Breakfast at Old Andersonian Club & Cafeteria @ Jalan Hospital, Ipoh

 For me, I like to go to Anderson for breakkie on weekend because at 7 am, the place is totally deserted and quiet. I can sit there till 9 am undisturbed with my tablet and surf while sipping hot tea. No, I'm not an early bird, I only go there after I finish my night call at the hospital. There was a month where I frequently had on calls over weekends that uncle simply got used to me stuffing myself and self - serving myself with tosai and idli hahaha :D

Indian & Western fusion @ Chelllas, Sungai Buloh

Not your usual Indian food restaurant, I may say since there are some Western food and fusion thrown in here. Location wise, is a bit hidden and need a lot of knowledge on Sungai buloh geography to discover this place. A big thankee to my pal for bringing me here :D

Upbeat mamak food @ Uncle K Kopitiam, SACC Shah Alam

Uncle K @ SACC is a good chill - out  place if you are looking for air - conditioned mamak - cum - kopitiam kinda place. They serve nasi kandar, mamak food and the kinda food that you can find at a Malay stall, in a kopitiam setting i.e. the furnishing.

Variety: Grace Point

CAUTION: SERVES ALCOHOL / COOKING MAY CONTAINS ALCOHOL

Status: Serve no pork

Venue/landmark: Sembulan. This map is a bit lacking in detail. So let say you’re coming from the direction of the mosque, then at the round – a – bout turn left 9 o’clock. If you are coming from the direction of Sutera Harbour, then at the round – a – bout turn to the 3 o’ clock direction. Once you pass the round – a – bout the rest is easy as you can see the place on your right side, a large open air dining area with its grand entrance.

Time open – close: unsure. I usually frequent it in the evening around 6 – 8 pm.

Basic RM per meal: RM 8 (starting pay)

Parking is free. I like that.

Food court style, on grander scale. Clean, bright, airy and spacious. Sunset here is a blaze. A nice place for friends to come, relax and chat.

Here you can find all sorts of food, Japanese from Wagamama, Thai, Indian, Korean, claypot meals, all sorts of rice, local food from Etnik Sabah, noodles and Western. As usual Wagamama is nice and in my list of favourites, next is Etnik Sabah with their tantalizing local food including hinava (raw fish tossed with ginger and onion in lime juice) and ampap fish (fish cooked in gravy of tumeric, ginger and other spices, served with rice); Thai section is pretty decent though the fried rice has somewhat a flat appearance; Indian food turns out good with their tosai, claypot section has this amazing black pepper chicken; and the drinks section. The coolest no. plaque (the one they give you with your order no.) so far is from Etnik Sabah, a wooden spoon – shaped one. You can’t helped but be delighted at it as you received one. As for drinks, the waiters will come over to your table to take down your orders.

From the Thai food section: Green curry mussels.

Noodles section is pretty basic, and on one occasion the laksa was disappointingly lacking in taste and contents. The Western corner so far failed to attract me as their pasta struck me as flat, unappetizing – looking.

Overall, service is good except on busier hours. And finally, a properly presented local cuisine.

Rating: 4.5/5

Indian Food: Krishna Curry House

Status: Serve no pork.

Venue/landmark: AsiaCity area, next to Sri Sempelang restaurant at a near end of shophouse; Panampang.

Time open – close:

Basic RM per meal: RM 5.00

This is another northern Indian cuisine outlet, pretty famous with the tourists and locals, likely thanks to the boss’ social grace. Service is snappy fast, even on crowded time as no employees are allowed to slacken. The main branch in Penampang is where the boss operates and God, he is always so kind to students by discounting the total. So head to Penampang o my fellow students for a cheaper meal and better service as compared to AsiaCity area (which was rather a drag compared to the other).

Basic meal on banana leaf consists of rice with tons of vegetable, vege dhal, curry, ressam and the Sabah tea the tarik which you can replenish as many times as you can possibly eat. Along with this, you may order whatever side dishes you wish to complement the meal and whenever a waiter passes by with a tray of fried fish nuggets take the opportunity to chomp in a piece (and be charged extra RM2.00 later, don’t say I didn’t warn you).

Indian Food: Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant

Status: Serve no pork.

Venue/landmark: AsiaCity, ground floor (G49, Asia City Complex, Asia City, Kota Kinabalu).

Time open – close:

Reservation:Available

Contact no.: 60 88 227969 , 484969

Website: http://www.anjapparborneo.com (An excellent reference)

Basic RM per meal: RM 10.00 (w/o tax)

A great place that serves Northern and Southern Indian cuisine on banana leaf. Not too spicy mind you so have a go at it. The atmosphere is very Indian, thanks to the music and deco featuring all the Indian stuccos decking up the wall, with the fusion of sleek Western furnish. They have extremely friendly manager and waiters explaining the menu through and through and with the expertise to recommend you the best out of the spread to suit your taste. Service is pleasantly good and the waiting for the food is worth it. Much recommended that the cuisines are enjoyed by using your own hands bared from the fork and spoon or you can never truly enjoy Indian food through this metal barrier (When you go to India, do as the Indian, or so to speak to match this article).

1. Aloo Paratha

Wheat bread stuffed with potato (aloo=potato). Pretty nice though I wish they are more generous with the potato. A nice combination would be with Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer or Mushroom Manchurian. Small portion (or is it just me?).

2. Cheese Naan

I think, being high class or slightly higher class doesn’t make your food taste any better than mamak’s. I still preferred Scenario’s with the dripping cheese instead of a scanty layer. But I suppose this is a healthier option. The taste and texture passed well, the cheese ample enough to tease your taste bud. Not very filling, the portion is too small for me (shrug).

3. Naan

The naan is fluffy and soft, served hot in its basket. Tore off a piece to dip into the Butter Chicken gravy before popping it into your mouth (I’m a Butter Chicken nuts, shrug). The sides are done nicely without being over – browned to let you enjoy some crispiness within the softness. Small portion (again…).

4. Chetinnad Chicken/lamb biriyani

I took the chicken one for dinner, and man it’s quite filling. They give you the thali bowl overflowed with rice with succulent chicken pieces and an egg embedded within to be upturned on your plate (the waiter was kind enough to do this for me to prevent a mess on the floor). To enjoy it to the max, please abandon your fork and spoon and mess your fingers scrapping the last piece of onion in mayo they provide along with the set. The mayo onion kind of compliment the spiced meal with a cooling effect (or maybe because it itself is cold, ^_^) with each mouthful. (Drink plenty of plain water after you’re done by the way. It helps. Finish off with a glass of mango lassi. Then you’re cool.)

5. Butter Chicken

Oh, my favourite dish. Creamy butter – and – tomato based gravy with succulent chicken pieces, a wonderful accompaniment for your bread. I kinda not like it with rice since the combined textures and taste don’t seem to agree with my palate. Non – spicy and non – greasy as the name may imply.

6. Chicken Korma
”Chicken cooked in a mild sauce of cream, yoghurt and cashew nuts.”

That was how it was described on their website. I quote since I’m not very sure of the Indian version of korma. So they use yogurt. Ok. No wonder I feel like the gravy texture is heavier. But it’s still nice, taken to accompany the banana leaf meal. Like curry but without the yellow / orange colour, non – spicy, a hint of sweetness and spice.

7. Anjappar Banana Leaf Regular Meal
Rice served on banana leaf, acoompanied with assorted gravies and vegetables, and rasam. Standard basic meal in any Indian eatery. The rice will be presented to you in a steel bowl and you can scoop out the amount you want onto your banana leaf. Very practical since there’s not much space left from the vegetables and gravy miniature bowls.

8. Palak Paneer

This dish consists of cottage cheese chunks in creamy spinach gravy. The cheese gives off a salty taste to compliment the tangy spinach taste of the gravy. I usually polish it off with plain or garlic naan.

9. Gobi / Mushroom Manchurian

Well, the menu describe it as something like an Indian version of Chinese cooking. That time I ordered the mushroom version instead of potato, and was presented with mushroom cooked with various spice to produce tangy, non – spicy dish that burst with flavor in your mouth. At first I intended to have it with my rice but we ended up polishing it off on its own.

10. Mango lassi

Claimed to be one of the best in town, it did not disappoint me with the sweet – sour flavor from the blended tropical flavor and fresh yogurt, served chilled.

11. Papaya lassi

There were times when mangoes are out of season so to replace their mango lassi, another tropical concoction is produced. If you like papaya, you will like this. It really reminds me of papaya yogurt; the thick texture and papaya taste, more sour than sweet. A change.