Now you would think that a person like me who lives about 5 minutes away from Kg. Baru would be here every night guzzling the good food. However though I would drive two hours to Ipoh to eat chee cheong fun, I seldom come to Kg. Baru except occasionally to get my Patani and sambal sotong fix. Hence a FoodCrawl with Kg. Baru natives seemed ideal to try out some new places...
“We’ll have one of each,” I told Din, the owner of Shazana Cafe. We vowed not to over order in one place during the Kampung Baru Crawl but the daily specials were too tempting to ignore. Gulai tempoyak ikan patin, rendang itik and asam pedas daging tetel- Malay dishes I love but seldom get to have.
The gulai tempoyak had the most amazing scent but it was more Pahang style hence a little spicier and richer. However, if you are hankering for this, it does hit the spot. The tempoyak is also a little on the sour side which is how I like it. The daging tetel (known as daging cincang in KL) is basically the bits of meat and fat people cut off their meat. Cooked in an asam pedas, the fattiness of the meat chunks lends itself superbly to the sour-spicy gravy. This was the first dish to finish.
Mmm… the best of the trio though was the rendang itik. The spices or bumbu are cooked until almost crispy so it has a little bit of smokiness to it. Coupled with duck, the heady spices masks the gaminess while giving it tons of flavour. A plate of fried eggplant is served with this. I suggest you get the rendang spices and slather it on the eggplant- delicious!
Shazana seems one of those Kg. Baru hang outs that mushroomed out of simpler eating shops. The newer generation of cafe taikos make it a little trendier, serve a mixed menu of local grub and Western-ish dishes and provide wifi. There are many such eateries in the labyrinth of Kg. Baru- cheeky, a little schitzo and relentlessly cheerful. This hodge podge of everything that strikes one's fancy makes interesting dining out but it's something that's uniquely ours and makes no apologies for it.
"Hey! Leave some for me..."
Shazana's specialty though is pau (there’s over a dozen fillings to choose from). We ordered black pepper beef, rendang ayam and ikan bilis fillings. The bun itself is soft and reminds me a little of the pau you get in Kuala Kangsar kopitiams- starchier than fluffy but still soft to the bite. The fillings are flavourful and tasty. My only complain is that there could be a bit more of it. Usually when the filling runs out, I loose interest in the pau.
On menu are also a whole lot of mysteriously named Menara Condong dishes (Leaning Tower dishes). Turns out Din’s partner is from Teluk Intan, Malaysia’s claim to world 'leaning tower' fame- it was featured in the DK Guide.
We also ordered lempeng kelapa with chicken curry and a tuna and cheese roti. We expected the cheese and tuna to be enveloped within the roti so were puzzled to see it served on top. The roti though was homemade and crispy. We recommend them to put the cheese inside next time. Most of the stuff we ordered were delicious though. The only perplexing dish was the Nasi Goreng Brazil. The rice was yellow and tasted like Malay nasi ayam- it even came with soup and chilli dipping. However within it were raisins and it was served with a side of cucur sotong. I mean the dish was okay but the concept rather random. Ebee pointed out it might be the colour (yellow and green) that makes it Brazilian.
We rolled off afterwards and resumed our crawl but as to what else we ate that night, you just have to check out our blog.
More Photos To Drool On
Why this is named Nasi Goreng Brazil remains a puzzle
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Foodster's Verdict
Shazana Pau Shop and Cafe
Taste
Address:
Wisma Yayasan Terengganu,
77E-GF, Jalan Raja Alang,
Kampung Baru,
Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2692 7258
Open:
Opens late
Pros:
An eclectic menu that ensures something for everyone
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