Restoran Berjaya

Berjaya
44 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar
Tel: 012–907 7351

Someone said that we here in EL don't do the local food thing, that we're all about the chic and trendy. Well, we've done a few reviews of mamak stalls but there's some truth to the claim levied against us. So to reverse that, we tell you of one of Bangsar's prime mamak stalls, a place where you get great food at great value. Berjaya is located in a swanky neighbourhood where good local food that doesn't arrive on a banana leaf is hard to find. The food here is pretty a-ok. Not swooningly so, mind, but certainly good enough for rich men to risk soiling their safari suited derriéres on the plastic chairs.

The signature dish is a Padang slow-cooked beef with chilli and lashings of onions that bears more than a passing resemblance to beef jerky, if beef jerky was sour and hot. There's also a fried tenggiri with a dry chilli sauce that is fairly titillating if sour flavours are your thang. I prefer the spicy lala which comes in a tasty broth that is reminiscent of assam tumis and is good enough to drink. The finely sliced tempeh with ikan bilis and peanuts is also dangerously more-ish (thank heavens they don't serve beer!).

Strangely, I seemed to be the only customer there who didn't have fried paru-lungs-or fried chicken livers on my plate. They looked so worryingly dessicated that I just didn't have the heart to do it. Next time. Next time. FAY KHOO



Grandmama's

Level 6, Pavilion KL,
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL
Tel: 03-2143 9333

This restaurant sounded pretty uninspiring to me until I learned that the Grandmama in question is Madam Kwan of cheap, consistently good Malaysian fare, available at all top malls, fame.

The owners of the restaurant are in fact Madam K's daughter, her husband and grandson, also a local DJ (DJ Blink) of some repute, I'm told.

They have taken all the best things about their matriarch's outlets: price, convenience, good service and, most of all, good hearty food, and dressed them up to make for a nicer, less busy and somewhat calmer dining experience.

People familiar with Madam Kwan's will instantly notice the near-identical menu (fabulous thick and crispy noodles, divine chicken curry, lovely char kway teoh and brilliant nasi lemak are all present and more than correct), and sure enough when the meals arrive they are basically the same you can get in their Grandma's place, just on slightly fancier plates and bowls.

So, why bother with Grandmama's at all? Is it worth the couple of extra ringgit a dish for a bit of peace and the chance to use chopsticks with the name of the restaurant engraved on them?

But that's being unfair. Because, in reality, you do get an awful lot more for your money than that. The décor is a significant step up, there are several new, different items on their menu, especially including the much wider and more inspiring drinks and dessert choices. Finally, their special Satay Station is a unique selling point that makes Grandmama's worth the trip all by itself. The clear-glass box in the corner provides good pre-meal entertainment as you can watch your sticks of marinated meat get flamed in front of your very eyes. And besides all these improvements, the food at Madam Kwan's is excellent, so I can fully understand why they would be loathe to risk changing a winning formula. MICHELLE WHYTCROSS



Enak KL

LG2, Feast Floor, Starhill Gallery
181, Jalan Bukit Bintang
Tel: 03–2141 8973
www.enakkl.com

It's rather ironic that Malaysia, a food culture and one that expressly places such a high social value on it, has rather a slim selection of high-end Malay culinary art restaurants. The sumptuous meals of the Malay Sultans and courts and the different state traditions is somehow, inextricably, lacking in the offerings of KL.

Tip your hat to Enak KL then for rectifying that situation by A) not only giving out excellent, traditional and well-thought out Malay/Muar recipes but B) not making the obvious and literal choice of going for a traditional interior; go team counter-intuitive. Enak KL is placed in Starhill, a fairly toddy locale, and it's made a choice to blend in with the more modern feel of the floor by using a red and white interior, a choice I applaud. Meanwhile, on the food, owner operator Sherena Razaly has taken her mama's recipes and fed them to maestro Chef Kamaroull bin Mohd Zabidi to have him come out the other side of the grill with interesting concoctions. Take for instance the MIGF menu (five course RM145+ with one glass pineapple ambrosia; three course RM85+ with one glass pineapple ambrosia) that was being showcased the night I dined. A starter of udang kepompong seri selasi (Chrysalis prawns wrapped in a wonton skin cocoon with finely chopped fresh basil) was a delicious introduction, not adventurously flavourful but it had some surprising moments nonetheless, followed by an excellent sup ekor kasturi (oxtail soup)a signature dish, a nice mix of spices and a dash of fresh calamansi juice that made the dish resonate better than the starter.

The mains though really picked up the pace: asam pedas chenohnom bunga kantan , a traditional southern recipe of baked salmonwith fresh laksa leaf and finely chopped wild ginger torch bud permeating and giving the dish legs to stand on. The gulai ayam cendawan sisik, chicken grilled with a richly flavoured gravy redolent with ground spices served along side wild forest mushrooms sautéed with wild fern shoots and garlic, also had power and was juicy, delicious and confident in presentation. Each dish complemented the other perfectly and, with a dessert of sri anta kesuma, a recipe from Razaly's childhood, sweet potato and pumpkin stirred constantly into simmering coconut milk (this takes three hours!) and served with thinly sliced sweet potato, the meal—and by extension the restaurant—glowed like a peacock. If you want the real deal, this is the place to find it. SAM COLEMAN



Nasi Ayam Hoe Kee

4, 6, 8, Jalan Hang Jebat,
75200, Malacca
Tel: 06–283 4751/012–623 8431

The world and his wife (well, three-quarters of the office, anyway) seem to have been going down to Malacca recently. And so it seemed fitting that I should go down with mine. I even took my good friend from Britain and his wife with us.

John had never been to Asia before, so we decided we should go somewhere authentically local for lunch in between walking tours and shopping excursions. In Malacca, authentically local means chicken rice balls so we headed for the one with the biggest queue outside as per the wisdom that the busier the place the better the food. And this philosophy served us well.

Watching John's face as we entered Nasi Ayam Hoe Kee was worth the visit alone. More at home in a Pizza Express, he hadn't counted on the plastic chairs and cutlery, let alone the brisk, barely civil service. His brow furrowed still further on inspection of the air-thin napkins and small squeezy bottle of soy sauce on the table in front of us.

Upon the arrival of our lunch, I quickly set to devouring the rice balls, rice pressed into golf ball size balls, originally done so because it is deemed to keep the rice warm for longer. As well as the liberal dressing of soy I had helped myself to some additional rice, vegetables and deliciously poached chicken, which all went down superbly. The richness of the balls proved both filling and flavoursome.

John meanwhile was not faring so well. Having shown sufficient bravery to eat a couple of the balls he made some disparaging remarks about their stodginess and retreated behind a glass of iced coffee. And this was the same nation that triumphed at Agincourt! If John had been at Dunkirk I fear he would have taken one look at the water and said "Sorry, lads, can't rescue you today. Water's a bit nippy, what?" It's lucky we hadn't taken in Jalan Alor if this was his reaction to a humble chicken rice ball.

Well, balls to you, Johnny boy. I like 'em. MATT BELLOTTI




Madam Kwan’s

Pavilion KL; Level 4, Suria KLCC;
MidValley Mega Mall; and Jalan Telawi 3,
Bangsar, KL
Tel: 03-2026 2297/2284 2297

You all know Madam Kwan’s, right? But, as it’s coming up to the summer holiday season and lots of us have guests over now is a great time to remind you that if there is one restaurant to take your friends and family when they visit then MK’s is your safe bet.

If your visitors are anything like the majority of mine, when you ask them “Okay, so what sort of cuisine do you want? We’ve got everything, so what is it to be?” they’ll likely answer “How about something Malaysian?” Which is all well and good but as they nervously eye the hawker stalls, even those you have selected for their reasonable hygiene, Western-palette-friendly menu and low cockroach count, you realise there is a limit to how much they want to ‘keep it real’.

So, in comes Madam Kwan’s. Every Malaysian delicacy?and a few Western dishes for curmudgeonly old Uncle Burt for whom even a chicken chop is not to be trusted?cooked perfectly in a manner that exemplifies this wonderful nation’s cuisine to foreigners. However, it isn’t so much the quality as the remarkable consistency that always impresses me. No matter the day, time or outlet Madam Kwan’s food is virtually identical. Combined with the rapid service I can only assume they have vast pipelines criss-crossing the city spraying out food like the post-mix cola machines at fast food outlets.

My personal tips if you’re entertaining visitors who wouldn’t know their nasi bryani from their bee hoon is to try several dishes, remembering to absolutely positively definitely, upon pain of indigestion, include the outrageously divine chicken curry and the char kway teoh. Throwing in a nasi lemak or nasi bojari is also a good call as they can always write ‘it was even served on a banana leaf, would you believe?’ on their postcards home.

Remember when we were still wide-eyed and breathless at every new quirk of this fascinating, strange new land? Let your visitors feel the same way by grabbing lunch at Madam Kwan’s during their stay. MICHELLE WHYTCROSS




Bijan

3, Jalan Ceylon, 50200 KL
Tel: 03–2031 3575

www.bijanrestaurant.com

Let’s start with the bad news—the piped in Amy Winehouse music, and the horrendously long serving time. It should have tipped us off when we walked in and the joint was packed but remarkably few tables actually had food on them. Everyone looked happy though, probably in anticipation of the good food that they knew was to come, aided by the smells that wafted out of the kitchen (a far more enticing sensory stimulus than the dulcet tones of a certain rehabilitated singer.) We played safe with the first dish and asked for beef rendang, only to be told that it had run out, and were directed instead to the kerutup daging (“just like rendang, only with gravy, and not spicy.” So... not really like rendang at all then.) Under our very helpful waitress’ supervision, we ordered a round of favourites, and proceeded to wait in eager anticipation.

And wait. It took almost 45 minutes for our food to arrive, by which time my dining companions and I were writhing on the floor in a torment of low blood sugar. No, not really, but it had reduced us to that piteous state of eyeing up other tables, trying to remember if they’d arrived before or after us, and casting longing glances at their food. However, to be fair, when the food did arrive it was hot and aromatic and dispelled nearly all our misgivings. The huge bowl of masak lemak ayam dengan nangka, a mild chicken curry cooked with jackfruit, was a big hit on our table, packing a complicated punch of flavours. The ikan percik, John Dory grilled with turmeric and ginger, was likewise well-received, but my favourite was the sotong panggang, faintly charred grilled squid that almost tasted like satay. The servings were generous but not overwhelmingly so, and the cool night air and flickering candles did much to offset our impatience at the long wait. The banana fritters we had for dessert sealed the deal—perfectly ripe, crisply battered, drizzled with fragrant gula melaka and topped with some of the best coconut ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Definitely worth a trip back, if you can stomach the wait. EC




Ibunda

251 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2142 4116

www.ibunda-finedine.com.my

In the shadow of the mighty modern megalith of Prince Court, Ibunda reflects an ancient charm and traditional beauty that belies its appearance in KL’s Golden Triangle.

When you consider the amount of hawker and mamak stalls that service the city so well, Malaysian Fine Dining could be said to be something of an oxymoron. However, there are seldom few outlets that manage to bring the best of this magical cuisine and place it in an arena that oozes class and sophistication. One of these is Ibunda. In such an optimum location, and with stunning yellow exterior, you can’t miss it. And inside is even more opulent with lovely touches like curtain ties in the shape of the ‘sanggul’, a traditional Malay hairpiece.

Having found a spot easily in the vast car park (so unlike restaurants in the city centre, or anywhere else for that matter), we made it inside just before the rain came. Once we were seated, their staff came around with a complimentary welcome drink which was thoroughly refreshing and a delightful appetiser tray. The menu sounded very interesting and they had clearly put a lot of thought into it. For the appetisers, we had an array of grilled catfish with soft shell crab and pomegranate salad, baked scallops and a chicken puff with lotus root salsa. All were delicious. Perfectly prepared and packed with flavour. Judging from the appetisers we knew dinner was going to be perfect.

The soups were up next and were quite yummy, our favourite being the hot and sour ‘haruan fish’ soup. Next was an unexpected dish, custard made from a local basil leaf, the Malay version of a lemon sorbet, again, compliments of the restaurant.

For our mains, we had between us a grilled chicken dish with cheddar cheese, grilled lamb rack with local herbs and steamed wild river fish. All this was washed down with ‘kedondong juice’ a type of local fruit. Relatively healthy, immaculately presented, simply seasoned and just unbelievably tasty. The ooh’s and aah’s from each one of us were unstoppable and drew disconcerted stares from our neighbouring diners.

You would think we were done but no, how can we leave without dessert? Between us we had the jackfruit dumpling with coconut cream, cashew nut layered cheesecake and a fruit compote masala with sun-dried rice. All were heavenly and held their own unique flavours. What more can we say, the meal was excellent. Ibunda really has raised the bar in terms of fine dining Malaysian cuisine. It is also a good location to have meetings because it is quiet, relaxing and they have a well-stocked wine cellar & cigar lounge. Anju Sahadevan