toddy tales

what could possibly be the malaysian national alcoholic beverage?
you know, a sort of pina colada?
after some deliberation and much tastings, some of us decided that it should be toddy - the pungent fermented sap from the flower of coconut trees with quite an unsavoury reputation but goes well with savoury food.
go figure that one out.
or rather, go find some toddy and try it.
we did, a day after merdeka and an occasion long planned among a few friends.
we made our way from kuala lumpur to shah alam where we followed a good friend to weave our way through the traffic to kapar for the second day of the merdeka makan minum madness.
and that's where we found the toddy shop, which can turn raucous when many have too much to drink.
which is quite easy as it is quite an affordable drink with a gallon costing as much as a can of beer.
we had two gallons and a whole lot of seafood from the neighbouring seafood restaurant that sort of exemplified the muhibbah malaysia - chinese food and indian drink that in a less fermented form was a malay drink called nira.
and of course, there were several servings of curried wild boar to provide the savoury for the unsavoury. apart from wild boar, the ala carte dishes that go with toddy include the wide variety of game such as monitor lizards and civet cats.
none of that was available that day!
now that is so very malaysian. and so very us in the table of seven.
back to the toddy. it was sweet but reeked with the pungency of roasted onion and garlic - like some sort of sour cream and onion chips.
but it was great and reeked - or stank - even more as it warmed and continued fermenting.
we delayed the fermentation process by chilling with ice bags in the pail.
and one of us gave up due to the smell and taste.
in true fashion, the experienced hands at the table ordered a bottle of guinness stout as a mixer for the toddy, the conventional wisdom being that both were pungent with the bitter stout cancelling the acidic toddy.
it worked.
the rains washed in and we washed away the food and toddy with a round of beers, freeing our minds and souls in a celebration of independence that marked malaysia's merdeka.
toddy, anyone? and as national drink of malaysia?
it get's my vote!

the indian invasion

there was a time when bangsar baru was a happening place of plonk, pizza, party, packs of nasi lemak and pretty late nights.
all that came to an end when the 24-hour mamak restaurants came in and sirap limau became the drink du jour, replacing sangria.
while a few places soldier on with music and mayhem, the others have closed down and in their place are a clutch of restaurants offering a wide variety - and to a certain extent a range in quality - of indian cuisine.
this indian invasion is not to be confused with the mamaks and the local chains of lotus or devi's corners (the original devi's corner in lucky garden was probably the best ever).
it started with the chettinad - which closed down years ago, with madras woodlands a few doors away and then along came d'sagar (which moved on to become sagar in one bangsar) and saravana bhavan with its all-vegetarian menu. raz-oi, which means kitchen in punjabi, was briefly the toast of the area until it was replaced by restaurant mirchi recently.
still on the scene is the anjappar, a non-veg restaurant, which is a very indian way of saying it offers meat dishes too.
d'sagar's old spot - one of my favourites - is now kashmir, all the way from penang, while its neighbour is chennai ponnusamy.
the newcomers are chutney mary's in jalan telawi 2 and just nearly opposite it is ludhiana station, which serves punjabi cuisine. chutney mary's - related to the chutneys in petaling jaya - is not to be confused with the quite famous chutney mary in london.
it was my third time in chutney mary's since they opened late 2005 and service had improved. the food was served faster now and the quality is consistent though the decor, which i can only describe as post-modern-retro-funk-gone-kablooey has its moments. its kitsch as only the subcontinent can and do make in its infinitesmal creativity.
let's just say the food is better.
we started with spiced papads - the dried lentil chips mingled with spices that exists to melt in your mouth once fried or lightly grilled over a flame. the pepper-corn papad - rolled into cones went well with the mint chutney.
the menu had the usual complement of meats and seafood, vegetables, briyanis and rotis with a good sprinkling of paneer or cottage cheese being among the main ingredients. a trip to india last year revealed the power of the paneer and since then, it has been a favourite in many a meal.
we settled on a couple of paneer kulchas or bread stuffed with cottage cheese and the pretty good hyderabadi lamb briyani, which can almost hold its own against even the garden-variety hyderabadi briyani found in any restaurant in northern india.
of course, the ones in india are just awesome and spicy with the lamb just coming off the bone after being cooked in exquisite basmati rice for hours on end. together with the yoghurt-based raita dip, this briyani is just mind-blowing or rather, gut-busting.
our table also hosted the laal maas - a lamb curry cooked in kashimiri style that was spicy as it was piquant, together with the noor-e-chaman or the saag paneer as it is commonly known in malaysia, the basic cottage cheese with spinach that has been mashed beyond recognition.
definitely better than it looked and it combined well with the raita, the cottage cheese's mild sharpness offset by the spinach and rounded off by the onion-chilli yoghurt raita.
a fish dish helped to round off the meal, namely the rasabari macchi or a rather fresh dory cooked with vegetables and pungent spices that added the zing to the briyani.
the servings are rather small for the price but well worth it for the taste.
now on to the rest of the indian invaders in bangsar baru.
and elsewhere.

war of the roses

enough of wine, women and song after last night. well, almost enough...
it was the war of the roses, not between the house of york and the house of lancaster in the 15the century but between jacob's creek's sparkling rose and shiraz rose.
i know, i know - i have written at length about both wines but this time, the wines were matched with a variety of cuisine that is best called a food safari.
the safari was at the aptly named floor called feast at the starhill gallery, the new foodie complex in the centre of kuala lumpur.
the evening began with some 30 of us trooping in to sentildo tapas, owned by angie hiew - who also owns that great restaurant called flamenco and managed d'vine, both in plaza damansara, kuala lumpur.
the starter was a tapas that had marinated oysters, scallops in paprika sauce, grilled prawns and some salmon with toasted bread, more than wonderfully complimented by the jacob's creek sparkling rose.
it was just simply and absolutely a wonderful marriage of a fresh citrusy and subtly sweet sparkling rose with the range of seafood tapas.
all too soon, we had to quit our tables and walk single-file through starhill gallery's feast floor to the next restaurant - vansh, surprisingly indian - what else but an indian fine dining restaurant.
indian cuisine in kuala lumpur has been pretty indifferent of late, something which i found out after a recent trip to new delhi and discovered an amazing array of indian cuisine that would thrash the best that malaysian chefs can conjure.
but vansh vanquished any doubts with an excellent assortment of samosa, a fish cutlet, sundried tomato on bread and an indian-style nacho accompanied by a mint raita, chilli chutney and a mixed fruit yoghurt.
the shiraz rose evenly matched the range of indian dishes, except for the fish cutlet which somehow diluted the wine's complex favours.
having said that, this indian restaurant looks like a winner.
all too soon, it was time to quit vansh for the next course. the safari toured the feast floor and ended up at koryo-won korean restaurant for some famous barbecue and the ubiquitous kimchi.
let's just say that kimchi and the shiraz rose did not go together. then again, not much can match kimchi except for some korean soju. now that's another story altogether.
koryo won did not disappoint with splendidly barbecued lamb, beef and chicken in a sweet sauce. the barbecued lamb was the killer dish that danced with the shiraz rose.
the beef was slightly tough, the chicken nice and a bonus with some cuttle fish to add to the range available.
the evening, and the war of the roses was coming to an end as we ended up again at sentildo tapas for dessert.
jacob's creek chief winemaker philip laffer joined my table for dessert. we said something about getting to stop meeting this way but his face lit up when he saw the dessert combination that would make whoopee with his sparkling rose.
the dessert was the original sin.
chef angie hiew outdid herself with her dessert of four - tiramisu, chocolate mousse, snow white (cream cheese on a biscuit base) and profiteroles.
all went well with the sparkling rose except understandably for the chocolate mousse.
enough already. the war of the rose ended with the sparkling rose clearly outdoing the shiraz rose.
and angie hiew rose - pun intended - to receive the best wine matchmaker prize as her sentildo tapas cuisine more than ably matched the sparkling rose though vansh and koryo-won had their moments with the shiraz rose.

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.