Restoran Baser (a new experience with deer!)

This is one of Izham's bright ideas to get me to try something new so that I'd have something different to blog about. That's the best thing about Izham, he's always full of encouragement. "You should write more" he would say, or, "there's this ________ you need to try", or, "don't worry, I will let you know if you put on weight". Ok, well, it didn't sound so obvious in BM. But I am expecting an extra large Raya hamper from his company to make up for that last sentence.

Udang masak merah.
So sedap with the nasi goreng. A!

Baser is this really cosy place at Bandar Puteri Puchong that serves cute animals for dinner: deer! (hmm, would that be suku-sakat Bambi or the notorious kancil? I wonder). According to their website, they are quite well-known in Johor for their nasi briyani and nasi ayam. Since 1978 apparently.

Nasi goreng ayam. A+!

As a consequence of their established popularity, Izham booked us a table for iftar yesterday. And I had silently hoped we didn't get to share tables with some monotonous couple who barely spoke to each other like we did last time. Wish granted. We got our own table. That's an A+ right there already for Baser.

The bubbly waitress took our order as soon as we arrived. Izham ordered the deer briyani for me and I obligingly obliged. He had wanted me to try deer for a while now, assured me its halal, and that in real life the animal wasn't really that adorable. Then he went ahead and ordered the fried chicken rice for himself. :|

The food was good, but I thought the atmosphere at the place was great~. I am always happy to see families eating together and cute little boys standing on their chairs ready to fall off any minute as they go through their food. They seem like they're unsteady, you know, but not really. Watching them while you eat is like munching salt-free pop-corn at a horror-suspense movie. Very versatile are kids nowadays.

My deer briyani!!!

On food, the nasi briyani was nice for briyani, but if Mr Baser re-named it nasi minyak, I would say awesome. The deer tasted like really tough chicken liver to me but that's because I am inexperienced with deer, so my brain was in transient and got confused at this new protein; unlike someone I know who's had it since he was a kid because his father hunts wildlife with a rifle like the dude from National Geographic. That must have been one awesome childhood. 

All in all, it was a cool, interesting and enjoyable deer-tasting experience. And Alhamdulillah a few thousand times, for the great food we had and for the ability and opportunity to enjoy it. Izham casually mentioned landak few times throughout our conversation. That's the technique he used to get me to try deer. I hope there are no landak restaurants in Malaysia. I am sticking to fish and chicken.

This is an Izham recommended
restaurant! Two thumbs up!

Restoran Baser
Bandar Puteri Puchong, Puchong

Cleanliness: A
Food: B++ (I am new to deer, but A for the udang!)
Price: ~RM35 for two people with drinks. I would think. Thanks Izham :))
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A++ (malay style hustle and bustle, complete with police officers outside)

Ana Ikan Bakar Petai ~ terlampau menawan selera

Sheemz's stamp of approval. GO!

I am blogging on a Friday night because the ikan bakar was too good to be true.  I know for a fact that Izham sped at approx. 150 km/hour all the way from Puchong to Bangi secure in the thought that nothing in the ikan bakar category can beat his precious Ala Kassim. After the meal, however, he gracefully conceded and agreed Ana was delicious. True, Ala Kassim was great and still is, but Ana Ikan Bakar was absolutely marvelous. 5 star quality. Pure genius. Einsten. M Nasir. You get the idea.

We went there for moreh so we didn't order a lot: just one medium size kerapu ala bakar petai style. The waiter served  the drinks as we anxiously (Izham) and excitedly (me) waited for the big dish to arrive. It came wrapped in banana leaves with two sauces in little bowls on top. 

We unwrapped the dish carefully like it contained some precious metal*. This is what it looked like inside: (drum roll...)

Ta daaaa~~ (the camera got blurry out of excitement and failed to focus)

My carrot-apple kosong. And somebody's
teh tarik.

The rest is history. You have got to try it to believe it. I personally am marking my calendar right now to bring my entire army of a family for dinner here in the near future. If my sister hadn't already married, I would have booked the place for her reception. To think that the restaurant is only like 500 m away from where I live and I never even cared to review it. Thank you Ala Kassim.

I have yet to try out the other items on the menu, but for now, am just definitely pleased to order the petai dish again. Izham did casually mention one important fact though. We had sotong, prawns, a good-sized siakap and drinks at Ala Kassim for RM65. We just had fish and drinks here and the bill came out to be RM41. Which means....Ala Kassim wins in the monetary department (if we drove from Melaka that is, *cough*).. But then again, consider the fact that Bangi is this future metropolitan city with restaurants conveniently located right next to the fire station. Plus petai is expensive. So RM41 ain't bad. At all.

Believe it or not, this is the menu.

So, if you are looking for healthy, delicious food at possibly the safest location in Bangi, please go straight past Warta and make a left turn after the police station, and you, my friend, will find it. Before ending this review, I leave you with 8 final words of advice: pack a good toothbrush with extra-strength colgate. 

My kind of restaurant.

Ana Ikan Bakar

Bandar Baru Bangi, 
(exit Tol Bangi from Lebuhraya KL-Seremban. Take first left at roundabout, do first possible u-turn. Turn left after bomba)


Cleanliness: B+
Food: A++ the budu sauce was the king of all sauces.
Price: RM41 for kerapu bakar petai, 2 white rice and drinks. Thank you Izham :D
Satisfaction Level: A
Service: A
Atmosphere: A

p/s Surau and playground facilities available. Its like a little Kampung Ana Petai village.

*gold lah. Apa lagi..

Insaf: ordinary place, outstanding briyani!

My nasi briyani and chicken ayam madu.
So gorgeous.. A++

When Izham told me he wanted to take me to the best briyani place in the whole of Malaysia, I was pretty skeptical. Best briyani place? In Malaysia, really? Briyani tastes the same everywhere, and FCM has briyani that is good enough already. For me at least. And for Miza too, my personal consultant on mamak food and mamak food expert.

We arrived around 6:45 pm, the time we were told to arrive before they confiscated our table and handed it over to someone else. The restaurant was quaint, sweet and squeeky clean, and reminded me of those small cafe's in Portugal that had a big Hola signboard outside only the locals knew about. There were few people seated already looking starved. Two bored looking couples who didn't look like they knew each sat together at the next table, and it eventually dawned on me that the restauranteurs seated them randomly to save on space. Thank goodness we had our own table -- I thought, before an odd couple from Bangsar were seated beside us few minutes later. 

Apples that rock~~

Mango juice and veggie acar. A++

When the azan finally came on, the restaurant was in full-blown bustling mode. We both ordered the nasi beriyani with ayam madu, and, in the anticipation, I forgot to ask for chicken thigh and got a big chunk of chicken breast plopped onto my rice. The meal also included veggie acar, dal sauce, dates, an apple each, mineral water and mango juice. And though I was enjoying the evening I still was a bit skeptical about the whole Best-Briyani-in-Malaysia-business Izham was selling me. So I took my time munching on my apple and watched everyone dig into their food wholeheartedly. Even the couples at the next table seem to be friendlier to each other after buka. It's called briyani-breaking.

By the way, the apple was so crunchy and sweet, I would have gone to eat there if only for the apple. 

Finally, in deliberate slo-mo, I started on my briyani. And from the first mouthful, I was literally blown away~. It was so gorgeous. Better than Bangi's briyani house 3 times over, and better than FCM's by more than 7 on the Richter scale. The chicken, although breast-meat, was incredibly tender for some incomprehensible reason. I wonder what the chefs put in it. I guessed ginger, but I couldn't even taste a hint. I guess we'll never know unless I work there.

There you have it, I concur, hands in the air, you were right, the best briyani I have ever tasted, and trust me, I have tried briyani all over the united nations including Saudi, Dubai, London and New York. The uncle slipped the bill under my plate, so I knew how much our meal cost, as if he subtlety wanted me to know how grateful I should be! Alhamdulillah! And thank you Izham, for the apple.

jazakallahukhairan kasiran!

Restoran Insaf
Jalan TAR, Kuala Lumpur
(address and phone number on left)

Cleanliness: A
Food: A++
Price: RM40 complete meal for 2 people. Add RM5 for parking at the back.
Satisfaction Level: B+ I wished we didn't share tables. It was a squish and a squeeze.
Service: A - fast and friendly
Atmosphere: A. Friendly Malaysian hospitality. Like MAS. Except the waiters dressed appropriately.

Ala Kassim!! (best ikan bakar in Malaysia--for now)

There's the ikan, and the squid and the udang, and the nasi lemak :)

I guess I have extended my hunting territory beyond Cyberjaya, Kajang and Bangi because in this post I am going to cover Melaka. To warm up for the big review, you know how in the movies, the deliriously sensitive guy sweeps the middle-class girl of her feet and takes her for a day trip to another city for dinner--in a private jet--to some high-rise restaurant with a view of the entire city on a starlit night? Well this is a supremely washed-and-ironed-down version of that movie. It was a trip to the state next door for ikan bakar, who according to my business partner is the best ikan bakar in the whole of Malaysia (that's bold and italic right there for emphasis)... and worth the 2 hour-commute one-way in a road vehicle, in the rain. Yes, that's how special the ikan bakar is.

Sotong goreng.  My favourite! A+

Udang panggang. Nice and fresh.

We arrived right before maghrib to this row of open-air restaurants, somewhere in the middle of Melaka, supposedly by the sea or river (though I couldn't see it). The raw seafood is on display on a table near the front, fish-market style and you get to pick which one you wanted. We got a fish, some squid and a basket of prawns.

Nasi lemak paling sedap di Malaysia, kalah
nasi lemak Antarabangsa..

So here's how the grilled fish is eaten. They load a basket of small nasi lemaks onto the table in front of you and you can eat however much you want with your seafood. The rice, I must say was simply delicious. The sambal in the rice was awesome too, though you can barely taste it, it was so sikit. The sauce for the fish was kicap with cili's and onions. And the fish was simply cooked but heavenly ---I forgot all about the rice when I had it and ate it on its own. But it could also be that I was really hungry from the very long jet ride.

For now, I will say this is the best ikan bakar in the whole of Malaysia, until I try that glamorous Ana Ikan Bakar one in Bangi first for comparison purposes. The place did crowed up a bit after dark and the atmosphere was friendly and Melaka-ish, possibly because the main topic of our conversation was mostly Hang Jebat and Hang Tuah and who was guilty of treason. Will possibly come back again, try the restaurant next door  insya'Allah, and perhaps discuss a more interesting subject matter during dinner. :P 

Ala Kassim

Medan Ikan Bakar Alai, Melaka

Cleanliness: C (forget the surau in the compound, use the masjid)

Price:  I wouldn't know. Around ~RM60 I guess. Thank you Izham :)

Satisfaction Level: A++ (the fish was just right with the nasi lemak)

Service: A (fast and friendly) 

Atmosphere: B+