Lining Up for Nasi Kandar Beratoq

this year, we have very limited time in malaysia, and yet – and yet – penang is still a must-go place, top of our list. why? it’s mr. khairul’s mothership. it’s the home of the nasi kandar.

of course, heading the list are nasi kandaq line clear, or nasi kandaq beratoq. or both. on the same day. hey, i’m just a victim here. mr. khairul is the nasi kandaq nut!

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, prawn or squid and okra (lady fingers). nasi kandar is seen on most tamil muslim or "malaysian mamak" restaurants and indian-muslim stall meals.

a mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. this is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice. - wikipedia

 

 

it was so unfortunate that my beloved nasi kandaq-freak missed the ‘festival nasi kandar’ by a day! the festival was set-up near kapitan kelin mosque, penang. countless nasi kandar restaurant from all over penang set up tents along the closed-up road, offering so many varieties of nasi kandar dishes.

it was so weird. they started on thursday through friday, weekdays – why can’t they just drag the festival through weekend as well? sure lagi ramai orang datang, especially out-of-town-ers like us.

hmm. making way for a little ‘cleaning’ campaign, perhaps?

 

 

nways, when we went, there were only empty tents left by the companies. saki-baki je. there was loud music under one of the bigger tents, with traditional indian music, adding the festive mood for these nasi kandar fans.

 

the l----oo---ooooo------g line (my sis-in-law tina in white with my boys; mr. khairul in black T)

 

nasi kandar beratur. or nasik kandaq beratoq, however you wish to say it, you still need to queue up for this infamous dish that has been around since 1943. read about our first experience here.

the line has spilled into the main street, but the crowd was still holding on. hey, when they came here, they know what they’re in for, and so did mr. khairul. it meant a long hour of waiting around, standing up, in a long stretching line, just for a plate of nasi kandaq.

i still don’t get it!

 

bored kiddos

 

we were so tired of waiting for the nasi kandaq that i didn’t even bother to snap pictures of our plates!

 

 

pros and cons of lining up at nasi kandaq beratoq :

THE GOOD…

1. you get to savor the taste of delicious nasi kandar that you waited so long for
2. because it took you SO long, you appreciate it more
3. the restaurant get to charge you for the many, many, many glasses of iced tea that you ordered while waiting for your friend who is lining up
4. there are not many seats, but there are always enough for everyone who comes because by the time you get your plate of nasi kandar, the group of people who are lining up ahead of you have already left their table – so there’s no waiting around for seats

 

…AND THE BAD…

1. what seemed a LIFETIME of lining up, just for a few minutes of eating! beraturnya bukan main lama, makannye kejap aje!
2. the long wait in line made people too restless to enjoy their plate of nasi kandar
3. it’s never fun to eat when you’re tired standing too long in line – cranky eater – not good!
4. for us out-of-town-ers, the excitement of travelling all this way to eat nasi kandaq slowly diminished by the time we get to the end of the line – dah tak excited dah sebab lama sangat menunggu!

 

on that note, i would like to thank my sisters-in-law teh and tina for standing by in the long queue while i sit at the table minding the boys. thanks! and for mr. khairul, lining up for exactly ONE hour and TEN minutes that night is nothing when it means he got this one food he’s ever wanted since we left the dubai airport…

hope it was worth the wait!

Nasi Kandar @ City Moon, Karama

yes, nasi kandar has finally arrived in dubai!

i’m married to a penang boy, who’s naturally, a nasi kandaq-freak. everytime we’re back to malaysia, penang is definitely in the must-visit list. imagine going the rest of the year without his fix? but not any more with city moon’s new offerings – nasi kandar dishes and lauk every friday!

jom!

 

 

 

city moon is situated in karama, very near the indonesian restaurant, betawi. (click here for my review on betawi) the premise is rather small, able to fit only 4-5 tables of 3 people each. however, it’s clean and presentable, while the staff are courteous and always ready to wait on you. oh, and they can speak reasonably good bahasa malaysia too! coolness!

rase la sekejap macam makan kat restoran mamak malaysia!

 

 

 

we’ve heard about this place having nasi kandar every friday, but that day was our first time. i expected a decent crowd, or at least a long line of hungry malaysians melepas rindu for their beloved nasi kandar after friday prayers, but the place was empty except one table of three. and only after we’ve taken our food came 3-4 more people.

oh well, good for us then!

 

 

a small counter at the end of the restaurant housed all the lauk; and they’re all delightfully familiar. there’s the must-have ayam goreng (fried chicken), the mandatory kari kepala ikan (fish head curry), there’s the unmistakable sight of ayam madu, kurma ayam, daging merah and acar timun; plus a host of other tantalizing curries.

all the usual dishes that accompanies a nice hot steamed white rice.

 

  

 

* * *

 

 

i must say that the plate above was way too neat to be a plate of a penang nasi-kandaq freak boy! there seemed to be too little curry visible, and the edges of the plate was too clean! haha.

the lauk was delicious; ayam goreng was spiced well, and the meat was very tender – but by mr. khairul’s verdict, the steamed rice was poorly made. too hard. spoiled the whole experience.

the vegetable dish of lady’s finger was particularly tasty. i ageed. sedap, lembut, cukup rasa!

 

 

i opted for nasi tomato, because i simply LOVE nasi tomato! and when the server asked, “nasi putih? nasi tomato ade---“ i immediately jumped into the sentence, “..nasi tomato ade?! ok nasi tomato!” hihi. of course i partnered it with ayam madu (honey chicken) on the side – because i don’t like my rice to be too soggy with the amount of gravy that i don’t need – yes, my system!

when i ate a spoonful, i thought to myself – city moon must have a problem with their rice cooker! because my rice was a bit on the hard side too! it’s not THAT hard that it’s inedible, but i wish it could be softer and fluffier.

the ayam madu was delicious – sweet savoury, all in the right amount. the acar timun was not bad at all. though i wish the rice would be softer, i basically had a decent meal of a dish that i love. it’s all good!

 

 

all in all, the nasi tomato wasn’t up to my mark, but i would go again to try other lauk. maybe kurma or their nasi lemak the next time around?

by the way, i think it’s named ‘city moon’ because it originally wanted the name ‘si timun’ kot? hihi. lagi catchy kan?

Nasi Kandar in Dubai?

believe it!

 

nasi kandaq in dubai!

 

the self-confessed kandaq-freak mr. khairul was clearly the happiest to have nasi kandar for dinner in dubai. he was savagely enjoying his plate of nasi kandar, and in a few blinks, everything was gone from his plate. and this is in the comfort of our home in dubai marina.

me? let’s just say i still don’t get what’s all the fuss about! kari? kari is kari la. apenya yang baguih sangat nasi kandaq tu! hihi.

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, prawn or squid and okra (lady fingers). nasi kandar is seen on most tamil muslim or "malaysian mamak" restaurants and indian-muslim stall meals.

a mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. this is called 'banjir' (flooding) and imparts a diverse taste to the rice. ~wikipedia

 

the happy penang boy enjoying his plate

 

where the heck did that nasi kandar come from? a newly opened mamak nasi kandar corner in dubai marina? has his prayer been answered? hihi.

to malaysians staying in dubai, don’t get too excited yet.

actually, mr. khairul’s mom, his younger brother and family just arrived for cuti-cuti dubai. upon my sis-in-law’s request, they had actually brought along neatly packed curries and nasi kandar dishes from their favorite restaurant in puchong. like, for real!

 

my sis-in-law teh (also the happiest little clam to get nasi kandaq since she’ll be going back to egypt soon insyaAllah), mr. khairul’s younger bro angah and my mom-in-law

 

it’s no ‘line clear’, or ‘nasi kandaq beratoq’, but from an equally established ‘brand’ of nasi kandar – ZNK, or ‘zainol nasi kandar’. this is also mr. khairul’s favorite nasi kandar haunt, apart from the two restaurant i mentioned previously.

we usually go to the one in pj – which is the first ever branch. this one in puchong is a branch ran by the original owner; mr. zainol himself! the one in pj is now manned by his children. if you want good nasi kandar in the klang valley, with taste closer to penang, try ZNK (attention to ica! hihi). read about my review of ZNK here.

i’ve heard of malaysians ‘smuggling’ in durian to dubai from malaysia, but nasi kandar? this is a first!

my mother-in-law were sniffing the curries to make sure they survived the 6-hour flight – and they’re still okay! as she heated it up, the lovely smell of kari nasi kandaq filled our dubai home.

unbelievable!

 

there’s the must-have gulai ikan (fish curry)…

 

…along with the fish curry’s perfect partner – the thick gravy of daging masak hitam…

 

 

..complemented by the crunchy crispy ayam goreng kunyit berempah!

 

 

oh, and don’t forget the telur mata! lagi lembik lagi kaw! – btw, ini masak kat rumah ok. kalo ni pun nak import dari malaysia tu malampau la kan haha.

 

tada! mr. khairul’s plate!

 

actually this plate was very mild compared to what it’s supposed to be – hot steamed rice, checked! kari mamak, checked! but the rice should be more soggy, soaked in thick curry. it’s also compulsory for the rim of the plate to be comot with smudges of poured curry! pinggan nasi kandaq nih kemas sangat ni! hihi.

sigh. if it were mine, the gravy would be much, much less – and on the side!

anyway, mr. khairul even saved the curry for lunch the next day. yes, that’s how sayang he is with the kari nasi kandaq! thanks a bunch to my mom-in-law for flying in the dishes all the way from a humble little restaurant in puchong.

thanks!

Ayam Goreng Zainul Nasi Kandar @ PJ

man, i’m not totally out of malaysia, am i? sigh. the truth is, i just can’t let the memory go! hihi. this time, my mind wanders off to one of mr. khairul’s favorite nasi kandar haunt in PJ – ‘zainul nasi kandar’. yes, this is also from the mind of that nasi kandar freak i married!

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!

Nasi Kandar Beratur @ Kapitan Keling

when i first heard the name of this makan place, i wanted him to repeat - especially since he was saying it in thick penang accent!

"nasi kandaq beratoq, kat masjid kapitan kelin."

say what?

the name of the coveted dish is nasi kandar beratur, or roughly translated as 'a kandar rice you have to queue for' - haha, betoi ka? is it THAT good, that people would spend hours lining up just to get a plate of steamed white rice, curry and fried chicken?

it's situated right next to the kapitan keling mosque, at one of the oldest areas in penang. you gotta go there yourself to believe it!

kapitan keling mosque

a bit of history lesson

set at a corner lot, patrons do not line up inside the restaurant. rather, an awning is placed between the restaurant outer wall, and the wall of the mosque next to it - and a small stall is where the lining up begins.

'nasi kandar beratur' only opens at 10pm, believe it or not. must have been freaking popular during the world cup season.

if you arrive earlier, you WILL see a stall of nasi kandar already operating - that's NOT the nasi kandar beratur. this 'early' nasi kandar operator will 'close-shop' right before 9.45pm, to give way to the REAL nasi kandar beratur.

we arrived at 9.15pm, and the nasi kandar freak (yes, mr. khairul who else) insisted that we wait.

tak bukak lagi!

the grill door was completely closed when we arrived and slowly opened up as the minutes passed by. we can even see containers of lauk pauk and curries set aside at a table inside the restaurant. these containers were to be placed at the stall outside.

lauk pauk

by 9.30pm, an unassuming, humble-looking indian muslim pakcik (suspected owner of the nasi kandar beratur) suggested that we start lining up. baik pakcik tu.

ha? for real? but it's only 9.30pm!

mr. khairul's parents went ahead anyway, and were the first to line up in front of the small stall beside the restaurant.

mr. khairul's parents first in line!

true enough, seconds after one man lined up behind mr. khairul's mom. then another joined in. and another, and another. soon, a good number of people formed a rather long line already, waiting for the nasi kandar.

and it's not even 9.50pm yet!

truly the nasi kandar BERATUR!

people were just lining up and waited patiently - watching the restaurant staff prepare the stall (which includes clean-up, placing of the lauk containers and plates). 10pm came, and the stall was officially open.

i was so glad we were first in line!

but imagine this - my father in law was only ONE person lining up, and even he had about 8 plates to order. how many minutes do you think it will take to pour nasi, pilih lauk, cedok kuah and so on?

imagine if at 10pm itself there were already more than 30 people lining up, and each person had about 2-5 plates to get. what time would that last person get his or her plate of nasi kandar?

gile!

mr. khairul at the stall

according to the self-confessed nasi kandar specialist prof. khairul, this is what a perfect nasi kandar dish should look like. steamed rice hidden under lump of thick curry - mixed from no less than 3 types of curry.

mr. khairul's plate

below is MY plate. this plate of nasi kandar, according to prof. khairul, is a disgrace to nasi kandar lovers such as himself.

haha. if i had my way, i had wanted the mixed curries to be put aside, or in malay term - 'kuah asing, ye!' but my idea was shunned by the nasi kandar specialist!

ish, sukatilah! hihi.

my plate

order iced milo, teh o suam or sirap - enjoy it with your 'hard-earned' plate of nasi kandar, because god knows how long you had to line up just to get a plate!

i think it's not fair for me to judge this, or any nasi kandar, as i am not a fan - but a short interview with the nasi kandar specialist aka penang boy aka mr. khairul proved that this nasi kandar is definitely worth lining up an hour for!

comparitively speaking, he said it's as good as the ultra-famous line clear nasi kandar (click here for our makan session there last year). however, the best thing about nasi kandar beratur is the telur sotong. fresh, delicious. if you want to try the best telur sotong with nasi kandar, try the one at masjid kapitan keling.

don't forget to come really early and line up!

Nasi Kandar Diff'rnt @ Bayan Lepas, Penang

mr. khairul claimed this place is NOT the real deal, so it cannot be called a nasi kandar restaurant. i like the fried chicken, and i'm not too crazy about curry - so i couldn't care less.

curries for nasi kandar is said to be good, only if the mamak MIX it, and MIX it well. if you don't mind less-than-thick curry that's not properly mixed, and love freshly fried chicken, this is the restaurant to go too.

oh, a warning : this is the first of my many story of us in penang.

* * *

we went to penang and met up with mr. khairul's family friend muhaidi aka 'tato', who has been friends with the anwar boys since forever - way back in their days of wearing dark blue shorts to penang free school. a great guy, humble and never out of smiles and a few jokes thrown in.

tato brought us to this makan place under his special recommendation. it's the 'cargas cafe' at bayan lepas. here, they aim to be different. you'll soon know what i mean.

situated at a corner lot, it sets itself apart from the other old, worn-down looking shoplots with a fresh new coat of paint, in dark brown. classy and presentable.


to find this restaurant, look for the bayan lepas police station, and a few shoplots nearby. the 'diff'rnt' spelling of the word 'different' will be your guide.

otherwise, look for jalan kolam ikan, and it'll lead you here, or a fish pond!


to mr. khairul, it's probably not the best place to have nasi kandar, but the long line of hungry penangites and tourists may prove otherwise!


in fact, when we arrived around 1.30pm, the lauk has started to finish! some curries were not available!


however, the BEST part of this restaurant was yet to come - they fried their chicken fresh, and i mean just been cedok-ed from the hot kuali!

ayam goreng

i absolutely enjoy their fried chicken. not the usual ayam goreng kunyit, this one was marinated in spices. tender meat, and juicy to the bite. excellent to go with the curry.

and i know it's bad for me, but the chicken skin was SO irresistably crunchy!

kari ikan

here's the fish curry. to a nasi kandar-freak, NOT thick enough, but to a plain curry-eater like me, this did just as well as any curry.

daging kuah hitam

oh, this one is nice as well. meat in black gravy - daging kuah hitam. i love the gravy, because i'm always a fan of any ketchup-based gravy! hihi.

if you noticed, the curries were served on separate plates, and we have to mix the gravy ourselves while pouring on our rice.

to mr. khairul the self-confessed nasi kandar specialist - that ain't right! the mamak has to do the mixing, because he's the one with the special curry-mixing-superpower.

to me, i don't mind. the curries taste good nontheless!


and to complement all the fat and meat and curry - the humble plate of stir-fried vegetable. just cut up cabbage, spinach, and carrots. simple, but went well with everything.

* * *

uncle tato with baby kazim

special thanks to tato for recommending this restaurant with the deliciously fresh-fried chicken. we apreciate the warm welcome, and hang punya service with a smile! hihi.

interesting fact : tato just had his first born, a boy. born on 1st april - yeap, same date as kazim - just a few hours earlier. haha.