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
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all my Muslim friends, readers, and everyone who is celebrating this occasion, maaf zahir batin.
The very traditional Malaysian thing to do during the festive season is of course, hosting or attending open houses, and the mother of all open houses in the country is none other than the PM Najib Razak’s rumah terbuka at Seri Perdana, Putra Jaya.
the Milo truck always serves the best ever milo!
Actually the idea came from Kenny via twitter, and since I was going to have lunch and to peek at a cat at Subang with Cheesie anyway, we decided take Kenny’s advice and get our tax money’s worth.
After spending half an hour getting lost around Putrajaya, we finally reached Seri Perdana at Precint 10. Parked the car and walked across the street with hundreds of people, and saw the MILO TRUCK!
I don’t know if it’s a conspiracy or something, but the Milo truck always serve the absolute best milo ever! We took a couple cups and it felt like I was in primary school all over again.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Seri Perdana was well packed
As it turns out, the guest’s hall was actually a converted car park covered with tents and plenty of plastic chairs. Luckily it was drizzling and it was still rather cooling. We eventually made our ways to the buffet line and found Kenny, Jacklyn, and Lainey among thousands of other free loaders.
There were also a stage with performers singing Malay, Chinese, as well as Indian songs. The sound system were quite loud, and most people pretty much stays closer to the food than the stage.
the satey was awesome! cheesie, kenny, lainey, jacklyn, KY
The food at PM’s open house was actually quite good. The rendang, nasi impit, and taufu were pretty delicious, but the best item of the day was definitely the beef satey. As the stall offering satey was packed to the brim, cheesie only managed to get 3 sticks of satey and I had a total of one.
Kenny than later got a huge plate of chicken satey as the dude manning that stall happened to be one of his readers. The chicken satey was good, but the beef was a lot more awesome.
We had wanted to visit the PM in the royal hall and perhaps make use of the royal toilet. But alas, we tried when it was just over 3pm, PM wanted to get his rest or start doing something really important, so we went off instead.
Thank you @NajibRazak!
Cool things you can do with a blackberry
In the next few posts, I will attempt to showcase 5 cool things the Blackberry from Xpax can do. Here is #5.
show a Canadian flag on cheeserland.com
Cheesie’s blog has this nifty little flag thingy whenever anyone leaves a comment, and just last night I placed a comment and interestingly, a Canadian flag came up instead of the usual Malaysian flag like most everyone else.
Cool ya? You can preregister yourself for the new Blackberry Curve 8520 from Xpax here!
