For the best Indian food, it usually takes an Indian to introduce. Not too long ago, over a Friday lunch hour, my most awesome colleague Latha took us on an LRT ride and brought us to Sri Ananda Bahwan restaurant for a taste of what she regards as one of the best naan and chicken tandoori in town.
Sri Ananda Bahwan at Bangsar, just behind the LRT station
Conveniently situated right behind the Bangsar LRT station (you can walk through menara UOB to get there), Sri Ananda Bahwan offers nasi kandar, naan, tandoori, thosai, roti, chapati, and more. While there’s only one Sri Ananda Bahwan in KL, they are actually a chain from up north, with over half a dozen restaurants in Penang, Kedah, and Ipoh.
normal naan with tandoori chicken, delicious
After the first visit, Haze and I went there again a couple weeks later, for the two of us, we ordered naan with tandoori chicken and naan with chicken tikka masala.
The naan had that very welcoming aroma, and the dishes were served with proper condiments in mint chutney, curry, lime, onion, tomato, cucumber, and another chutney I can’t name. Both the tandoori chicken and chicken tikka masala was some of the bests we’ve had, exquisite taste that rivals those from “proper” Indian restaurants.
I had chicken tikka masala, fantastic
We were seated at the air conditioned section of the restaurant (always a plus), and for a change, it is actually clean and comfortable, not an environment you usually associate with mamak outlets.
Address:
Sri Ananda Bahwan
No.26, Jalan Bangsar Utama 1,
Bangsar Utama,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.12821, 101.67818
Web: srianandabahwan.com
Tel: 03-2284 4170
I have a little history with this most awesome mee sotong stall.
Although born and bred on the beautiful island of Penang, I haven’t stayed there since after high school, so this particular mee sotong stall wasn’t in my vocabulary. I had originally heard about it from Horng instead.
The very first time I tried to have it, I went to the wrong food court at the other side of the ocean front and had myself a disappointing mee goreng. The stall was closed for during my second visit, and on the third try, which should be a charm, ended up with the whole place being cordoned off due to Cup Prix motor racing.
mee sotong at Padang Kota Lama, Penang
Two years later, this is the story of my fourth visit, and unfortunately, it doesn’t provide a further cases of schadenfreude, I simply had the best mee sotong (or if you prefer, mee goreng) ever!
The stall is located within the food court directly next to Fort Cornwallis, a stone’s throw away from Penang Jetty.
As you step into the food court, the mee sotong stall is hard to miss, it is the busiest stall.
glorious mee sotong, spicy and addictive
A plate of mee sotong costs between RM 4 to RM 6, and the photo above illustrate the RM 4 version. The dish is very wet, and comes with your usual mee goreng ingredients, but with plenty of squid in really spicy, sweet, and awesomely delicious sauce.
It was so good I wanted to have it again the very next day, the only thing stopping me is the long drive back to KL and the knowledge that my stomach will probably protest. The idea of stopping at every other rest area to visit the toilet wasn’t a very welcoming one.
mee sotong goes well with coconut shake with vanilla ice cream
By the way, the spicy mee sotong goes best with a glass of icy cold coconut shake with vanilla ice cream from the mamak stall right next to the one selling mee sotong. A combination perfect for each other, that milky vanilla ice cream really does control the spiciness a little bit.
So next time when you go to Penang, try this out!
Address:
Food Court at Padang Kota Lama
Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah
Penang
GPS: 5.42078, 100.34434
One of my regular dinner/supper places is at the mamak square of SS2. Unlike many other mamak places, this square offers Malay, Chinese, and Mamak food altogether, and as a matter of mutual respect, serves pork free food all around.
Nan An Ah Seng 南安阿成 chicken rice at SS2 Mamak Square
Tucked at the corner of the square is one of my favorite chicken rice stalls around town – Nan An Ah Seng chicken rice.
Unlike most other chicken rice stalls, this one only serves steamed chicken (with limited chicken gizzards and liver) and bean sprouts. You’re out of luck if you are looking for roast chicken, roast pork, or bbq pork here.
steamed chicken and bean sprouts
There isn’t much to describe about chicken rice I guess, the steamed chicken you find here is basically one of the smoothest you can get anywhere. The sauce is a bit thicker than the usual soya sauce + oil mixture, the version here has a hint of oyster sauce.
The chili also carries a good kick too.
Haze and KY at SS2 Mamak
A plate of chicken rice goes for about RM 4.50 and the stall operates from dinner to super late supper time (around 1 in the morning).
Other than chicken rice, the Ramli Burger and Ah Leong fried rice here are awesome too.
Address:
Jalan SS 2/60
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.117558, 101.622323
Mamak rojak (or pasembur in places like Penang) must be one of my favorite afternoon light meals. Sometimes I just wish that some of these stalls actually sell them at supper time too. The mixture of cucumber, turnip, potato, bean curd, prawn fritters, hard boiled egg, and cuttle fish in that sweet, nutty, and spicy sauce would make perfect supper!
This is of course, not to be confused with fruit rojak that is usually offered by Chinese hawkers.
cuttle fish is my favorite ingredient in rojak
Here at Klang Valley, most mamak rojak stalls operate from a van and usually offers chendol as dessert/drink to go with the main. The more enterprising ones sometimes offer mee goreng, mee rojak, and maybe even mee rebus too.
Lucky for me, one of the better rojak stalls operates right opposite Taman Bahagia LRT station, within walking distance from where I stay. While some people insist that there are better rojak stalls, I happen to like this one quite a bit.
The queue isn’t usually very long, and their chendol actually sucked, but the rojak is quite awesome. The ingredients are fresh, and most importantly, they get the sauce right, with a hint of spiciness (you can of course, have it super spicy if you like) and sweetness in that thick, nutty flavored concoction.
A serving of rojak with hard boiled egg goes for RM 4.50, you save RM 0.50 if you choose to not have egg with it. They also serve a few other dishes that I’ve never tried, and don’t bother with their chendol.
Ah, by the way, I would have taken a close up photo of the stall but the owner said he was worried about IRS people. hahaha
Address:
Opposite Taman Bahagia LRT
SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
GPS: 3.111591, 101.612602
A couple weeks ago, in the post on char kueh teow at New Yee Sang, Kelana Jaya, a reader by the handler gracieq left a comment that she usually gets her CKT fix at a mamak restaurant near Wisma FAM. That made me very curious, at a mamak restaurant? Char Kueh Teow? Is it even possible?
Glorious char kueh teow
Curiosity got the better of me, a few days ago I did a bit of research and found that boolicious from masak-masak gave very good review about this CKT stall at Restaurant Jamal Mohamed. If it’s good enough for boo, it is good enough for me.
I took my camera and went hunting alone for this impossible restaurant. I consulted google map, it’s actually less than 5 mins away from where I stay, how could I have missed it all these while?
Restaurant Jamal Mohamed with Penang Char Kueh Teow by fat aunty
Unlike most mamak outfits where the owners run everything, restaurant Jamal Mohamed is set up much like most Chinese kopitiam. There are at least half a dozen stalls operated by individual owners.
Sure enough I found what I was looking for. A char kueh teow stall operated by the famous “Fat Aunty”, with a label that simply states “Penang”
income tax department could perhaps count the eggs…
Despite the brisk business, I was still a bit skeptical. This is a mamak restaurant after all. My fingers started to twitch, what if this was all a big mistake?
Then the Char Kueh Teow came. It looked unassuming. I picked up the chopsticks and carefully delivered a small portion into my mouth.
Noms.. noms.. noms…..
Oh boy, the CKT had plenty of umph, it was wet, it was flavorful, and it had everything (sans the super huge prawns only found in Penang) a CKT suppose to have. It was very delicious. I was over the moon.
The best RM4 spent in 2010.
After my meal, I chatted up with the Fat Aunty for a bit. I found out that like me, she hailed from Penang. We conversed in Hokkien, at the restaurant with Indian, Chinese, Malay, and more enjoying their lunch in a hot afternoon. It felt good, I was happy, this is truly Malaysia.
Address:
Restoran Jamal Mohamed
24, Jalan SS5A/9
Kelana Jaya
GPS: 3.095372, 101.605484
