RSMY Best Cheese Naan, Jalan Medan Tuanku, Kuala Lumpur

 

I never knew that cheese naan was a thing in KL until recently. There're even a few listicles just for top cheese naan so we came to try RSMY Best Cheese Naan (11&13, Jalan Medan Tuanku, Medan Tuanku, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2697 0700) which was mentioned the most often and was probably as good as any as a starting point. 

Menu as of end 2024. Sometime in November.

Got a bandung soda. It's milky with rose flavour but not enough fizz. Also very sweet.

Here's a cheese naan with extra cheese. These guys were pretty serious with the mozzarella stuffing. Lots of cheese pull and more than a couple of "chew well or you'll choke in cheese" moments. This one was a lot more cheesy than the one at Al-Ameen. I kinda like it for it's simplicity but surfeit creeps up fast for these things.

Sides like their spicy beef keema helps break the monotony of the naan. I like this for the coarse mince and the warmth from the spices. And the egg.

I've read numerous complains about them charging for dal. This stuff was decent tasting and well spiced. In retrospect, I thought it made sense to charge for a serving when requested for instead of giving them away for free when many people will probably not even touch it.

Nutella cheese fries from Friend Fries

Sauced with Nutella and cheese. Shop's along Bukit Bintang. They were pretty generous with the Nutella. The piping hot fries were mostly well coated in chocolate.

Donkai, The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur

Seeing the name of the shop made me vocalise a certain Ichigo Kurosaki's iconic constipated two syllable trigger in my head. 😂 Anyways, we were here because the hamburg looked and smelled good when we passed by the shop (C.90.0, Level Concourse, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Wilayah Persekutuan, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 3-2110 5653).

Basically, what one can get here is hamburg(s) that comes with free flow of vegetables, miso soup and rice. There's the usual additional toppings and sides which could be added on. Tried a couple of their hamburgs. One was stated as just Angus and the other was Japanese wagyu. The wagyu in this case was better for the intrinsic flavour of the meat. 

Their truffle sauce tasted like cream of mushroom. It's not bad actually.

Oh yeah, tamago too. I wasn't sure if it was meant to be a dip for the hamburg or for making my own tamago kake gohan but I used it on the rice. 👍🏼

Bunga Raya Shake from Shake Shack Malaysia

At least as of this post, the only Shake Shack in Malaysia is at TRX (Lot PL.11.0, Level 3, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur). Took us a while to navigate the place to find it. It wasn't so difficult once you've figured out where exactly it is.

Only here for one thing - which is the Bunga Raya Shake. The exclusive flavour for Malaysia that's...somewhat based on their national flower, the hibiscus.

According to the description, the shake's dragonfruit with vanilla and hibiscus jelly. Generic flavour profile was coconut. If I had to venture a blind taste, I'd think it was coconut. There seemed to be a lot of it. Only other flavour that stood out was the hibiscus. It was at least better than the Singapore exclusive. Why so? We managed to finish this.

Village Park Restaurant, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya

Have heard plenty about Village Park (5 Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, tel : +60 12-273 8438) and how their nasi lemak have inspired a small legion of....nasi lemak people. Since we weren't that far away, I wanted to scratch that itch and understand it for myself. Seeing that they're an institution and all. 

The rice was pretty good. I like it. Will not wait in line for more than say 10 minutes for it though. Without getting into a pseudo dissertation, what made them stand above many was their willingness to adequately salt their rice which was well infused with santan. Sufficient coconut milk infusion isn't so uncommon but I notice that many local renditions tend to do skimp on the salt

Sambal's onion-y and well flavoured with dried anchovy/ikan bilis. I like it. Their ayam berempah was an outstanding rendition which was heavy on the turmeric. Skin was crispy yet light. Meat was tender, moist and easily removed from the bone. Nicely done.

Got a cup of their "our special white coffee". Not bad tasting actually.

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. 

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.

Masak lemak udang tempoyak. Tempoyak 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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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. 

A coconut coffee to end. Not bad this one.