Bangkok Expresso at the Weld

Two friends celebrated their birthdays in December and, Christmas and New Year were around the corner, so Vasantha decided to treat a few of us to lunch.  The nearest and most convenient place for lunch would be the Weld.  There are a number of food outlets at the Weld including a food court at the 4th level.

We choose Bangkok Expresso which serves Thai food with a 'fussion' touch.

 

 

That's me taking a photo of the entrance to the terrace.

 

 

Deciding what to order....

 

.. Rice with Thai green curry chicken..

 

..with mushrooms and vegetables..

 

 ..black pepper chicken..

..tofu and glass noodles soup..

 

..while I settled for the pineapple fried rice with prawns.

 

I don't know who this is, but it was on the wall..

 

.. as was this.

 

The decor and ambiance is modern rather than Thai...

 

..and the staff are friendly (although there could be some communication problems due to language, especially if you want to customize your order, like 'I don't want onions in my soup').

There's always time to pose for a photograph - say 'cheese'.

Mali's Corner in Taman Bunga Raya

My nephew from Singapore was in KL recently.  His local cousins were responsible for taking him around and keeping him entertained. On one of the nights, I had to take the lot of them out for dinner. This can sometimes be a problem as everyone has his or her likings and dis-likings when it comes to food.  Fortunately, nasi lemak (a local rice dish cooked with coconut milk) is liked by everyone.

One of the nearest places for me is Mali's Corner located in Taman Bunga Raya near the TAR College, and that's where we headed.

Mali's is known for it's nasi lemak which is served hot with freshly fried chicken.  It is also known for it's Char Koay Teow (fried flat rice noodles, another popular local dish).

Due to it's popularity, there's no table service at Mali's.  Patrons have to queue for their orders.  There are usually 3 queues at any one time, for the nasi lemak, for char koay teow and for drinks. 

 

 Patrons need to queue, purchase their food and then proceed to the many tables set up around the stall for their meal.

 

 

 

The service is quite efficient with each one of the staff with specific duties.

 

The char koay teow is cooked to order on a 'per portion' basis.

 

The pakcik (uncle) preparing drinks.

 

 

That's us, enjoying our meal (and posing for photos, of course).

 

 

Nasi Kandar Pulau Pinang at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman

It's been a while since I've had nasi kandar, so I decided to have some for lunch. I gathered 2 of my colleagues and took the monorail to the Medan Tuanku station.  From there we walked to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

 

Even at a quarter past twelve, the queue was long.

 

 

 

We joined the queue and inched patiently along.  Photo above is of Aidi and Norman at the front of the queue.

 

 

That's what we had.  The green chilli is for that added 'kick' to the nasi kandar.

 

Of course, don't forget the pappadam.

 

This used to be a typical 'kopitiam' (Chinese coffee shop) when I knew it in the early 1960's.  There were some stalls selling various food items like noodles and such, with the owner just taking care of the drinks. Then this 'Mamak' set up a small table to sell his nasi kandar in the kopitiam.  

One thing led to another and before long, this became 'Restoran Kudu Bin Abdul'.

In case you're wondering what nasi kandar is, Wikipedia has this entry:

Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian dish, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side dishes.

The word Nasi Kandar, came about from a time when nasi [rice] hawkers or vendors would kandar [balance] a pole on the shoulder with two huge containers of rice meals. The name has remained and today the word Nasi Kandar is seen on most Tamil Muslim or "Malaysian Mamak" restaurants and Indian-Muslim stall meals.

The rice for a nasi kandar dish is often placed in a wooden container about three feet high, giving it a distinctive aroma. The rice is accompanied by side dishes such as fried chicken, curried spleen, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dish would usually be brinjal (aubergine), okra (lady fingers or "bendi") or bitter gourd. A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. This is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice.

Traditionally, nasi kandar is always served with its side dishes on a single plate. Nowadays, small melamine bowls are used for the side dishes. Nevertheless, the curry sauce mix is always poured directly onto the rice.

The most famous nasi kandar stalls in Penang are Kassim Restaurant and Line Clear. In Selangor, one chain of nasi kandar restaurants is Restoran Syed. In recent years, several chain restaurants have appeared such as Nasi Kandar Nasmir, Pelita Nasi Kandar and Kayu Nasi Kandar. Purists have disputed its tastiness compared to the original Penang versions. In Perlis, the rice is coloured yellow with herbs and the dish is referred to as "nasi ganja", though in fact no "ganja" (cannabis) is actually used in its preparation.

JMI - Food outlets

Since eating is one of my favorite pastimes, I want to show you some of the food outlets in Little India.

Just across from Semua House and Citi One Plaza, there are these restaurants. Selara MY belongs to the same owner as the one in Medan Tuanku. Vasantha Bhavan boasts of Chettynad cooking. Previously there also was a restaurant here, run by members of the Hari Krishna movement, serving what they called 'karma-free' food.

Yaseen's is a popular 'Mamak' restaurant along Jalan Bunus.

There are a few food courts around the area mainly catering to Malay, Indonesian and Thai cooking. As the stalls operate at differing times, food is available almost 24 hours.

This is supposed to be a popular restaurant in Chennai, South India.

This stall in Selangor Mansion, facing the Klang River, is one of my favorites. They serve a wide range of curries. Duck and venison curry is said to be available here on Fridays for lunch.

Another popular restaurant in Selangor Mansion.

There are a number of restaurants on the 1st and 2nd floors of both Selangor and Malayan Mansions. Most do not have a signage like this one on Malayan Mansion. The menu is limited and they cater almost exclusively to their regular clients.

Another popular stall, this one at Malayan Mansion.

A restaurant along Jalan Melayu. The other restaurant along this road is Jai Hind.

Another restaurant from Chennai which has opened in the area.




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TAR Eats

You know you're truly Malaysian when food happens to be one of your loves in life.

Like every street in KL, Jalan TAR also has its many eating places. Those listed below are by no means the only ones there. Every hotel has its own coffee house and drinking hole. There's a whole lot of stalls along the road and every shopping complex and mall have their own food courts and restaurants.

These are just some of the places I have patronized over the years, arranged in a sort of geographical order.

Located at the Junction of Jalan TAR and Jalan Ipoh. South Indian food served here. It's been around since the 1980's although there's been several changes in management since then. Banana Leaf lunch is available.

A few shop-lots away from Sri Shalimar, this is a relatively recent addition to the area. An Indonesian restaurant, its indicative of the large Indonesian population in the area. I have not personally eaten here, but judging by the crowd, the food must be good here.

Pizza Hut is located at the junction with Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman.

A little way down from Pizza Hut, is this Nasi Kandar place. It's popularity has required the proprietor to rent the next shoplot.

Its just after 3.00 p.m. on a weekday (I so happened to be on leave that day), but the crowd has not abated.

Another popular restaurant across the road from Tune Hotel. It was just a stall occupying a tiny space in a Chinese Restaurant, but has now taken over the whole restaurant.

A row of restaurants along Medan Tuanku, on your way to Loke Mansion.

Although it advertises as Nasi Kandar, they serve a mixed Western and Malaysian fare. This is where Shiraz, the once popular Mogul restaurant used to be. Omar Kayoom, Shiraz's competitor is still there though.

Next to Omar Kayoom is Hanifa's, once famous for its biryani.

Then comes this Pakistani restaurant. They serve a few varities of biryani, which changes daily. It's a little on the pricey, but I think it's worth it. Their naans (served in the evenings) is crispy and I just love their fried dhall.

A real symbol of what Malaysia is, but unfortunately, this type is a dying breed, as far restaurants go. Located across the road from Sogo. The Chinese owner only sells the drinks. There's a Malay tenant selling Nasi Padang, a Mamak selling Rojak and a Chinese selling a varity of fried noodles.

Used to be one of the best places for biryani (like I said - used to be), it still serves good fresh mango juice.

Finger lickin' good - needs no introduction, Insaf's neighbour.

The first American fast food restaurant in Malaysia, been here since as far back as I can remember.

They say that this is still the best place for a steak. The last I was here was in the mid 1990's. The waiters then looked like they had been with the restaurant since it first opened, so you can imaging how slow the service was. It does have a certain romantic colonial charm about the place though.

The food here is said to be good, but I've only stopped here for teh tarik.


What can I say. In the 1960's Bilal's was 'THE' Indian Muslim restaurant in town. The food is still good, but the menu has never changed in all these years, so its popularity has waned.