For those of you who’ve been following this blog and my Instagram feed, you should know that I’m quite big on breakfasts, a big part of my daily routine is figuring out how to start my day with a good dose of morning makan that fuels the rest of the day.
PETRONAS Station, with Mornings@Mesra
Apparently PETRONAS Kedai Mesra shares the same sentiment and now comes up with their very own breakfast offerings that goes by Mornings@Mesra – a range of breakfast combo that includes Mesra Bites, their range of buns that includes cheese stick, sambal ikan bilis, sambal udang, and kaya. There’s quite a selection here to suit anyone’s tastes.
nasi lemak? Mesra bites buns? Goodday milk? Take your pick
Of course, in addition to Mesra Bites, there’s the usual suspects of donuts, karipap, sandwich, and of course, our national favorite – nasi lemak!
The combo consists of Big Bites for RM 5 with a nasi lemak, karipap, and a hot or cold drinks, or you can go with Light Bites at RM 3 or 4 and have a bun + drinks, while kids can opt for Mesra Bites buns + a Goodday chocolate milk for RM 3.
I got myself a Big Bite breakfast just the other day with their signature nasi lemak, karipap, and a hot hot drink. A simple yet satisfying breakfast, and I do like the fact that they have set up simple dining table & bench within the Mesra store, very convenient and comfortable, not to mention getting to avoid that whole finding a parking space issue at your typical breakfast stopovers.
The new combo is now available at close to 500 PETRONAS stations with Kedai Mesra within the Peninsular Malaysia, a quick dine in or tapao to be consumed on-the-go, it’s your choice!
Klang is known for bak kut teh, hong ba, and maybe to a lesser extend, those Klang style red wine mee suah that I love so much. However, being a huge district that is home to over a million people, there are certainly some outliers when it comes to food offering that are favorites among the locals – enter Roti Canai Pandamaran, also known as Restoran I.V.
IV Restaurant, Pandamaran, Klang
As the name suggests, this is a place best known for it’s roti canai. The restaurant is located rather deep within Pandamaran, and certainly quite a distance away from KL itself, but for those who loves roti canai, I think this place may just worth a visit.
We were there only weekend around brunch hours, and the place was packed full house with customers. Along the left wall there are three roti canai making stations with five guys concentrating on nothing but preparing and cooking roti canai. I’ve never seen such an operation dedicated to roti canai, it was actually quite impressive.
roti kosong, roti telur, or roti planta?
We tried their roti telur with and without bawang, roti kosong, and roti planta. I’m happy to report that the roti were really top notch, with just the proper amount of crispiness and flavor, and served with rather good curry as well, though I’ve had better dal & sambal option elsewhere. That being said, it is still one of the best roti canai I’ve tried from anywhere.
mee and meehun goreng, nasi lemak
I.V Restaurant also offers some non-roti options such as meehun goreng and nasi lemak. While these dishes are competent, they aren’t anything to really shout about, I’d order another roti instead!
Address: I.V. Restaurant 117, Jalan Pandamaran Jaya 62, Kawasan 10, 42000 Pelabuhan Klang, Selangor GPS: 3.005069, 101.425004 Tel: 03-3167 0943 Hours: 5:30 am to 5 pm
Sungai Way, situated across from Heineken factory divided by Federal Highway, is a pretty old part of Petaling Jaya. The main road at Sungai Way has a few rows of shop houses near the morning wet market and police station, with a few kopitiam open for business, which make for a perfect spot for weekday breakfasts.
Nasi Lemak at Sungai Way, Petaling Jaya
Arguably, the busiest stalls at the center of Sungai Way has got to be the nasi lemak stall at Wing Lee kopitiam, situated just before the wet market if you’re coming from Federal Highway. The little stall operated by a few Chinese ladies always sell out their goods by around 8ish in the morning.
So I decided to take a stab at what they have to offer.
Other than the standard hard boiled egg, deep fried anchovies, peanuts, fresh cucumber, and sambal on coconut milk rice, there are also a couple add-ons you can ask for to spice up the dish, namely cuttlefish, potato, and curry chicken.
love my nasi lemak with potato curry & cuttlefish
While I find that this version of nasi lemak isn’t the most fragrant when it comes to the amount of santan in the rice, the coconut & curry chicken were on point, and I also particularly like their the texture of their cuttlefish.
Overall it is not hard to see why they sell out so early in the morning. Prices are reasonable, and the nasi lemak is certainly above average. Will tapao for work again!
Address: Nasi Lemak at Sungai Way Kedai Kopi Wing Lee Jalan SS 9a/1, Sungai Way, Petaling Jaya Selangor GPS:3.086479, 101.620678 Hours: breakfast
Inflation is as unavoidable as death and taxes, and as most things, there are always silver linings to be found. For example, while at Imbi Market this morning weighing my breakfast options, I found a fresh new sign on the nasi lemak stall that I never noticed – a new price list for 1/1/2014.
Ann Nasi Lemak at Imbi Market
And it was only by looking at the price list that I realized they actually offer non-halal nasi lemak – with pork, and most interestingly, pork skin curry too!
So I immediately ordered a portion of nasi lemak with pork skin curry (RM 5), which comes with fragrant santan rice, salted peanuts and anchovies, half an egg, a few slices of cucumber, sambal, and a rather generous portion of pork skin curry.
nasi lemak with curry pork skin, what more can you I ask for
And boy it was a very satisfying breakfast indeed. The curry was flavorful, the rice fragrant, and pork skin did not disappoint at all with its perfect texture. I cleared the plate pretty fast.
Other than pork skin curry, Ann’s Nasi Lemak also offers nasi lemak with pork (RM 6), with curry chicken drumstick (RM 7), with anchovies (RM 4), with sambal cockles (RM 5), with sambal squid (RM 6), economy meehun or mee (RM 2.30), and glutinous rice (RM 3.50). Of course, you can always add additional ingredients to make up your personal version of breakfast for champions.
Address: Ann Nasi Lemak Imbi Market (Pasar Baru Bukit Bintang) Jalan Melati, Kuala Lumpur GPS: 3.14340, 101.71664 Tel: 016-364 5959 Hours: breakfast and brunch
One of the quintessential Malaysian breakfast is of course, nasi lemak, and sometimes nothing beats a good plate of nasi lemak with goreng ayam on a lazy weekend morning. I recently went to Ali, Muthu, and Ah Hock (AMAH) at Ara Damansara Oasis Square to try their version while having a chat with Colin, one of the co-owners of the restaurant.
Ali, Muthu, and Ah Hock (AMAH)
The restaurant is located within Oasis Square, a place that starts to look like a very nice commercial area with ample parking, good pedestrian walking space, and many restaurant choices. AMAH is one of the more unique restaurants that serves local delights such as nasi lemak, mee rebus, roti jala, Hainanese chicken rice, and so forth.
None of the item on the menu exceeds RM 10.
nasi lemak ayam at AMAH
The nasi lemak ayam (RM 9.50) comes with sambal, ikan bilis, kacang, a few slices of cucumber, fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk, and a full 1/4 fried chicken.
The rice was proper, and I was surprisingly impressed by the sambal and chicken as well, which was properly seasoned with a hint of tumeric and has a crispy skin while being juicy inside. A few asked how is this compared to the famous Village Park nasi lemak, and I’d say that they are on par, with AMAH offering a much more pleasant dining experience.
Address: Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock Lot B-G-01, Oasis Square Ara Damansara, 2, Jalan PJU 1A/7A, Petaling Jaya GPS: 3.11352, 101.574612 Tel: 03-7832 3138
One of the men behind AMAH is as mentioned earlier, Colin Soh, born 1978, who is one of the prime examples of a Malaysian success story. An entrepreneur with a good vision, strong passion, and who are willing to work hard and get their hands dirty to build up their business.
Colin is co-owners the co-owner of several F&B businesses, including TDH, Hoofed, Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock Kopitiam (AMAH), and The Royal Flush.
Born and grew up in KL, Colin finished school locally before obtaining a degree in Marketing and Management with Middlesex University, UK. He then spent 3 months working at Leo Bernard before deciding to be an entrepreneur.
The first business started by Colin was actually a laundry back in 2002, with a lot of late nights, early mornings, detergent, and washing machine. It grew from a small shop to a commercial laundry factory, and by 2008, the business was sold and not long after that, TDH was born with a few other friends.
Like any other business, the F&B industry has its challenges. There are always new concepts and innovating ideas on the market. Colin and partner always try to be versatile by staying relevant with current environment and receptive to new ideas.
Other than the above mentioned restaurants, there’s also Crazy Crabs, a new restaurant that is currently being built as of writing, and a TDH flagship outlet in the pipeline.
Colin & KY at Ali, Muthu, and Ah Hock
All these hard work and dedication has brought Colin and partners awards and recognitions as well. TDH has recently been named Winner of Best Pub Grub 2013 by the Time Out Food Awards. Apart from that, The Royal Flush was also nominated for both the Best New Restaurant and Best Chinese Restaurant, respectively.
In his free time, Colin likes going to gym, biking, running, and fishing.
You can find more inspiring stories like these at malaysiaresume.com, a site for contemporary Malaysian success stories.
