Curry Leaf, Damansara Utama

In a dilemma...I write this post.  I feel that more folks should be dining here but yet would like to keep this place to myself. But good things must be shared, so share I must!  I am a fan of nasi briyani and when bro took me here sometime back, I had wondered why I had not made a visit to Curry Leaf before when it was so near to me all this time.  You know what they say...sometimes the very thing that you are looking for is the one thing you can't see! That's how I felt about Curry Leaf.  Just before this, I was telling my brother about the mediocre nasi briyani I had from a shop in Bangsar, where one was charged at a higher price if you were to sit in the air-conditioned section! The Nasi Briyani with Honey Chicken was about RM12.50 and yes, it was mediocre...yet people throng that place daily.

And here I was again, on a Sunday ... having my Briyani Mutton rice in the quiet Curry Leaf. A simple looking restaurant but with great food. This is a branch from the original restaurant located in Seremban and I'm glad they came to Damansara Uptown.  I only wished I knew about Curry Leaf sooner, I could have had more and better briyani rice!  Hahaha.... Anyway, there were about six tables taken but there were still ample empty tables.  I really can't understand why there weren't more customers.  My bro had his banana leaf rice while I gave my usual order.  I like to usually order a small plate of my vegetables - cabbage to go with my rice.

I love the aromatic spices they put in to stir fry the cabbage.  A great accompaniment for the briyani rice!

The lovely briyani rice comes in a little metal pot.  But don't scoff at that little pot as it holds a big serving actually. If one is really hungry, it will be no problem to finish it off but those with small appetite can probably share one, though I figure the best would be for 3 pax to share two pots of these.  There are several briyani variants; you have plain, egg, chicken, mutton, squid... It is served with some yogurt raita on the side.  Each rice grain is flavourful and the mutton is tender and cooked spot on! All this at a reasonable price of RM9! No more briyani elsewhere (for now...until I find one better!)! People oh people? Where are you oh people on a Sunday afternoon like this? Oooh, the pics here are taken with my new HTC One M8 by the way, I'm loving it!

Haji Shariff's Cendol, Seremban

It's been a while, slightly more than a 2 month break from updating this blog of mine.  I decided to make an attempt at resuscitating this blog...hahaha...Having blogged about the cendol I had in Port Dickson back in my post dated August 21, this reminded me of one of my visits to Haji Shariff's Cendol in Seremban in one of my day trips around Malaysia.

Cendol is big business here! Occupying a corner shoplot, business runs at a fast and furious pace...especially on a hot day!

The group of us ordered a few different varieties of cendol and of course...rojak too! Our orders were sent to our table at a rather fast and furious pace too though the place was packed.

Good old conventional plain cendol @ RM1.30 a bowl (USD 0.40) which came out rather...err...plain when compared with ...

Cendol Kacang and Jagung (Red Bean and Corn) goes for RM1.70 (USD 0.50).  My favourite order whenever I have cendol. There is simply more to munch and enjoy when compared to a plain cendol

Friday Quick Bites - Indian Rojak @ Nasi Kandar Pelita SS2, Petaling Jaya

(HALAL) 24 HOURS

Ahh....Friday is here again and the year draws closer to an end.  So much to do, so little time - so much to eat, so little tummy space :o).

Today's highlight for Friday's Quick Bites series is one my fave places for Indian Rojak.  Nasi Kandar Pelita is a place I drop by often for my teh tarik fix and Indian Rojak (daytime or night time).   Sorry, I'm not really a fan of Nasi Kandar though, here or anywhere else for that matter :o)

Grand City Restaurant @ Sec 11, Petaling Jaya

I really haven't been to this area in Petaling Jaya for quite a while...about 10 years, I would say. When Constance suggested that we did our casual team meeting over breakfast at Grand City in Section 11, I was keen to revisit the area...and now, Grand City has become a favourite of mine for tea time snacks. I'm not so keen on the rest of their food but if I can, I would drop by here for breakfast and tea time (3pm onwards) as only then are certain food items available. What do I keep coming back for?

Sweet Appam made by a cute auntie! (Pardon the green tone in the pics due to the green canopy)

Going through the motion...

Brekkie @ Raju's, Off Jalan Gasing Petaling Jaya

Raju Restaurant has always been one of my favourite places to go to for breakfast and even the occasional tea time break. I guess I'm just taken in by the fact that I get to eat out in the open and under the big trees, love the ambiance here (folks from Ipoh might be able to relate better to the feel as to one having Yong Liew under the Big Tree Foot (Dai Shu Geok). Well, there are other worthy reasons too .... (even if the food are priced higher than others).

Great Scott! It's a giant Thosai!!!! Wait a minute....it's a smiling giant Thosai. It's a friendly giant Thosai and it's welcoming us to eat its friends (with the welcome sign strategically placed.... Hahaha). Actually, I always had this funny thought. I never fully comprehend why certain establishments/eateries would want to choose such things as their mascots e.g. Remember KFC had Superchook? Superchook sold out on its own kind and encourage humans to eat chicken! Hahaha....Hmmm....what other famous mascots sold out its own kind? At least A&W has a cute jolly bear and McDonald's has Ronald.

Raju's also a great place to bring your friends who are visiting from out of town/country! The staff here is really quite use to having their photos taken and some would even volunteer to pose for you and are ever ready to show off their skills in front of the camera.

See the big smile? I wondered what I had said to him. Looks like he was trying to "give me five" while making this roti bawang. Just love the imprint of his hand on the dough in this shot!

Raju's Roti Canai with Naan 'N' Curry in SFO

Glorious Jade had packed 20 pieces of Roti Canai (flat bread) from Raju's in Petaling Jaya for my sis. After freezing them and then wrapping them up, the Raju's flat bread was transported to San Francisco, tucked away in my luggage.

When we decided to have a batch of them for dinner, Mrs Pitt said that she'll go to Naan 'N' Curry to get the curry gravy to go with the roti canais.

The well traveled Roti Canais from Raju's back home

We also had Chicken Breast Tandoori (USD4.99) which was tender and had a nice smoky flavour

This is my Mrs Pitt's favourite....Garbanzo Beans Curry (Chana Masala) -USD5.50

Taj Curry House, Subang

After a seminar in Sheraton Subang, the group of us were hungry and decided to just head across to the shops right opposite the hotel. It was already 9 plus and we decided to have a meal at Taj Curry House. They have two sections; non-air conditioned and the other with or one can choose to dine al fresco style. We ordered a Naan each and 2 Chicken Tandoori to be shared by the four of us.

I think this is my first time seeing the naan being baked in a one of this metal "oven" exterior (clay on the inside). I have only come across the ones which are totally made of clay prior to this place.

The garlic naan that I ordered was nice. It was soft, fluffy and had just the right amount of garlic bits to spice things up ;o).

When we first took a bite into one of the Chicken Tandoori pieces, we were pleasantly surprised that it tasted so yummy. The meat was tender, well marinated and it had the smoky flavour to it. So much so, the four of us ordered another round of Chicken Tandoori.

Eversince then, if we're not at Kafe Bawang Merah, we'll be here at Taj Curry House...eating our Naans and Chicken Tandoori :o).

Taj Curry House
11 Jalan SS12/1B (opposite Sheraton Subang)
47500 Subang Jaya

Tel : 03-5633 0574

Garlic is as good as ten mothers - Indian quote

Mantra, Restaurant & Bar - Sunway Pyramid

Lyn and I met up with Czar in Sunway Pyramid for lunch. We wanted to hear about her trip to NZ recently and thus, looked for somewhere quiet to chat. However, most of the restaurants located on the skating rink side usually didn't have that many patrons. We ended up at Mantra on Level 6 as Czar said that the food there was quite good.

Mantra's speciality is their Northern Indian cuisine, though they also have Thai food. The chefs are from India and Thailand we were told. The place was nice and pleasant , quiet enough for us(more so since we had an early lunch). The cascading water on the wall at one side created an ambiance. However, there isn't any chanting in the background but pop music being played. That somehow created a bit of disharmony. Ha ha ha....
The three of us decided to go for the Northern Indian cuisine. Lyn had an order of Garlic Naan (RM4) to go with her Chicken Malai Tikka (RM15.90) which according to the menu are boneless cubes of chicken steeped in a marinade of royal cumin enriched cream. There's also cheddar and a hint of fresh coriander. The meat is glazed in the tandoor.

The garlic naan was lovely, not too thick. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The Chicken Malai Tikka was tasty. If one is not a meat eater, it may be a little too much meat. Would be good to share.

I opted for Lamb Thali (RM15.90) which is a special Indian meal set. It consists of lamb curry, rassam soup, dhal, two vegetables, masala, papadam - all served on a banana leaf on a round tray.

The dhal was delicious and the two vegetables were potatoes and peas and the other container was a mixture of diced vegetables. The rassam was good too. The lamb curry was great and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

Czar went for the more conventional Chicken Briyani Set (RM16.90). The Briyani rice was very nice, the best I've tasted. The curry gravy was again lovely. The chicken came buried under the rice and the only gripe Czar had was that it was a tad too small and had more bone than meat.
Other than that, we thoroughly enjoyed the food here and would come back here again when we want something different rather than eating at the mamak. It was a leisurely lunch and indeed a welcome treat.

WMW's mantra : This food is good for me, this food is good for my body. I will not put on weight eating this food.