[Ramadhan Buffet Review] M Cafe by Meesha Sukira @ Plaza Damansara

Price Range: Mid-range

Cuisine: Malay

Cat-phobia Friendly?: Yes

Pork-Free

Oh yes, it’s that time of the year already! With Ramadhan just around the corner, so begins our buka puasa reviews to ease your meal-planning this June =) A big thank you to Food Ink for introducing this cozy little café to us!

Nasi Beringin @ Menara Mutiara Bangsar

Price Range: Budget

Cuisine: Malay

Recommended For: Nasi campur for the indecisive

Catphobia-Friendly?: Oh yes! 

We never knew such a famed eatery lies hidden in the second-floor food court of Menara Mutiara Bangsar! Lucky for us, we had Malaysia's top food expert to shed light on this hidden delight =) 

Thank you MTS for the awesome suggestion! 

Call for Nominations: Time Out KL Food Awards 2013

It's that time of the year again! 

Yes, Raya is indeed around the corner, but we're referring to another exciting event that's also got us pumped: the Time Out KL Food Awards! 

The awards, which honour the best of the best food finds in the city, are all the more exciting due to the fact that the nominees are all voted by the public! What better way to get to know the best restaurants in town than through the eyes of its seasoned dwellers? Plus, the shortlisted restaurants make an awesome makan-makan to-do list! Here's last year's list for your reference. 

Nominations are now open until 31st August 2013, so head on over to the voting page and enlighten Kuala Lumpur on your favourite food haunts! Categories this year include Best Cheap Eats, Best Healthy Eats, Best Place for Coffee, Best New Restaurant and many more. (We had a hard time picking just one favourite restaurant for each category, traipsing from one insanely scrumptious memory to another, but pulled through somehow). 

Happy voting! =) 

Ikan Patin Masak Tempoyak @ Restoran Sri TTDI, Shah Alam

Price Range : Budget 

Cuisine : Malay (Nasi Campur) 

Recommended For : An Omega 3-loaded lunch 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Not at all  

A few weekends back, a mild craving for ikan patin was a good enough excuse for us to up and leave to Temerloh for lunch. Having a chronic craving for the fatty freshwater fish on a weekday like today, however, it seems Temerloh is hardly an option.

‘Cahaya Ramadan’ Buffet @ Riverside Restaurant, PWTC

Price Range : Mid-range  

Cuisine : Malaysian       

Recommended For : A good variety of authentic Malaysian flavours   

Catphobia-Friendly? : Yes

It’s that time of the year again. With Ramadhan just about to knock on our doors, along comes one of the favourite Malaysian things of the fasting month: Ramadhan buffets.

Restoran ZZ Sup Tulang @ Jalan Petri, Johor Bahru

Price Range : Budget

Cuisine : Malay (Johorean)

Recommended For : A sampling of one of Johor’s greatest culinary treasures

Catphobia-Friendly? : No. If you’re afraid of cats, better to sit at shacks with chairs rather than at the shacks where you have to sit cross-legged on the floor

Mee rebus tulang is synonymous with the southern state of Johor, and we took advantage of our quick stop in JB by sampling a bowl (or two). Yes, you can find places that sell mee rebus tulang in KL, but nothing comes close to what we had at Restoran ZZ Sup Tulang.

Ikan Bakar Din @ Kepala Batas, Seberang Perai

Price Range : Budget

Cuisine : Malay

Recommended For : Diet off-days

Catphobia-Friendly? : Not really (there are always a few fish-craving cats on standby)

If you’ve got a hankering for some ikan bakar and you happen to be in Seberang Perai, we only have three words for you: IKAN BAKAR DIN! To be completely honest though, it’s worth going to even if you’re all the way in Kuala Lumpur and just felt like having some good, succulent grilled fish (not necessarily practical, but not necessarily illogical either. Well...in our books, anyway! =P).

Angsana Risoles @ Kelana Jaya

Price Range : Budget

Cuisine : Malay (Snacks)

Recommended For : Sinful treats to be tapau-ed back to the office for teatime

Catphobia-Friendly? : It actually is!

It seems that every time we lunch at Kuay Teow Auntie Gemuk, somehow or other we will end up at Angsana Risoles, somehow or other we will be returning to the car with a heaving brown bag full of piping hot risoles, and somehow or other the brown bag is emptied much too quickly. It’s as if we’ve fallen under a spell… of risoles?

Ramadhan Buffet @ Bora Asmara, Sungai Penchala

Price Range : Mid-range

Cuisine : Malay

Recommended For : A family gathering

Catphobia-Friendly? : Relatively. There’s a cat that makes a subdued appearance occasionally

We went to Bora Asmara with lowered expectations, what with the warnings from many a diners telling us that the food really isn’t that great and the place is highly overrated. While we value their concerns, we decided to give their buffet a try anyways. Admittedly, their food is not the best Malay spread we have ever had, but we did have an enjoyable meal nonetheless!

Thai Base @ Bandar Sri Damansara

Price Range : Mid-range 

Cuisine : Asian & Western 
Recommended For : A generally awesome meal 
Catphobia-Friendly? : Pretty much 


Thai Base. Sounds pretty offbeat for a restaurant, doesn't it? Which was why we were pretty sceptical when we were told to check this place out. We thank you, Azad, for introducing us to this unlikely, but now surely, favourite (we were so happy with this place, we actually came back again the next night for dinner).

On to the foods!

Nasi Ayam Garing @ Batu 8, Jalan Gombak

Price Range : Budget 

Cuisine : Malay 
Recommended For : A cheap pit-stop on the way back from Genting
Catphobia-Friendly? : Nooooooooo! *cowers in fear*


Yep, going to Genting may be fun. From roller coaster rides, to snowball fights, to breathtaking theatrics, it seems like the fun never ends in this city in the sky. But one thing that really gets on our nerves about this place is how overpriced the food can be! As a consolation to all the cash that will inevitably be spent here, we highly recommend having a budget yet yummy dinner on the way back! 

Daging Goreng Telur @ Abdullah Hukum Food Court

Price Range : Budget 

Cuisine : Malay 

Recommended For : Mid-month lunches 

Catphobia-Friendly? : Nope! 

The blissfully awesome thing about living in Malaysia is that there is always something good to eat irregardless of whatever budget you have. Sure, an RM88++ buffet dinner will leave a heavy smile on your face, but if you've got less than RM8 in your pocket, you can still leave an eatery just as equally satisfied. The only challenge is to know all these great budget places to go to. Lucky for us, we were introduced to one of the city's most subtly brilliant eatery by Abang Hazri (and for that, we thank you! =D ) 

So, if you have yourself a strict food budget to adhere to, head to the Abdullah Hukum Food Court and look for a stall called Hasbee Tom Yam and Seafood. Scanning through their black-and-ochre menu display, you'd probably be all: soup and tomyam... okay... padprik dishes... uh-huh... goreng-goreng stuff... nothing new... menu special: Daging Goreng Telur... Wait, what? 

Medan Ikan Bakar @ Jalan Bellamy

Price Range	Budget
Type of Cuisine	Malay (Grilled seafood)
Recommended For	As the title suggests, a good plate (or two!) of ikan bakar!
Catphobia-Friendly	Not surprisingly, there are WAY too many jumpy cats around

When talking about ikan bakar in KL, the first place that undoubtedly comes to mind is Jalan Bellamy. Super crowded at lunch time, this place is so popular with the KL working crowd that many have admitted to leaving the office way before lunchtime just to eat at this place (which is actually a smart move, considering the fact that if you reach the place later than 12pm, you can join the looooong queue of waiting for an empty table).

Ikan Bakar Tip Top @ Medan Selera Sg Chat, Johor Bahru

Budget Range	Mid-range
Type of Cuisine	Seafood
Recommended For	One of the best ikan bakars in the country
Catphobia-Friendly	There’s nothing cat-free about seafood places

As with most of the eateries we’d ambushed in JB, this place came highly recommended for food seekers. We were told that Tip Top is THE place to go for the best seafood dishes in the southern city, and our experience there did not disappoint!

Kacang Pool @ Plaza Larkin Food Court, Johor Bahru

Budget Range	Budget
Type of Cuisine	Malay (Johorean)
Recommended For	A satisfying snack
Catphobia-Friendly	Cats lounging around the food court will send terror tremors to those who fear them

  

Kacang pool lovers rejoice! If you are in Johor Bahru and craving for a mangkuk of the good stuff , it just HAS to be at Kacang Pool Haji. For those who may not be very familiar with this dish, kacang pool is a type of stew made with foul beans (also known as fava beans). 

Hajjah Mona Asam Pedas @ Taman Kota Laksamana, Melaka

Price Range	Budget
Type of Cuisine	Malay
Recommended For	You, if you’re looking for the best asam pedas in Melaka
Catphobia-Friendly	Noooo! =(

Among the many, MANY must-try foods of Melaka, asam pedas remains (for us, at least) the one most sought after, yet the most elusive of all. We are really quite the cerewet when it comes to asam pedas (we minorly griped about this in this post), and the spicy and sour balance has to be just right.

Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sg Duyung @ Melaka

Price Range	Budget
Type of Cuisine	Malay
Recommended For	Those in the mood for some good seafood
Catphobia-Friendly	Not at all =(

A few years back when we first wanted to try this place out, we Googled it and barely anything relevant came up. Now, type ‘Ikan Bakar Muara Sg Duyong’ and there’s at least 10 blogs giving detailed accounts of their foodventures here! Their rapidly-increasing popularity is most probably due their back-to-basic success recipe: crazy good food at a crazy cheap price! We were hooked the first time we ate here 2 years ago, and have never missed coming back here every time we make a trip down to Malacca!

The moment you sit, these will arrive on your table:

You could ask for nasi putih to eat with your lauk, but we always go for the nasi lemak bungkus =)

Mimpi Muor @ Mutiara Damansara

Price Range	: Mid-range
Type of Cuisine	: Malay (Johorean)
Recommended For	: Assam pedas-ers
Catphobia-Friendly	: Yep, no cats!

Assam pedas is truly one of the greatest Malay dishes ever created. It’s amazing what wonders a combination of tamarind, belacan and chilli in a pot can do! Add the daun kesum and you’ve got yourself a heavenly fragrant accompaniment to your rice =)

Finding the perfect assam pedas, however, was quite a daunting task. We’ve come across a lot of places where the gravy is too cair, and there are even some places that make us wonder how they could call it assam pedas if the gravy is neither sour OR spicy! (More accurately, they often taste like water, except that it’s red and has lacklustre bits of daun kesum floating around in it).

Enter Mimpi Muor! The restaurant, tucked away in the relatively quieter side of Mutiara Damansara, specialises in assam pedas. You can choose from four huge belanga of assam pedas, depending on your fish preference: pari, jenahak, merah, and fish head.