For tourists, Bukit Bintang area is all glitz and glamour, with many shopping malls and world class hotels.
In those malls and hotels there are secret walkways to transport goods and workers hidden from customers. On a bigger scale, Bukit Bintang itself too have hidden back roads and walk ways that are not readily visible to tourists. This post is sourced from one such places.
stall Adik Tomyam at medan selera behind Fahrenheit 88
Sandwiched between Jalan Imbi and Jalan Bukit Bintang just behind Fahrenheit 88 (previously known as KL Plaza), there is an old, beat up medan selera that have definitely seen better days. Most tables and chairs are in the state of disrepair, the place is not properly lit, and half the stalls aren’t even in operation. Nevertheless, there are usually groups of mostly Malay working class people lunching there.
I wandered into the food court on one hot afternoon. Most of the stalls offer nasi kandar, which I wasn’t particularly interested at the time, until I walked to the last stall – Adik Tomyam. The only stall that prepares food on order.
nasi paprik ayam – check out the ingredients
The menu are quite standard, there’s Malay style tomyam, beef, chicken, or seafood cook in paprik (spicy), merah (red sauce), halia (ginger), kunyit (turmeric) etc, and several types of fried rice and noodle too.
My first try was sotong halia (ginger squid) and a telur dadar (omelet with onion) to go with rice, and then I return a couple days later for ayam paprik (chicken with spicy sauce).
sotong halia and telur dadar
It was out of my expectation, and easily the best looking made-to-order Malay food from any medan selera I’ve had. There’s a host of ingredients in each dish. The sotong halia had squid, chili padi, cauliflower, fried onion, ginger, garlic, parsley, and more. Paprid ayam came with chicken, ginger, spring onion, onion, long bean, lime leaf, carrot, cauliflower, garlic, and more…
So you can imagine that even though they are a single dish, there’s a lot of variety in them, and the sauce tastes damn good too! Oh, best of all, with the telur dadar and rice, the meal was still only RM 5.50.
I’m gonna order their tomyam next time.
Address
Adik Tomyam,
Medan Selera at Jalan Padang, Bukit Bintang
GPS: 3.145101, 101.713108
Tel: 012-3538 440
This blog is often criticized by many of my Muslim colleagues and friends for its lack of halal/pork free food content, well, here’s an entry that will perhaps right things a little. (wait, I do have a little less than 30% of my posts in this category, oh well..)
A couple weeks ago I was invited to a classy Malay restaurant hidden in the midst of the city for a food review - Songket restaurant.
Songket restaurant at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng
Songket is actually a type of traditional Malay and Indonesian fabric that is hand woven in silk or cotton, and often with intricate gold or silver threads in them. In short, the restaurant, like the fabric, is one of class and quality.
Anyway, lets get on with the dishes!
satey & cucur udang, otak-otak, begedil
We started out with appetizers, naturally.
There were satey ayam & daging (beef and chicken satey, RM 18) that is served with peanut sauce and some raw onion, cucumber, and ketupat, just like how they’re supposed to be. The meat were marinated properly, succulent and void of impurities like hard tendon or chicken skin, tasty.
Then there’s cucur udang (prawn fritters, RM 10) in light batter and home made chili sauce with a kick. I was happy that they also serve Northern style otak-otak (steamed fish cake, RM 12) with generous amount of seafood in it.
My favorite appetizer of the night though, has gotta be the begedil (deep fried potato cutlet RM 10) – it is basically deep fried mashed up potato with chicken (or meat). A little sweet, a little savory, and positively brilliant!
kerabu mangga, ayam sambal petai, ayam lemak asam gelugur
Kerabu mangga (raw mango salad, RM 12) is another Northern dish that is very similar to those found in Thailand, certainly appetizing.
I like the way they prepare the petai by splitting them into half and taking away the centre stem for the ayam sambal petai (chicken with bitter beans, RM 28) dish. Personally though, I still think that petai goes better with seafood instead of chicken, but this dish was actually not bad.
Ayam lemak asam gelugur (chicken with tumeric, coconut milk, curry gravy, RM 23) is a light curry dish that I thought could use a little more kick, I suppose this has to do with catering tourists, you should be able to ask for hotter version if only you ask.
nasi minyak, pandan nasi lemak, nasi kerabu
We sampled 3 types of rice at Songket, the nasi minyak (oily rice, RM 6) goes well with curry dishes, pandan nasi lemak (RM 6) is aromatic with a light pandan taste, and nasi kerabu (rice with herbs and vegetables, RM 8 ) can almost be eaten just by its own. I would recommend any of these over the normal steamed rice.
ikan siakap masak manis, pucuk paku goreng, kari udang raja
Ikan siakap masak manis (sweet style barramundi, RM 60) definitely tastes like a traditional Malay dish, the fish was fresh, and tomato, chili, onion, and other ingredients complimented the seafood perfectly, I like it.
My favorite dish of the day though, has gotta be pucuk paku goreng (stir fry wild fern, RM 12), the texture of fern and its taste are something that can’t be substituted by another vegetable. Chili, garlic, shallots, and a few shrimps made up the rest of this fabulous dish. This is a must-order.
For those who wants the ultra luxurious dish, there’s the kari udang raja (king prawn in curry, RM 75). The prawns were definitely huge, and there were some eggplants to go with in the rich, thick, curry.
rusuk panggang (chargrilled marinated short ribs)
Rusuk Panggang (chargrilled marinated short ribs, RM 60) is dish not to be missed by any meat lovers. The marinate as well as the grilling were perfect. As a result, the ribs were really tender to the point where you can cut it just by using the spoon. The flavor too were absolutely marvelous. Best of all, this is served with the same begedil that I really like.
durian tiramisu, sago gula melaka, pandan pudding
Then it was time for desserts.
For the durian lovers, you must not miss the durian tiramisu (RM 15), rich, creamy, and full with that unmistakable durian aroma that will probably prevent you from taking this to your hotel room.
The sago gula melaka (RM 10) is a classic, with plenty of sago swimming in coconut milk and palm sugar beneath it, another rich dessert. Pandan pudding (RM 10) is well, a pandan infused pudding with palm sugar. After the other two desserts, this one came across without much excitement for me.
traditional dance, KY & Haze at Songket restaurant
Songket is not just about food, if you stay a little longer on Mon-Sat, by 9pm there are traditional dance performances of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and native origins. A pretty cool show especially if you happen to have foreigner friends.
The prices at Songket is definitely a little on the high side, but the food quality, ambiance, and all the extras that were thrown in definitely make this a place worthy of a visit especially if you’re looking for fine Malay cuisine.
Address:
Songket Restaurant & Bar
29 Jalan Yap Kwan Seng,
50450 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.162557, 101.714998
Tel: 03 2161 3331
A week or so ago when I was downstairs getting ready to go for lunch, a huge Land Rover Discovery suddenly stopped right in front of me, the driver side window rolled down and the driver who turned to be my colleague yelled:
“Hey KY jump in, join us for lunch”
Restaurant Rose 911, authentic Negeri Sembilan food
So I joined 3 of them who were already in the car, and we were on the way to Restaurant Rose 911, an old school restaurant in the older part of the city that specialize in Negeri Sembilan food.
Before that day, I didn’t even know there’s a different version of Malay food from Negeri Sembilan, one of Minangkabau influence, my colleague mentioned.
fish, santan laden vegetable (rendang pegaga), and sambal
While the restaurant doesn’t look much from the outside, it actually has an air conditioned area, a semi alfresco main dining area, and curiously, another smaller dining area that appears to be empty.
According to my colleague, that area’s usually seated with drivers & such when their “bosses” dine at Rose 911. Interesting, and sure enough the clientile consists of kampung folks and high ranking business execs alike.
ikan kembung bakar, dessert (badak berendam)
As for the food, more than half of the dishes to choose from were milky yellowish in color – meaning highly laden with kuah lemak (coconut milk base), turmeric, chili and such good stuff.
I particularly love the rendang pegaga, a type of leave cooked with chicken feet, gizzard, liver, and of course, plenty of santan. The ikan kembung bakar with chili and two other small portions of vegetable were all very old-fashion-good too.
For dessert, we shared a plate of badak berendam (soaking hippo), a traditional Negeri Sembilan kuih made of glutinous rice flour, grated coconut, palm sugar, and of course, more santan. It was delicious as it was sinful.
My rice with drinks came up to RM 8, pretty reasonable. Give it a try, this is definitely different from your usual nasi kandar. Opens for lunch till about 4pm everyday except Sundays.
Address:
Restoran Kak Rose 911
No. 25, Jalan Satu
Kampung Pandan
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.143901, 101.737293
Tel: 03-9281 2996
Being a Malaysian, one should embrace every facet of the Malaysian culture, and that naturally includes food. It is hence quite surprising to me that many of us can name more Japanese dishes than traditional Malay dishes.
Welcome to 1Malaysia, and today we are going to Sup Kaww! The very name of the restaurant is a combination of Malay and Hokkien words that simply spells “thick soup”.
restaurant Sup Kaww at kelana jaya
The restaurant is situated opposite the side entrance of Kelana Jaya Giant hypermarket, directly behind the Shell that is by the 6-8pm weekday parking lot – LDP.
While not spotting any doors, there’s a big al fresco dining area as well as roof covered tables for your choosing.
petai udang (bitter bean with prawns)
The menu here is pretty comprehensive, there are various types of Malay soup (including sup tropedo if you like), vegetable, squid, beef, chicken, and seafood prepared in different methods – masak merah (red sauce), paprik, kunyit, and so on. There’s also nasi ayam (chicken rice) and a few other types of soup noodle too.
For the two of us, I ordered a petai udang (bitter bean with prawns), daging masak merah (beef with red sauce), sup tulang (beef bone soup), and a couple telur dadar (Malay style omelete).
danging masak merah, sup tulang, telur dadar
Like most traditional Malay dishes, the prawns in petai udang wasn’t peeled, but it was otherwise a dish with a kick. Being a petai lover, I’d probably ask for extra petai (and them not being split) the next time.
Daging merah was a combination of sweet and spiciness that goes well with white rice.
Haze and KY at Sup Kaww!
The sup tulang though, was really kaww! Very thick and flavourful, and is almost a meal by itself. Telur dadar, well, was just telur dadar, nothing out of the ordinary.
The other dishes I’ve tried there were all pretty good too, but I wouldn’t recommend their tomyam (try the one tomyam at ming tien instead).
Selamat berjamu selera!
Address:
Restaurant Sup Kaww!
Lot 3630, SS7/8,
Kelana Jaya 47301, Selangor
GPS: 3.10497, 101.59786
Tel: 019-384 8421
Datanglah Rumah Ku jikalau bang lapar! Makanan sedap, enak, lagi berkhaksyat.. or something…
Anyway.. I shall not attempt to compose this entry in Malay, the ability to write a proper essay has already gone out of the window since after SPM. These days my ability in our national language is reduced to having small talks with colleague, and ordering food.
note: I’ve been notified that this restaurant has changed ownership, menu is different from this blog now.
Rumah Ku, air bandung, ulam (and the sambal!)
I first got to know about this little Malay restaurant at Kelana Jaya from a sales person (who also happened to read this blog) that my company had dealing with. The first impression was very good, and I’ve meant to go back there again for a while but didn’t manage until just a few days ago.
Nasi Timbel with Ayam Goreng, and with Ikan Tenggiri
Other than your usual nasi goreng, danging merah, ayam paprid, sotong kunyit and so forth, this place serves the very unique (to me anyway) nasi timbel.
Nasi Timbel is an Indonesian thingy with steamed rice wrapped in banan leaf, serves with ulam (raw vegetable with sambal), keropok melinjo, spicy anchovies, beef gulai, and also ayam goreng. Alternatively you can have it with ikan tenggiri (Spanish Mackerel), kembung (Indian Mackerel), or tilapia.
Haze and KY at Rumah Ku
I tried the tenggiri version and the fried chicken version (both at RM 12 while the other 2 versions slightly cheaper) and they tasted rather quite awesome! The beef in gulai was tender and flavorful, and I also particularly like their sambal that packs a serious kick.
The fried chicken was one of the best I had too, with the texture still very firm and I can only inappropriately described it as .. “fresh”. Give this place a try, the restaurant is situated by one of the lakes and spot a pretty nice view if you’re sitting al fresco.
Not all things are perfect here though, if you go there in the afternoon, make sure to park in the covered car park to avoid getting clamped. The food also usually takes quite a while to be served, but I guess this was due to the fact that everything was prepared from scratch
Address:
Rumah Ku
B-01-1, GF Block B
Plaza Kelana Jaya
Jalan SS7/13A, Petaling Jaya
GPS: 3.09634, 101.59800
Tel: 03-7877 3024
