Sunday, December 08, 2024

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

Been wanting to visit Bijan (No.3, Jalan Ceylon, Bukit Ceylon, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2031 3575) for years. 

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

It's finally happened. 21 years after they have opened. 😂 I've encountered a description of their food as 'Malay fine dining'. While I'm ambivalent with that label, I don't think that's far from what they are. Food's good quality and a good representation of what an aspect of Malay cuisine can be.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, masak lemak udang tempoyak

Masak lemak udang tempoyakTempoyak is a spiced fermented durian sauce/paste. First time having them and said sauce had an interesting tangy durian flavour and a velvety texture. Detected kaffir lime leaf in it. Loads of prawns and onions in fermented durian sauce. Found this intriguing as a new flavour.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, kambing bakar

We had grilled lamb which was accompanied by a variety of sambals and pickles. Not bad tasting meat that had the smokiness from the grill. The latter accompaniments were great with white rice. Which we did also order.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, ayam masak kuzi

This was ayam masak kuzi. Chunks of chicken in a creamy tomato based sauce with bits of almond and raisins. Tasted like butter chicken.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, pucuk paku goreng tahi minyak

Pucuk paku goreng tahi minyak - stir fried fiddlehead ferns in chilli and caramelized coconut. And prawns. Nice. Another one which was good with rice. The ferns were savoury with a layer of sweetness from the coconut.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, nasi minyak

Tried their nasi minyak out of curiosity. The name translates into "oil rice" which essentially means flavoured rice. I couldn't tell what spices/oil were in it but it's not bad tasting. Even better when paired with the sweet fruit relish or the sour achar on the side. 

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, chocolate durian cake
Bijan Bar & Restaurant, chocolate durian cake

Wanted to know if their durian cake was good. It wasn't bad tasting but neither was it unforgettable. I don't know what kind of durian was it but it wasn't mao shan wang. 😂 Guess that varietal doesn't fall into the "traditional" category. So while we were definitely getting plenty of durian between chocolate cake, it wasn't the "premium" bittersweet grade of fruit which I was hoping for. Even though I had already suspected from the start it wouldn't be those. Now we know. 

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, coconut coffee

A coconut coffee to end. Not bad this one.

Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur
Bijan Bar & Restaurant, Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur

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