Capital Nasi Dagang

My first impressionable experience with nasi dagang was on a fishing boat between Mersing and Pulau Aur in the east cost of Peninsula Malaysia many years ago. We were on one of our many fishing trips. Mr TanTH, our chief organiser bought some packeted nasi dagang from the Mersing market for our lunch during the tedious 6 hours boat journey. They were simple packets of the special coconut rice, each with a small piece of curried tuna. It tasted so very good. I had 2 packets of it and craved for more. Since then, each time I think of nasi dagang I inevitably remember that fishing trip.

Nasi dagang (literally translated as "business rice") is a mixture of normal fragrant rice and pulut (glutinous rice), steamed with santan (coconut milk). It is normally eaten with gulai (a rich yellow curry) ikan tongkol (a medium-size tuna fish). It is a popular dish in the east coast states of Peninsula Malaysia, especially in Terengganu. Its popularity reached down to the southern state of Johor and right up, beyond Kelantan, to southern Thailand.

SP called me one day to tell me about this place that serves good Kelantan nasi dagang. That very weekend, we were there to check it out. The breakfast crowd was evidence of its popularity. We could not find a table and were contented to settle down on a makeshift one on the 5-foot way.

Capital Nasi Dagang Kelantan is located on Jalan SS21/1A in Uptown, Damansara Utama in PJ. The business, to my surprise, was managed by Chinese. Nasi Dagang is after all a Malay dish and I went there fully expecting a Malay business. This Chinese family apparently has a similar business in Kota Baru.

Their nasi dagang was served with a wide range of accompaniments. Beside the ikan tongkol (tuna), they had curried chicken, rendang beef, prawns, and squids. The goodies are all on display at a serving counter where you can see before deciding on your choice. You could have a combination of accompaniments, or everything in their ultimate nasi dagang.

This was their traditional nasi dagang gulai tongkol - tuna curry. Like all their servings, it was on a wax brown paper in a plastic plate. The rice was fluffy and in spite of the glutinous rice content, the grains did not stick to each other. The fragrance was aromatic. If you take time to chew on the rice, the flavour is more pronounced.

The gulai ikan tongkol (tuna curry) was rich in santan (coconut milk). The fish was fresh and flaky. It was a very good gulai indeed.

The chicken did not disappoint as well. The flavour was rich and the chicken tender.

I had this combination of tuna and rendang beef. The beef was a little disappointing. It somehow did not taste like the real thing. A little too mushy.

Two things stool out in their servings of nasi dagang. One was the small deep fried salted fish. It was crunchy and aromatic. And it complemented the rice perfectly. I think this piece of salted fish made the nasi dagang a lot more enjoyable.

And their sambal was awesome. They only gave a small spoonful of it. But it was enough. It was fiery hot and so very tasty. And complemented the rice very well.

The shop also serves a small variety of other dishes like the Kelantan laksa and the coffee shop roti kaya - toasted and steamed bread. We ordered a portion of the the steamed roti. It had butter and kaya spreads. The bread was very good. It was so soft it almost melted in our mouths.

And of course, there were the normal drinks to go with your meals.

Was the nasi dagang here better than that in the fishing boat? Very likely yes. It is really very difficult to compare. The fishing boat experience was a long time ago and is now indelibly etched in my mind. In any case, for those in need for a nasi dagang fix, especially those from the east coast who miss home, this is definitely a place to be.

Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock

The Oasis is spanking new commercial centre in Ara Damansara, PJ. It is located at the flyover junction at the Saujana exit along the Subang Airport Road. As you enter Ara Damansara from the airport road, it is on your left - you won't miss it. When it was first launched by Sime Darby, it generated a lot of interests and fanfare; many touting it as great investments which would flourish with the Ara Damansara township. Sadly, it has yet to turn out to be so. The shops and commercial lots are still largely empty and deserted. 

The whole area is beautifully constructed. The buildings are modern. The roads are wide and nicely paved, The atmosphere is very conducive. They even have an area with pools and fountains - ideal for restaurants and alfresco dining. Yet it has not caught on commercially. It reminds me very much of Plaza Kelana Jaya - well planned and beautifully built - but largely still remaining as white elephants. 

Perhaps they need more makan places to stimulate interests and attract the crowd - like the nearby Citta Mall, which is beginning to look good with the many food outlets that have established themselves there. Perhaps it is starting for a small number of eateries have started businesses here. One such early bird is a quaint makan place called Ali, Muthu and Ah Hock.

This is the Chinese version. I feel Ah Hock should be 阿福 (Hokkein) instead of 阿學 (Cantonese).

It apparently is the Malaysian equivalence to Tom, Dick & Harry. In fact I was told that the owners of this place also own the Tom, Dick & Harry pubs in Taman Tun Dr Ismail and at The Pavilion in KL. 

The set up in Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock (AMAH) is simple, rustic and charming.

On one wall hang the portraits of 3 balding guys - apparently the owners.

Living up to its name, AMAH projects itself as typically Malaysian. There are framed old pictures of 3 different families - one Malay, one Indian and one Chinese. Very muhibbah. 

However its menu is not so cosmopolitan. The servings are almost totally Malay. And the selections are very limited. The visuals I post here were taken over a few visits.

Perhaps the most popular in the house is the nasi lemak with fried chicken. And it was good. The rice was rich in santan flavour. The sambal was great. And the chicken, though a little dark and over-fried, was very tasty and well marinated. Highly recommended.

We also had the nasi lemak with kerang (cockles) sambal. The kerang was over-cooked. But the flavour was very good.

The mee rebus was very very good. The gravy was rich and thick. It was served with the usual mee rebus stuff - egg, sotong, fried tofu, potato, etc. May not be the holy grail, but certainly another must try.

The curry mee was comparatively lacking. The curry did not have that oomph. Still I enjoyed it.

The lontong was simply great. I dare say it was one of the best lontong I ever had. The soup was rich and very flavourful. The sambal complemented the lontong perfectly. The taste was yum yum. On subsequent visits, I asked them for lontong without the nasi empit - just the soup and vegetable. They served me small bowls each time and did not charge me for them. 

The Nasi Goreng Ali or nasi goreng kampung was another delicious dish. The rice was very nicely done. It came with an egg. In the rice were pieces of chicken and crunchy ikan bilis. 

The Mee Goreng Muthu or mee goreng mamak was the only non-Malay dish I saw in the menu. It was also very nicely done, with a lot of vegetables. Delicious.

Besides these limited selections in the menu, AMAH also serves various Malay dishes as well as kuih-muih during lunch time. They have a typical food counter. Unfortunately I do not have any visual of the dishes.

The next time you come to Ara Damansara or if you are in Subang Airport, make a visit to The Oasis. Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock is certainly worth your while.

Belanga

We went to the Empire Gallery in Subang Jaya to look for food. This shopping centre is becoming more and more a foodie place since the kaboom. I believe most people go there not so much to shop but to eat. I have so far done 7 reviews of the makan places in the Empire. This is my 8th and probably not my last. It bespeaks the variety of food here. The place we picked this time was the Belanga.

Belanga is a Malay restaurant chain specialising in peninsular east coast cuisines. The founder is a lady from Kelantan. Besides this restaurant, they also have outlets in the Gardens (Mid Valley Megamall) and the SSTwo Mall. The outlet at the Empire is charming and very well decored in a modern and contemporary ambiance.

Their menu was a selection of mouth-watering Malay fare - various types of nasi (kerabu, dagang, lemak, etc), mee (curry, laksa, soto, bandung, etc), satays, soups, and others. We opted for rice.

Dinner started with our drinks. I went for my normal iced lemon tea. I wished it was bottomless but alas it wasn't. For the beer drinkers - forget it. This is a very Malay place.

The first rice dish we shared was the nasi kerabu. There was a choice of ayam percik, grilled beef tenderloin or grilled fish. We opted for the chicken. I would had gone for the beef tenderloin because the visual of the beef in the menu was so appealing. But my wife is not a beef person. The tomato rice was served with chopped fresh vegetables, some keropok and a thick peanut gravy. We mixed the chopped greens into the rice and gravy. It was delicious. The ayam percik was also very good. But probably because at that late time of the day, it was not entirely freshly roasted. Still we enjoyed it.

Next was the nasi dagang. It was a traditional Kelantanese brown rice steamed in coconut milk. There was a choice of curry chicken, rendang beef or ikan tongkol (tuna). Nasi dagang at the east coast is normally eaten with the fish. So we follow the norm and went for the tongkol. The rice was superbly fluffy and aromatic. It was served with some chopped cabbage, pickled cucumber and carrot and an egg. The tuna was a little fishy. I think it was not entirely fresh. Because of this, I thought the nasi kerabu was more enjoyable.

This bowl of oxtail soup was fabulous. It had generous portions of tail that tasted absolutely delicious. There were also potato, carrot, onion and celery - garnished with some fried shallots and spring onion. The celery gave the soup a distinct taste. The spices were adequate and not overpowering. I loved this soup but unfortunately my wife would not have any of it.

This plate was listed as "Spring Rolls" in the menu. It looked and tasted anything but. It was a roll alright - in the kind of translucent rice wrap that are commonly used in Vietnamese cooking. The inside were mostly chopped vegetables that tasted rather bland. There was a small bowl of sweet yellow sauce that did not help in any manner to enhance its flavour. We didn't like it.

The Belanga, much to my surprise, turned out to be a lot better than I had expected. The food was generally good. And the service was friendly too. If you hunger for some east coast makan, I would certainly recommend this place.

Tropicana Mee Jawa

My kin SP has been looking for the "holy grail" of mee jawa, and hasn't been able to find it yet. Mindful of his craving, a big 'Mee Jawa' sign board attracted my attention while driving in the Tropicana area. One day, I went to investigate with my wife.

Mee Jawa is in the Casa Tropicana condominium along Persiaran Tropicana, PJ. It is in the vicinity of the Tropicana Golf Club. The condominium frontage has several restaurants and Mee Jawa is one of them.

It is a typical Malay makan place, apparently owned by a Chinese lady. It has a rustic kampong theme, with rattan stools and various kinds of rattan artifacts for decor. Interestingly, they use rattan chicken covers (those they use in the kampungs and small towns to cage small chicks) as lamp shades.

The mee jawa was our raison d'etre for being there. So we had to order it. It came in a big white plate. The noodles was served with an egg, fried tofu, potatoes, taugeh and some salad greens. Like most noodles, the essence of the mee jawa would be in the sauce or gravy. The gravy in this plate was light. It was complemented with a generous portion of sambal, a cut of lime and a sprinkling of deep fried shallots. The plate looked very good but tasted just ok. The gravy could had been better. It lacked the richness and oomph of good mee jawa gravy. The accompaniments could also be better. I would had love some sotong (squids) and/or prawn cakes with it. The plate of mee jawa was not definitely not holy grail stuff.

My wife's plate of fried meehoon tasted better. It was fried with taugeh, prawn, sliced fish balls and egg; and served with a generous sprinkling of deep fried shallot and a slice of lime. The meehoon looked and tasted very good.

We ordered a portion of deep fried wanton (雲吞). It was over-fried, so much so that the filling was hard. The skin was crunchy alright, but the slight bitter taste of being over done prevailed. I guess we erred. A kampong place is no place to ask for wanton.

We also tried a serving of their cucur udang (a deep fried prawn cake). It was served in a tiny bowl with some chili sauce. The cucur was soft (instead of crispy) and there was totally no trace of prawn in it. A waste of time.

The bowl of ABC (air batu campur) or ais kacang was a mountain of shaved ice, sweetened with gula melaka (Malacca brown sugar) and an avalanche of canned jagung (maize). I am no fan of this Malaysian popularity, but I did had a taste of it. It was sweet and not extraordinary. But my wife loved it and almost finished the bowl.

Our quest for the ultimate mee jawa failed. SP would have to look further for his holy grail. I remember in the old days... That must had been 30 years back. In Section 14 PJ where the Jaya Supermarket used to be, there was a hawker centre known as Medan Selera. Outside this Medan Selera was a mee rebus (another name for mee Jawa) stall on a tricycle. It was operated by a Malay gentleman. He sold an awesome mee jawa. I used to tar pau (打包) back and I enjoyed it very much. But that was 30 years ago. My perception and taste could have changed. I just wonder if he was still around today, would he gratify us enough to lift the holy grail.

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.