Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian dish, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side dishes such as fried chicken, curried spleen, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dish would usually be brinjal (aubergine), okra (lady fingers or "bendi") or bitter gourd. A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. This is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice.
~ wikipedia
arguably, the best nasi kandar in petaling jaya, if not the whole klang valley. some go far as to say, forget about the commercialized kayu or pelita – here, you get the real deal of what nasi kandar is all about.
according to one blogger, this is some sort of ‘relief’ to homesick penangites working in klang valley, because the curries here are as good as the ones in penang!
it’s situated in jalan sultan, petaling jaya.
look for amcorp mall, the classic a&w diner, as well as shah’s village. you’ll see a yellow-blue color building that looks like a parking lot. that’s the one! actually, it IS a parking lot – MBPJ car park complex.
the food court is on the ground floor, and zainul nasi kandar will be on the right as you enter.
the yellow-blue building; and the ample parking spaces along the road
as soon as you enter, you’ll see a long queue of people. be patient, and just enjoy the smell of freshly-fried ayam goreng and tantalizing curries while you wait your turn!
from the pictures, you can see that it’s not a proper restaurant – rather, it has a food court slash warong-like setting. the makan stalls on opposites sides, and the tables and chairs arranged in the middle.
i don’t mind eating at a place with warong setting – plastic chairs, worn-out wooden table, basic cement and tile flooring with cats twirling its tail around your leg. as long as it’s clean, it’s alright with me.
however, i do mind that this place is slightly dark and too gloomy, especially for a makan place as popular as this. i feel like eating as fast as i could before i get hyperventilated from the claustrophobia! hihi.
ok, back to the food.
of course, as you line up, you can already picture the lauk in your plate, by looking at the many choices of lauk in front of you.
the curries are what zainul nasi kandar is famous for, and you can ‘flood’ your plate with that along with other side dishes like the famous ayam goreng, telur ikan or daging kicap.
for vegetables, as you can see from the picture above – is a choice between the large bowl of cabbage, or taugeh (bean sprout). take your pick!
ayam goreng!
like i stated in my many postings on nasi kandar, i am NOT a fan. but i’m married to one! hihi.
so though i cannot say much about the quality of the curries, one factor will keep me coming back to zainul nasi kandar, and that is the fried chicken. fried ON THE SPOT in the small kitchen at the back of the stall, the chicken really is freshly fried and still sizzles as it sits on your plate!
pick your preferred parts of the chicken and the akak will just chop ‘em up to little pieces for you.
okay, okay – i know that a REAL plate of nasi kandar must be ‘flooded’ with curry – but i like my curry to be on the side, please! i’ll take a little spoonful at a time! so that’s MY plate of curry up there, but remember this is not a common sight at zainul nasi kandar!
the curry is of course, a mix of a few curries – typical of nasi kandar – and they all have distinct taste that when they collide, it’s really is a killer curry, fit for nasi kandar freaks like mr. khairul.
but to me, curry is curry lah. yang ni pedas, tapi sedap! tu je yang aku bole komen! hihi.
a BASIC plate will give you steamed white rice, curry. fried chicken and cabbage or taugeh. and that is enough to leave you very satisfied!
the mr. nasi kandar freak will add his favorite telur ikan to his plate.
as for me, the big ayam goreng is simply delicious. steaming hot, i especially love the crunchy bits where the spices are concentrated!
hmm. this post doesn’t make me want to fly to penang and have a plate, but i would like to apologize to my husband if this is in any way make him drool and tak tido malam!
3 comments:
Syigim, what a good post.... boleh bagi I petua later on when we move to KL and in need of a good nasi kandar....I'll be sure to check it out when we are there nanti.
ps: Ujang and I boleh geng dengan Mr K tau kalau cakap bab-bab nasi kandar & all the lovely food from penang!
thanks ica....to me, nasi kandar kayu & pelita is good enough :) tapi for the nasi kandar specialist mr. k tu, nasi kandar zainul ni je yg pass the test! hihi ;)
ps : xbley la mcm ni! nanti sapa nak gang ngan i :P
baru saja orang belanja lunch tadi. dapat pulak dah lama tak pekena. it was superb! yummy!
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