"Authentic Padang food at reasonable prices"
Masakan Padang was a big part of my childhood. I remember afternoons spent sitting in a plain restaurant where décor came second to the food. Plates would magically appear at the table with all sorts of delicacies. The way you do it is to choose the dishes you want and eat only those, because you are charged for any plate you touch, even if you only tasted the kuah. As a kid I didn’t understand that and sometimes my fork would go into the other dishes and we’d end up with a bill for food that was barely consumed. I know better now, and the Padang restaurants in KL make it easier. Here, you choose the dishes at the counter and they are heated up for you.
Bagindo’s offerings are authentic. Many of these are family recipes that have been passed down and the menu serves strictly Padang food instead of diversifying and adding other popular Indonesian specialties. This is how the quality is maintained and I certainly can’t complain.
When you’re at the counter it’s easy to get carried away with the 30+ dishes and more often than not you will over order. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The rendang here is one of my favourites as the meat is tender without turning to a textureless mush. A gentle heat washes over your tongue and the rich flavour will have you coming back for more. A comforting dish perfect on its own with rice if you must choose just one.
Another great beefy dish is the dendeng balado. This meat is pounded thin and fried till extra crisp and topped with sambal. The texture of the meat may seem odd at first if you’re not used to crispy crumbly meat, but after a while it grows on you and the sambal is perfect with it. Another balado dish to try is the terong. Slices of eggplant are cooked then topped with more of the delicious sambal. The smoky sweetness of the eggplant is balanced well with the heat of the sambal.
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"Walk away with a smile..."
You know a place is really good when food reviewers eat at a place thrice before getting around to writing a review - because they’re too busy eating to bother with taking photos and notes. It was still a bit of a struggle to get the camera out the last time, but as it is our job to spread the gospel of awesome food, we present Dapoer Bandoeng to you at last!
From our first visit, we always over-ordered. There would usually be only 4 of us, but with main and side dishes so numerous, we had to take over 2 tables to comfortably house our appetites. Since we ate so much in terms of variety (and quantity!), we’ll lay them out to you in categories. First up, the rice dishes. We had the set iga bakar pedas and another set semur ayam. Iga is basically ribs and their version has the perfect balance of chewy meat and melty fat. The semur ayam was done very well as the chicken was still moist as we dug into it. The tempe tumis that they serve with this set is really good: little chunks of tempe fried with green sambal that had all of us sneaking bites in between our own main courses. Their star rice dish by far, however, is nasi bakar. It’s a bit like nasi goreng with strong ikan bilis, shallot and garlic flavors, but it’s wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled over a flame. So good you can eat it on its own!
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"We happily slurped it up"
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When I invited an Indonesian classmate to come with me, she agreed so fast you would think she hadn't had any Indonesian food for a year. As we escape college grounds during lunch hour, she declares, “It's alright, it's only class. This is Resto Surabaya!”
We make our way to the restaurant, which reminds me of so many other Indonesian restos not just in KL, but in, well, Surabaya. Sparse with the occasional handicraft, smells of sambal and bacem in the air – my lunch date's enthusiasm is so contagious that I cannot help but tap my foot impatiently for our food.
Drinks arrive first. The soda gembira is served a little differently than other places; they pour in the milk and syrup first, and give you a can of ice cream soda separately so you can mix it to your desired sweetness. We also have teh kotak, which I cannot go without ordering at an Indonesian restaurant.
Soto ayam lamongan arrives first. Similar to soto madura, it's filled with soun and chicken strips in a clear yellowish broth. We dive into it with our hands, happily slurping up flailing strands of noodles noisily. The chicken is chewy yet soaked through with the broth, while just a touch of sourness hits the back of my throat.
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"Tender, peppery chunks of beef"
I am perpetually in search of good guramie. I remembered a short-lived Warung Guramie on Jalan P.Ramlee nestled between Beach Club and some other club. Didn't really make it. Fungsiwaty, the lovely lady who runs Anggrek Kuring shakes her head, "you can't find guramie here at all, restaurants either use ikan nila or tilapia."
You need guramie to make it curl up in those lovely wings because it's "tipis". At Anggrek Kuring they have a standing fish. A fish that is curled open and then made to stand as though it's breaking through water and rising to the surface. They use kerapu but because it's "buncit", they have to fry it with a bit of flour or else it won't stand.
Still with hot, white rice and sambal terasi a well fried fish, is
a well fried fish. The stunners of our dinner today however, is the sapi lada hitam. This is NOT an Indonesian daging masak kicap as I mistakenly called it to slaps from my Indonesian designer. This is a dish of it's own, tender beef chunks that melts in your mouth with a fragrant peppery sauce riddled with onions and chillies. This dish is a come back factor for this restaurant. We kept ordering extras.
Earlier as we were entering, I saw a sign for Ayam Pressto. It looks a little like ayam penyet. I thought maybe it's 'hey pressto! Here's your chicken' or it's in someway 'pressed' so that it's tender.
Goes to show how little I know Bahasa Indonesia. And that's what I like about the language. It has all this cute, almost literal words that rolls off the edge of your tongue- similar but different. Just when you think you know it, it surprises you with twists in meanings and flavours. Not unlike their food. Take for instance Pressto (Malay? English-inspired? Or something entirely different?)- a word you think you should know and yet means something completely different. To 'pressto' in Indonesian means to steam a chicken until the bones are tender.
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"The gravy makes it addictive"
I used to frequent the pasar malam in Taman Melawati when I was younger, always getting fascinated by the cacophony of sounds and myriad of colours. I made my way through the fruits and veg section, the butchers and the dried goods and arrived at my favorite section of any night market: the food stalls. Apam balik, putu piring, nasi lemak… name it, you’ll find it here. But it was the alluring smell of meat grilled on charcoal that sort of pulled me to a particular stall. Yes, it was satay. But not the more famous ‘Kajang’ sort. This stall is serving Sate Minang. If you’re a satay fan and you haven’t tried this version, then give yourself a punch in the stomach.
Now, the beef and chicken used tastes pretty much similar to your run-of-the-mill sate, but the key difference is that, after grilling, the sate is soaked in a spicy, thick and viscous gravy which also serves as the ‘kuah’. No kuah kacang here, mind you.
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"As night approaches, magic happens"
A stone's throw away from the Chow Kit area, Restoran Rose is a real find. During the day, they serve pretty decent nasi padang fare. The rendang is quite good, though I usually reach for the lele (catfish) and sambal ijo. As night approaches, magic happens. The sate padang stall opens.
The sate padang they sell here is sliced meat served with a yellow sauce and lontong. The meat is pleasantly chewy, and the sauce poured all over the dish is simply amazing. Complex in flavor, it's usually made with the stock from boiling the meat, mixed with a whole lot of spices resulting in a rich and thick sauce. They give you a spoon to eat this dish with, and after tasting the sauce, you'll know why as you'll want to scoop up every last bit of it. I went for the beef, but they also sell babat (tripe).
I also ordered a bowl of soto paru. The bowl comes filled with fried soun (glass noodles) and a big perkedel ball (fried mashed potato with meat). The perkedel isn't that great but if you break it up it makes your soup a little thicker. Also, ask for a little less soun because they usually pile too much of it on. What I really love about it is the paru itself as I'm a big fan of paru. Even if you're taking your time to eat it, it doesn't get too soggy. The sambal is very spicy though, so be careful.
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"PEDAS!!!"
The concept here is a bit different from the typical restaurant experience. As you walk in you are ushered to a long buffet-like counter where all the delicious food is spread out. While there are menus to order from it’s more fun to walk along this counter and pick and choose your meal as you would from a menu. You can’t help but salivate the minute you walk in and see the rows of tasty dishes. Once you’ve picked them it’s sent to the kitchen to heat up and they will bring it right to your table.
I spy a huge pot of rendang that has my name on it and we also pick a few other specialties. Back at the table they take our drink orders and we decide to try a cendol and an orange coconut juice. The cendol was generous with gula Melaka and made with fresh santan. The orange coconut juice was a mix of the two with pieces of the sweet coconut flesh. Extremely refreshing.
Our meal arrives shortly after we place our order and we immediately tuck in to the steaming nasi liwet, which is much like nasi lemak but with a stronger fragrance of ginger and santan and a sprinkle of ikan teri a smaller type of ikan bilis. This is so freaking good!
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"It uses ONLY chili padi"
Minang Saiyo restaurant in Taman Melawati is somewhat a hidden treasure, as not many people seem to know of it discounting nearby residents, and it's easy to see why. Make no mistake: this place is old. It's been around for about thirty years. So I was surprised when I dropped in recently to see that they've refurbished it. Before, the place was dark, with linoleum floors and yellowed paint on the walls. But now the floor tiles are new, the interior has been repainted, and they have new tables and chairs. it looks birhgter and more welcoming. It has always bee clean, and it still is.
At first glance, it just looks like any other nasi campur restaurant. But do yourself a favour and step inside; order a plate of rice and take your pick from the various dishes available.
I arrived early for lunch, and the place was still relatively empty. The array of dishes were mouth-watering: creamy, spicy Minang curries, deep fried catfish in sambal, bergedil, grilled fish, deep fried tempe, stir-fried greems and vegetables, and what I think is some of the best beef rendang around. Some of the recommended dishes to go for here are the gulai lemak perut with nangka, the sambal terung and of course, the beef rendang. But I decided to be simple this time: rice, beef rendang (RM3/ piece), ikan gelama masin, chicken (RM2/ piece), and a generous dollop of their unique sambal belachan hijau.
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"Great grilled fish for lunch"
This year I wasn’t able to make it to any of my friend’s homes for Raya, which meant that I missed out on a lot of wonderfully spicy fragrant rendang. This is a dish that never fails to get me weak at the knees…tender fall apart beef simmered in a plethora of spices and coconut milk…deliciously decadent and in my opinion a meal in itself with just a few spoons of rice to mop up the tasty gravy. I just had to have my rendang fix!
After the waiters have set down all the plates, you can start eating right away only selecting the dishes you’d like to partake in. Those left untouched will be taken back and you won’t be charged for them. While this is the traditional way, I prefer to walk right up to the food area and choose my dishes.
On this occasion I’ve asked for the rendang (of course!), perkedel (potato cake), ikan bakar, fried chicken, green chilli sambal and daun singkong (cassava leaves). It’s lunchtime and the restaurant is packed. It is due to this that the ikan bakar takes longer than usual to appear at my table, well, that and the fact that they have just started to grill the fish for the afternoon. Luckily while waiting for the fish there are other goodies to enjoy and I eagerly tuck into the rendang. It’s tender with the slightest bit of chew to it and the gravy is savory and piquant. I pour most of the gravy onto my rice and mix it in to be sure that each bite has this delectable taste.
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"Lemongrass gives the fried rice a flavour dimension"
One sunny weekday afternoon I found myself in creAsian's neighbourhood and decided to try out the food. I asked Jason for recommendations and he told me to go with the Tom Yam fried rice, black beef, devil’s curry, mee goreng, and chicken cutlets. Once the order was placed, there was nothing left to do but sit back and salivate in anticipation of the tasty dishes.
I have to tell you right now that the fried rice was my favourite dish! It was spicy and filled with all kinds of fresh herbs. All the various flavours played nicely on the palate. The lemongrass gave it an additional flavour dimension and the rice had a good bite to it without being too soggy or overcooked; just the way I like it.
And oh the black beef! Tender thin strips of beef cooked in a thick fragrant peppery black sauce. The words uber delicious come to mind. I ladled a lot of that sauce on the fried rice to make it even more decadent. The black beef is a family recipe which is a popular choice here.
The devil’s curry scared me a little with its name and red sauce; I was expecting something extremely hot and spicy but was pleasantly surprised when I was hit with only a mild heat. The dish is packed with pieces of bone-in chicken and potatoes and topped off with fresh cilantro. I have a soft spot for this misunderstood herb and was happy to see it generously sprinkled on top.
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