught at Bangsar, I would think the bill might be a little steep, but when the server handed me the bill, it was only RM 60.95. I almost couldn’t believe it, a very, very good deal indeed.
Good food, great drinks, and of course, as an added bonus, you get to sit alfresco and enjoy watching the ladies walk by the busy street that is Bangsar Telawi 2.
Address:
32, Jalan Telawi 2,
Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL
GPS: 3.131721, 101.671815
Tel: 03-2282 0722
This year’s birthday has been particularly good, after 2 free meals from Suan & ST the night prior, I went to Sushi Zanmai at Gardens on Ringo‘s treat (who also gave me a book as gift, thanks 
) before heading to watch Gamarjobat thanks to complimentary tickets from Bangsar Actor Studio via Nuffnang.
Hello! Gamarjobat
Gamarjobat actually means “Hello” in Georgian, or “Herro” in Japanese, which is the country the 2 jokers, Ketch and Hiro-pon hail from. One with a yellow Mo-hawk and the other have it red.
This is in fact, my second time watching their show. Last year’s main feature was “The Boxer” which featured a very hillarious slow motion sequence, but this year’s “Western” did not disappoint either. You’ll have to be there at the horse riding and gun shootout parts in person to truly appreciate it. Their signatory fast pace intro and the very funny penguin rock star act adds was equally as hilarious.
The show will stay until 19th October, check the Actor Studio’s site for ticket pricing and schedule. If it is the only live act you’re going to watch this year, make it this one. I’m sure Ringo, Tim, Grace, and Audrey would agree, they were laughing at least as hard as me.
On a semi-related note, I had 2 more free meals in conjunction with the whole birthday thingy. Lorna spent me lunch at Ah Yip’s soup place at Plaza Damas, and Douglas bought me the 1/2 pound set at Wendy’s last night. Five free meals in a row, I must be the luckiest guy!
Last weekend I caught up with an old friend of mine, over sms she said she was gonna bring me to eat laksa at Bangsar. Now laksa is like handbags and shoes, girls seem to can’t have enough while guys are usually less enthusiastic it. I am one of those guys, but being a must-try-all person, I went with the flow anyway, despite the suspecious venue at Bangsar. I thought it might be at one of those modern restaurants.
the old school kopitiam, big bowl of laksa sarawak
After some twists and turns, we reached to the kopitiam that is situated in the housing area just opposite Bangsar Village. It was an old school place, which was a surprise. The young lady ordered the laksa sarawak for me.
Laksa Sarawak is slightly different from the Curry Laksa (also called curry mee), or Asam Laksa.It has a santan based curry soup, your choice of noodle of meehun, prawn, strips of chicken, shredded egg, bean sprout, and some mint leaves as garnish. Sambal and a piece of lime were given as a side too. Just look at the pics, *drools*
are you not drooling now? this stuff was great
Well, I gotta say I never knew Sarawak Laksa tasted so good. The soup was just creamy enough while not being too overly rich. I had initially thought the big bowl was too much but at the end it proved to be almost not enough. Definately one of the better hawker food I’ve had thus far in Klang Valley. As for the price, I wasn’t sure since I didn’t pay, but it was definately less than RM 5. Give it a try even if you’re not a laksa lover, you’ll not regret. I went there for brunch, I’m not entirely too sure if they sell till late in the afternoon though.
now this bangsar map is simply delightful, no?
GPS: 3.127575, 101.669487
updated:
open till around 3pm (thanks wye)
closed every wednesday (thanks PabloPabla)
