Sri Nirwana Maju

In Bangsar people have been coming to Niwarna for the banana leaf but there are other things equally good on the menu. Read on...

By The Foodster

Photography by FriedChillies

Posted on Wed, January 03, 2007 - 8:02:43 AM

7 Comments

This is a humble little place in Bangsar that consistently serves good Indian food from breakfast to lunch. The sign on the restaurant used to say "Banana Leaf Cuisine" but no longer. You see, if you come in the morning for the thosai, roti telur, appams and a round of teh tarik, you will not be disappointed either. If you come late, be prepared to wait. So not only is their banana leaf good, their morning dishes are delish as well.

Word has it that the owner used to work with an automobile company and one fine day, he gave that up to open a restaurant. His first shot at running a restaurant was in Rawang, with recipes and the cooking skills of his wife and mother-in-law. Great cooks, especially those who cook homemade recipes are always a foodies' dream, and naturally Nirwana's Rawang outlet was a success. In 2001, Nirwana Maju was set up in Bangsar and from the day it opened, it has been pulling in Indian food lovers around town! Kachiiinnggg!!!!.... They deserved it. Read up to see whats good at Nirwana....

Breakfast time.... there are a few must haves here. The roti canai, roti telur, appam, thosai, vadai are all good selections. What makes their roti canai different from the rest of the Indian restaurants is that the roti is softer, fluffier and tastier than the rest. Perhaps they knead the dough longer, use better flour, put stuff in... we don't know but it is good. Try the roti telur with some additional ingredients. Tell the waiter 'cili bawang'. "Cili Bawang!" ....they know what you mean. This one is dee-li-cious with some fish curry and fried chicken. One of our morning favourites.

"We haven't even gotten to the banana leaf yet"

If you want something a bit sour in the morning, the thosais are top rate. The plain thosai is good, can't go wrong with a "Cili Bawang Telur" thosai... but a Rawa Thosai is even better. Sounds like the king of thosais, might be. Rawa Thosai is different as the preparation is a bit coarser than the normal thosais and some mixed herbs and spices are added to the batter to give it an aromatic flavour. Thosais are meant to be taken with some coconut chutneys which Nirwana has several varieties of. If that is not enough, get some curries from the aluminum pots they have flying around from table to table carrying spice-laden dhal, fish and chicken curries.

We're not done yet.... by this time, our table will look like a warzone but we don't care. There's always space for some appam and vadais. Their appams are prepared fresh ... that's why its good. Always nice with some coconut milk. The vadais are not too oily and are great as starters or as 'finishers' to lap up the excess curry from the banana leaf so that when we leave, everything is gone.. just the way it is supposed to be.

One last thing.. their teh tarik is consistently good. Not too sweet and not too bitter, with just the right amount of tea. Hats off to Nirwana. We could always depend on them to make a good 'cuppa' not like some other places where with one taste, you know that the teabags have been reused about a billion times. Not theirs. Anyway, prices are not too expensive for Bangsar. Expect to pay around RM6.00 per person. If you stay long enough... perhaps you could rearrange your tummy for their famous banana leaf rice. That is another review altogether. Till next time then.... remember the "Cili Bawang" for your roti telur....

Pros: They are consistent with te food quality

Cons: Packed on weekends. Outside seats are most coveted

Address: 43 Jalan Telawi Tiga Bangsar Baru Kuala Lumpur

Telephone: 03 6028 3526

asian-malaysian
January 03, 2007 4:12AM GMT

The food isnt bad but the sevice in Nirwana is horrible. I went there today with a group of old friends. My friends ordered first but I was waiting for a friend who was parking his car. As he took longer than I thought I decided to order my lunch when my other friends were getting their lunch. For that, I got scolded by the waiter for not ordering earlier and forcing him to make an extra trip! Later, when my friends (who ordered the banana leaf rice) asked for extra veggie and gravy, they were told there was no more. This was rubbish ofcourse. I think the waiter was just fed up from making so many trips. Nirwana is almost always crowded so apparently people think the food is so good that they can get away with this sort of service but after today it will be long time before I ever go back there again.

The Foodster
January 03, 2007 5:15PM GMT

I am surprised that you got bad service at Nirwana's. I've been there countless times and they seemed ok. Perhaps the waiter was a bit 'off' the day you came, but then again, it was no excuse for you to be treated badly. Hope you gave a piece of your mind to the owner.

ckutu
January 07, 2007 1:55AM GMT

Yeah... this place sucks for service and food's just OK. Plenty more banana leaf rice in PJ that deserves a mention.

dim dim
January 09, 2007 2:22AM GMT

Hmm... they seems to be full every morning especially on weekends. Just came back from from good food there a couple of days ago. Try their banana leaf rice with fried chicken. It's divine

babe_kl
January 16, 2007 5:13PM GMT

oh my! i've been to nirwana for countless times and i've never encountered bad service from any of their staff. in fact they were so good that they could recognise us and straight away ask if we would like the stuff we usually would order. so far the food has been consistently good. loved their mango lassi and masala tea!

soub_suka_makan!
February 28, 2007 7:55AM GMT

Ckutu. You mentioned that there is plenty more banana leaf rice places hats worth a visit. I have been hunting for good Banana leaf places for a long long time now.. and so far nothing beats Nirwana's fried bittergourd & spinach curry. Any recommendations?

melhm
March 10, 2009 2:57AM GMT

I find this place dirty and quite disgusting. The floors are dirty and i refuse to sit anywhere where i can see the basin/washroom/kitchen area. The service can be quite slow especially during the weekends .

And the chicken is not fresh. If you break the chicken bone and the middle part is black..that means the chicken has been there for a while.

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