Newcastle Kelantanese

The owner of this makan place is perhaps an ardent fan of an English football team. But the food here is anything but English. It is Kelantanese. The name of the place is Newcastle Kafe & Restoran Ayam Kampung.

The place is located in my neighbourhood on Jalan PJU 1A/20C, in Dataran Ara Damansara in the new township of Ara Damansara, PJ.

I was quite curious when I first saw the place. I have eaten ayam kampung (village chicken or free range chicken) for sure. But the free range chicken I ate were cooked the Chinese way - mostly pak cham kai (白切雞). I never had ayam kampung cooked the Malay Kelantanese style. So it was definitely one to visit.

The place is a typical Malay makan joint. It is nice, clean and spacious; staffed by a few pleasant young people. Like most Malay eateries, it is self-served. It offers a good selection of dishes and most of them look and taste good.

The ayam kampung or free range chicken are deep fried. Initially it seemed sacrilegious to me to deep fry good ayam kampung meat. To me, the good meat should be mildly cooked to enjoy its fine taste and texture. However on tasting, I quickly changed my mindset. The fried ayam kampung is actually quite good. It is lean and fried without the skin. The meat retains its fine texture and does not look like the usual oily over-fried chicken that we find in most other places. I enjoyed it.

There is one other dish that I also enjoy very much in this place - perhaps even more than the ayam kampung. It is sup tulang (beef bone soup). The soup is so very delicious. It is clear, aromatic, slightly spicy and very flavourful. It is cooked with a variety of spices. The tulang (bones) have generous amount of meat on it. The meat is cooked just nice - not tough and not flaccid. If you ever in Newcastle, this soup is a must try.

Here are some visuals of some of the Kelantan dishes they serve. 


Kerabu...

 Kacang & ikan bilis...

 Kembong...

 Sayur paku...

And ulam, nice and fresh...

I go there every now and again for my fill of good Malay food. Sometimes I just enjoy their simple offerings. The fried cat fish is delicious. The meat is so very tender.

Newcastle is opened only for lunch. Try to be there early. I normally get there before noon, well before the lunch crowd from the neighbouring offices and from Subang airport. Their popular dishes run out very quickly with the crowd.