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.
The bill came to RM 24.10 with a teh tarik and milo ais. Not exactly the cheapest lunch option but one that is plenty good and definitely worth it in my opinion.
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
When it comes to sinful meals, banana leaf rice can’t escape to be in the list that also includes bak kut teh and nasi lemak. Good food are usually not very good for the body, and I guess that is what made us we enjoy it so much. If it is something you can have every day, you would get bored of it very fast isn’t it?
Anyway, one of the more famous banana leaf rice in PJ would be Raju’s that is situated next to La Saelle Secondary School just off Jalan Gasing.
they can deep fry everything
Much like most Banana leaf rice places, Raju’s serve all sorts of freshly deep fried stuff to go with the rice on banana leaf accompanying the typical three vegetables and papadum. You can choose from various types of fish, squid (which I love), chicken, fish roe, prawn, and so forth.
There are also other curry dishes, we ordered a plate of curry prawns for the day. Other choices include mutton curry, chicken, and curry squid.
prawn, squid, chicken, and the curry
The condiments i absolutely love when having banana leaf rice is the deep fried bitter gourd and chili padi. After deep fried, the bitter gourd is crunchy and only retain a very subtle bitter taste, goes very well with curry. The chili padi is salty and spicy, acts more like a substitute for a spicy and solid version of soya sauce than anything else, to me at least.
love the deep fried chili and bitter gourd
As for price, the standard banana leaf rice with just vegetables, papadum, and meatless curry would be around 4 or 5 ringgit. However, the bill can really add up when you add in many other side dishes like what we had that day. Few ringgit a piece of chicken, more than 10 for the squid, the prawns, and drinks. It can easily come up to over 20 ringgit per person. I’d say the price at this place is on par with other banana leaf places.
Raju’s is next to La Salle High School
Besides banana leaf rice, you can find many types of traditional indian snacks like vadai here. The tosai and roti canai (also served on banana leaf) are very good here as well.. I also love the outside under-the-tree seatings they have.
If you haven’t been there before, give it a try.
Address: 27, Jalan Cantek 5/13
Off Jalan Gasing
Petaling Jaya GPS:3.101703, 101.653769
One of my favorite Indian food is the banana leaf rice at Kannan’s. They have one of the better set-ups there is; tables under the shade of trees with fresh air and ample of space of the outdoor. There are tables in the restaurant itself too, if you prefer to get inside or when the weather isn’t cooperating.
this place has both indoor and outdoor tables
For the uninformed, banana leaf rice is served, well, on a sheet of banana leaf instead of plates. Three to four types of vegetables is then served on the leaf, with rice and some papadum. There are usually a few types of curry to choose from, and a few other items to alter the taste, such as dried salted chili padi and chutney.
For the dinner, I ordered a piece of fried chicken and a small plate of deep fried fish egg as compliments to the main dish. The vegetables served were fresh cucumber, cabbage, and okra. There were some fried bitter gourd as well. Fish curry, chicken curry, and dal. Overall it was a very satisfying dinner.
the proper way to eat is by using your fingers
The bill came up to less than RM 20.00 for two pax. The banana leaf rice itself was only RM 4.00 per serving, while the other two dishes and drinks made up the rest of the bill. A pretty fair price considering a single piece of fried chicken at KAYU nasi kandar costs RM 6.00.
Here’s the fun part — did you know that there are certain hidden codes you could do with the banana leaf upon completion of your meal? If the food was good, fold the leaf from top down. If bad, fold the leaf from bottom up. And if you fold one corner of the leaf, you are telling the server to charge everything on you and not to bother your guests.
Kannan Curry house is situated near SS2’s Rothman Roundabout
The gwai lou was the one who suggested that we have this great curry fish head at Kampung Atap over the weekend, with Kelvin the walking encyclopedia of eating places in the Klang Valley leading the way.
The place, the fish head, and Kelvin the connoisseur
The Kampung Atap curry fish head place (as it doesn’t seem to have a name) is hidden in the midst of the sprawl that is KL. Situated just a stone’s throw away from Jalan Syed Putra but yet not exactly easy to find. However, fear not, there’s the map at the end of the post. This establisment is operated by Mamak under the set up typical of such operations, tables under the roof with no luxury of air conditioning. However, there are plenty of trees surrounding the area making it a rather cozy environment.
We arrived at around 11:30am and it was just half an hour too early as the curry wasn’t ready yet. We could see the chefs cleaning quite a lot of fish heads of various sizes (big, bigger, enormous). We ordered a curry fish head for the four of us, three pieces of honey chicken (ayam madu), two rather large squid, and some bean sprout. Papadum and a dish consisting onion and green pepper soaked in soya sauce comes standard.
papadum, bean sprout, honey chicken, curry squid
After having to smell the cooking for 30 minutes we were finally served with all the dishes. The fish head was the size of a tiger’s paw, and tasted very good. Curry flavour was strong yet not overly spicy. The fish was fresh too. Tau pok and okra accompanied the fish head as garnish.
The honey chicken (ayam madu) was the best I’ve had. The deep fried chicken is chopped and served seperatedly from the honey to ensure the texture remain crispy. The sweetness from honey and the slight saltiness from the chicken mixes very well. This is a must try item apart from the de facto curry fish head. The squid and bean sproud were pretty good, though not spectacular. We over ordered and wasn’t able to had to waste a big squid at the end..
it was that good
As for price, this place doesn’t offer the cheapest mamak meal, but certainly one of the bests in terms of gastronomical satisfaction. The lunch costs us about RM 20 per person but it was well worth the price, certainly better than having KFC twice.
Short videos taken on 25th June, 2013
Going to Kampung Atap from Federal Hwy (bottom), or Cheras (left)
This place opens for lunch, starting 12pm. I suggest you get there early as there might be a limited amount of fish head. When we left the place at 12:45 or so, the place was already packed.
