nasi lemak komplit

not quite what i had in mind for a hearty breakfast but in jakarta, you get what you ask for.
have been stationed in the indonesian capital for a bit and had a couple of friends who came over for a visit at my current digs last week and they were hankering for a breakfast fit for champions.
since i didn't have much in the apartment, including coffee for the caffeine-addicted-visitors, we headed out towards the one-year-old grand indonesia shopping centre - spanking new and grandiose with tonnes of stuff - just minutes from where we were.
ie. the empty apartment.
we went to the food court in the lower ground floor next to the food hall supermarket and the meal du jour for them was of course mie goreng jawa and sop buntut. and of course coffee.
i decided that the nasi lemak komplit looked temptingly delicious and ordered one.
plus a cup of steaming hot toraja coffee. toraja is a mountainous district in the celebes highland. fact of the matter, coffee is endemic to indonesia, hence the term a cup of java just like its a cup of joe.
back to the nasi lemak komplit, it came complete with banana leaf as its base together with the fried scrawny chicken that seems standard in most indonesian dishes. the sambal came separate and while not spicy, had a crunchiness of spices and ginger reflecting the possible use of a mortar and pestle rather than the ubiquitous blender.
there was the usual complement of anchovies, nuts and strips of egg omelette that adorned the nasi lemak which wasn't that lemak.
having said that, it was a pretty decent nasi lemak and was more than complete for the entire day. something that has to be tried and tasted.
the coffee? it was great.

tipple in timor timur

not exactly on the beaten path but east timor was where i found myself tasting the basics that make an excellent meal.
after all, nobody ever says for a good meal, head to east timor. but there is a treasure trove there - the fusion of portuguese culinary tradition with the freshest bounty from the sea and exotic spices from the land. and the lovely sea breeze.
off i went to east timor, which is the english translation of its name in tetum - timor lorosae (which means timor where the sun rises) or in portuguese - timor leste, and of course, in bahasa indonesia - timor timur.
so there i was, with a couple of colleagues, at bali's ngurah rai airport in denpasar and wondering what to bring to east timor's capital dili. it wasn't really a pleasure trip, and even as i blog (does one ever write these days) i am still in a dalliance in dili.
still, work is always a pleasure. and a bit of plonk adds to the pleasure. always.
went for the bottle of port at the duty-free outlet in ngurah rai airport. it was taylor's late bottled vintage port 2000. it was the oldest grape juice we could find in the airport as everything else was produced 2003 onwards.
we opened the bottle a few days after settling into life in dili where the shops stayed shuttered and one had to pay a fortune for dodgy food in the hotel and the lone indian shop that was opened - a cup of rasam was going for us$1.50. daylight robbery man!
none in the crew, save me, had had port. so it started absolutely sweet for them until a second generous helping got them in the spirit of things.
the deep-hued blackish purple wine slipped in smoothly with a strong kick, like a prize-winning thoroughbred that it will end up to be in the years to come. one could sense the bouquet of ripe raspberries, blueberries and plum in this lovely port.
it tasted fresh and felt textured, giving a warm cosy feeling that beckoned one to sleep and dream of the stars that twinkle above east timor.
have to say, we finished the bottle in three days. nice.
days later, when some shopkeepers tentatively opened despite the ever present fear of violence that has shrouded the city, we had our taste of good timorese coffee and the sweetest tart that could rival the port.
timorese coffee is basically a mild arabica that is acknowledged as organically grown. well, it is a bit far from anywhere and fertilisers are hard to come by. with its reputation, the tiny nation has been exporting tonnes of it to coffee chains around the world.
one of the chains that use timorese coffee is the portuguese coffee producer delta cafes and its coffee is the one mainly brewed and drunk in the cafes of dili. a wonderful bitter black cuppa, especially the espresso. makes one tingle and feel most alive as the caffeine zaps and zips through the grey matter, making it a bun dia or good day throughout.
and to add the touch of paradise, one has to match the coffee with the absolutely heavenly portuguese tarts or rather pasteis de natas from the city cafe in downtown dili.
the simplest of egg tarts with flaky pastry and more than a hint of cinnamon in it, the tart melts in the mouth and the sweetness slathers around, combining perfectly with the coffee.
been having it frequently but the tarts are sold out within hours and its a lucky person who gets it first.
there are the rare portuguese seafood restaurants that opened during my stay but was too hungry to snap photographs. just follow your sense if you are ever in east timor and if all else fails, just go for the coffee and tarts.
and yes, a bottle of port if possible.

good food ipoh

if there is anything that can be said about ipoh, its that it has arguably the best chinese, and to a certain extent even south indian, cuisine in malaysia.
the the one-time world tin-mining capital and now just perak's capital city is really the secret food capital, attracting foodies and those looking for a cold one to its various restaurants and stalls in well-ordered food courts around its speck of territory in the kinta valley.
ipoh's hor fun - not to be confused with its euphemistically-named health centres that dot jalan yang kalsom - is one of the ipoh dishes that has found fame all over the world. its just flat rice noodles in soup with fish balls and some vegetables that goes well with cut chillies in soy sauce.
how about ipoh's hor hee, which is a laugh to pronounce but a treat to eat. its fishballs and fishcakes wrapped in a wrinkly skin made of processed fish flesh in soup.
we couldn't get enough of this soupy dish during a trip to ipoh on the first day of the recent chinese lunar new year celebrations. visits to a couple of friends' homes ended up with all of us frequenting the stalls along the road to the sam tet school.
and what else to round up a great evening of partying in ipoh? it was a tough choice between ice-cold bottled beers - they sell them like it was going out of fashion - and ipoh white coffee.
i opted for the ipoh white coffee in a guinness glass filled with ice.
the coffee was a treat, sweet, caramelly and creamy with a hint of butter in it.
definitely the best way to end the night in ipoh.

great dining at the cungdinh

fresh and spicy was the order of the day at a friend's birthday dinner this week. so off we went to explore and discover the best that kuala lumpur could offer.
and weeks after grousing about bad thai food, we ended up at its neighbour in one bangsar - cungdinh vietnam restaurant. funnily enough, both cuisines are geographical neighbours too.
one bangsar - located along jalan ara in bangsar - comprises a variety of restaurants with bangsar seafood garden as its anchor tenant. cungdinh vietnam would be the fourth outlet i had eaten in that row of restaurants.
the menu at cungdinh vietnam was pretty comprehensive and after some recommendations, we ordered some starters, a main meal and some noodles to share.
the first dish, rice cakes with prawn floss in special vietnam sauce, was a cracker. six saucers of steamed thin rice cakes with spicy prawn floss and some croutons were soaked with sauce and cut chillies for an astounding sensation.
it was a deft and simple sauce, slice, spoon and slurp experience. absolutely extremely and highly recommended
we then tried some spring rolls which somehow didn't really do the trick though it came stuck on a hollowed-out pinenapple with a tea candle inside.
nice to look and nice to eat but not exceptional.
still, the experience spiked to a new high with the tiger prawns grilled in chilli salt with special sauce arrived at our table.
well, first off - all the sauces were pretty special, i can attest to that. and quite spicy too.
the prawns were an absolute treat as we licked the chilli salt and crunched and munched the grilled shell and meat with occasional dips in the sauce.
wonderful would be the only way of describing the dish. the prawns were just right, spicy and salty and absolutely heavenly.
and then, fresh and spicy took a delicious twist with the hue pho - pho is vietnamese for beef noodles - that we shared as a finale.
rice noodles, slices of beef with sprigs of mint and some bean sprouts with a dash of lime juice in a spicy soup helped to assuage our hunger and clear our nostrils.
another special sauce added the extra spiciness that only some wasabi could match.
some vietnamese drip coffee with milk ended the wonderful dinner for me, complementing the slices of sugar-frosted ginger that came at the end of dinner.
the coffee was quite nice but i had had better coffee in vietnam and also in another vietnamese restaurant - saonam in tengkat tongshin. now that is one fine restaurant with a branch opening soon in the hartamas shopping centre.
but that is a report for another day.

kallianees - kerala cuisine in kuala lumpur

there has been a number of indian restaurants opening in kuala lumpur of late, particularly in bangsar and the business district. here's one of them with many more to visit and catalogue.
kalliannees at 16, lorong yap kwan seng is just down the road from the suria klcc shopping centre down jalan yap kwan seng, past the kampung pandan restaurant on the left and next to the jaguar showroom. the double-storey restaurant has a balcony and grounds with a view of the 88-storey petronas twin towers.
kalliannees, which opened for business in early april 2005, prides itself on serving authentic kerala food, the famed cuisine from the west coast state in india. several young chefs from kerala handle the kitchen and the results are pretty good, if the simple dinner i had was anything to go by.
a plate of deep fried fat anchovies started the dinner, quickly followed by plates of sizzling kallianees special prawns - a recommendation from the manager as it was not on the menu. the prawns were superb - a spicy marinade combining with the sweet prawns that made the mound of rice flatten out quite quickly.
a plate of spicy mutton and sauteed okra together with one of the best raitha - onions and cucumbers with green chillies in yoghurt - rounded off an excellent dinner.
the dishes are slightly pricey but the food was worth it.
pity that the beverages were not too good. all the waiters - dressed in traditional cream jippas - had to offer was instant coffee and standard draught and bottled beer.
not really the way to end a good dinner near the giant banyan tree complete with its stone and water feature, watching the petronas twin towers illuminate the night sky.
the consolation is a small corkage for either wine or liquor brought into the house. let's hope they improve and serve some quality beverages soon.
call +603 2161 0616 for reservations. kallianees is open between 11.30am and midnight everyday with limited parking space. major credit cards are accepted.