A couple weeks ago I found myself at the South of KL for some work related assignment near lunch time. Naturally, after our appointment, we went to the most famous nari briyani restaurant for some well deserved lunch.
Our destination was none other than Kafe Beriani Gam Putrajaya.
Nasi Beriani Gam Putrajaya
Getting there can be a bit tricky as the restaurant is located right beside SKVE, you can only get onto SKVE from the restaurant but not the other way around. However, Waze/Google Map is your friend, so do use the link below for your convenience.
It is a bit of a road side set up with upgraded roof and rather proper table and chairs, there’s also some ceiling fans, though one should still prepare to sweat it out a bit on a hot afternoon.
lamb or chicken, which would be your choice?
Ordering is simple, get your nasi beriyani, then pick the type of meat you want to go with. There’s normal ayam (chicken), ayam kampung (village chicken), daging (beef), kambing (lamb), and our favorite – kambing kuzi – all of us ended up ordering the same, with an additional ayam kampung as center plate.
kambing kuzi, hands down
The briyani rice itself were perfectly cooked, fragrant and delicious enough you can have this even just with some sauce. As for the kambing kuzi, we love the tenderness and the rather heavy tasting marinate that makes it a little sweetish, compliments the rice perfectly. The accompanying sambal was on point too.
Expect to pay some RM 20 or more per pax, but if you love briyani rice, this is definitely worth checking out.
Address: Nasi Beriani Gam Putrajaya Lot Sub 4, Jalan Kajang – Puchong, 43000 Kajang, Selangor GPS: 2.976269, 101.725893 Tel: 017-288 4876
Choosing a property for long term living is a bit of a tricky art. It is always a balance between affordability, location, quality of property, as well as it’s surrounding and the area of development.
For those who are more in tune with nature and treasure a more tranquil living style, Klang Valley might not necessarily be the best choices, especially when factoring in the current situation of property prices.
Which brings us to Ivory Villa at Perdana College Heights by Seri Pajam Development, a pretty new development area located about 40+ kilometers away from KL city center.
Ivory Villa at Seri Pajam Development, Negeri Sembilan
A couple weeks ago, I visited the Semi-Detached units at Ivory Villa to get a sense of what living in one would be like.
First of all, the location.
While locating in Negeri Sembilan, access to Perdana College Height is actually pretty good. It is right next to the Kajang-Seremban Highway and less than 8km away from North South Highway.
Getting to KLCC via Kajang-Seremban/Silk highway takes about 45 minutes, and perhaps an hour or so during rush hours. Albeit a longer journey, it beats getting stuck in the traffic heading to KL from somewhere like Puchong where a one way trip can sometimes take up to two hours (I have a friend who spends 3-4 hours on daily commute from Puchong Permai to KL.
ground floor of Ivory Villa unit
Then there’s space and affordability. There is simply nowhere within an hour’s access to KL city centre where you can find a new Semi-Detached house with this size and quality as you would at Ivory Villa. The land area starts at 6,562 sq. ft, with built up of 3,371 sq. ft.
There’s very good size private garden (I’d build a big koi pond!) and a separate car porch that can comfortably park three cars under the roof, with probably another two cars on the driveway.
second floor of Ivory Villa unit
The interior of the unit is a statement of luxury. The living and dining area is huge, with enough space for a wet kitchen and bar/dry kitchen, two bedrooms, and study area. I also particularly like the high ceiling all throughout the unit.
Upstairs has another family hall, a huge master bedroom with super high ceiling, and further 3 more bedrooms. Every single bedroom in the house come with attached bathrooms too, and there are two balconies on the first floor.
semi-D unit, Ivory Villa, Seri Pajam Development
If you’re in the market for a property, take a look at Ivory Villa or some of the other developments by Seri Pajam Development. Take a visit to the showroom and check it out.
Everyone who knows anything about Satay (or sate) knows that Kajang serves them best, just like Klang has the best bak kut teh. However, Kajang is not exactly located at the heart of Klang Valley, and fuel prices being at this level, it make sense to find closer alternatives. Luckily, some of the famous Kajang satay houses have expanded their operations to friendlier locations, and one of the most prominent and successful satay restaurants, Haji Samuri, can be found at Damansara Uptown, among other places (see the wiki link for more locations).
satay in peanut sauce with sambal
Unlike the traditional satay places that are often associated with shacks and less than hygienic dining condition with plenty of flies and weather unfriendly location, Sate Haji Samuri is a mid standard restaurant with clean and comfortable interior. A place worthy of bringing your in-laws, perhaps.
For dinner, instead of the more common chicken, beef, and mutton satays, I also ordered a couple sticks of the rarer rabbit and deer meat variety. There are also tripe, liver, and fish satay, but my stomach is only so big. We also ordered a couple ketupats to go along with the meat.
9 different sateys to choose from
It did take a while before the food came, mostly because the meat is BBQed on demand, especially for the less popular rabbit and deer varieties. However, it was definitely worth the short wait, the satays came steaming hot and tasted very good. I like the fact that they give you unlimited very thick peanut sauce and have the sambal (chili paste) separate so you can cater for your own level of spiciness. The ketupat complimented the satay’s meaty and spicy peanut sauce with a more blunt taste very well, and there’s the standard fresh shallots and cucumber to complete the dish. It was very delicious.
After sampling 5 different types of meat, my favorite is still chicken and beef. The rabbit meat tends to be a little dry due to the lack of fats (see rabbit starvation for more info). Mutton and deer meat were just average, in my opinion.
ketupat is usually the side dish that goes well with satey
The price per stick ranges from RM 0.60 (chicken, beef) to RM 1.60 (rabbit), and RM 0.80 for one ketupat. Pretty reasonably priced, considering the generous portion of meat on each stick.