Lunch @ Big Pot In Teluk Intan, Perak

HS' Nasi Lemak Ayam Berempah

It’s a challenge to find a decent makan place (restaurant) on a Sunday afternoon in Teluk Intan, Perak! ZM, my BFF relative suggested a newly open makan place, at Giant shopping mall. So, with our growling stomach and the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan’s clock struck 2.30pm we headed to Giant. The place is simply called Big Pot, owned by Dewi  and Big Pot starts in May 2013.

Big Pot is a self service with their simple menu placed prominently on the wall with just 4 type of pricing; RM5.90 & RM4.90 for food and RM3.00 & RM2.50 for beverages. No fuss. Lunch specialty for the day is Nasi Lemak Ayam Berempah and Sup Ekor (I think). I guess, you folks could easily guess what I ordered. My BFF, HS ordered Nasi Lemak and Char Kuay Teow for ZM.

Acepaizah's NL, with extra peanuts n anchovies
less sambal

The Nasi Lemak is reasonably moist and not too creamy with the mandatory aromatic smell of a tinge of gingerly and aromatic pandan. Its accompanying sambal is not too spicy and served with lots of peanuts and anchovies. The Ayam Berempah (herbed chicken) is not spicy at all and I think there are some mixture of tandoori paste and honey too. I should ask Dewi when I ‘interviewed’ her.

ZM’s Char Kuay Teow is quite spicy to my taste bud but according to ZM, it’s reaching heaven with 3 large prawns. ZM finish them in a record time, so it must be deliciously tasty. 

ZM's Char Kuay Teow
heavenly sent, perhaps

The Nasi Lemak portion is quite small, I ordered Prawn Fried Mee less spicy. It came with 3 large prawns. For record, Teluk Intan is known as Bandar Udang Galah (Giant/Big Prawn Town!). The fried noodle is relatively moist and juicy and to my liking 100%. Oh, of course, I did not eat all by myself but shared with HS.

juicy moist Prawn fried mee
check out the BIG Majors @ Prawn

The Nasi Lemak is so-so, I’ve taste better,  but the Ayam Berempah is something else. For once, I enjoy eating them without having to counter their spiciness with my drink, hence Nasi Lemak Ayam Berempah garnered an 8 on Acepaizah’s scale. Prawn Fried Noodle definitely beats Nasi Lemak. I endowed it a classic 9. Since ZM, a Char Kuay Teow  eater loves it so much, considering her compliments, I award a 7. I washed it all with a RM3.00 Nescafe Tarik while HS and ZM a RM2.50 Iced Honey Lime beverage. 

Iced Honey Lime, Nescafe Tarik
with ice cream on the side

The ambiance is nice and clean, the food was delicious, prepared personally by Dewi, and it is really value for money at RM5.90 and RM4.90 for Nasi Lemak Berempah and Noodle dishes respectively.

Mr Prawn welcoming tourist

Dewi said, painting done by her daughter Aisyah
with all family member names encrypted thereon.

prawny prawny bite

~Acepaizah~

Little Sparrow farewell @ Rumbia Coffee House, De Palma Hotel, Ampang

juicy peppery lamb chop

My little sparrow, NN’s adventure to Kuala Lumpur, the city of lights was cut short due to circumstances beyond her control. Well as the saying, man proposes, God disposes. I was planning to have a gala time with her, exploring the city of lights through her young innocent eyes, but it was not meant to be. That being said, it was time to bid farewell, my kind of farewell of course. I choose the Rumbia Coffee House, De Palma Hotel, Ampang.

basket of cucur-s

For appetizer, we ordered from the “goreng-goreng” stall (goreng-fried) some fried snack. A combination of cucur pisang; mashed up ripe banana mixed with flour and deep fried in a wok, NN’s choice, while my choice is cucur udang; made from thick batter with some onions, chives and prawns.  Served with chili sauce.

After considering few factors, such as the heatiness effect, which I counter with the ‘all in the mind’ fact, NN ordered Lamb Chop which is accompanied by fries, broccoli, cauliflower and carrot. Black pepper sauce generously flows on the lamb chop. NN enjoyed to the last bite!

fried noodle-mamak style-yummy
wt generous beancurd n other kuihs

I had my house favorite, mee goreng mamak (fried yellow noodle, mamak style). In fact, I told NN that I should bring my sister SAH in future because she always complains that the mee mamak in the Mamak restaurant is not up to her expectation. As expected, my mee mamak is ‘dry’ but moist enough, with lots of ingredients such as bean sprouts, tomotoes, prawns, chicken and the mandatory pieces of ‘kuih’ (cucur-like cakes) which is synonyms to Mamak fried noodle.

To cap all the goodness, NN ordered the red card drink. This is not in the coffee house’s menu but we ordered from the Sport Café near the lobby. Red card drink is a combination of water melon juice and lychee. I wondered out loud, whether the Sport café also have drinks such as yellow card or penalty shot.

Over all, it was a bittersweet night out, with good food, good ambiance, and above par service.  From NN’s clean sweep plate, I believe the Lamb Chop is to her approval since she is quite a picky eater at times, so I will give it a humble 8 on Acepaizah’s scale, a 9.9 for the Mamak fried noodle, a 9 for the red card drink and an 8 for my favorite goreng-goreng snack. Service and hospitality were near perfect, and it is value for money. Of course, I am not comparing it to my usual street fare foodie places. 

red card drink

choppy teary night

~Acepaizah~

Detouring dinner @ Rumbia Restaurant off Jalan Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur

hill of buttered prawn

A night detour for a quick dinner brings myself and my companian HH at this well hidden restaurant across the big monsoon drain near Vistana Hotel, Jalan Pekeliling. Its sort of a happening place too, situated next to a budget hotel where boarders come and enjoy their dinner and being entertained by a band called "Masih Ada Yang sayang-Pop Yeh Yeh with its sparkling disco lights. HH had a 360 degrees mood change from yawning to humming th song "Lahauba...", a really evergreen Malay song. 

waiting for songbirds wannabe

chinese fried rice with chilli on the side

Back to our dinner, I ordered the simple Chinese fried rice while HH had fried noodles. The fried rice is really the authentic style with lots of shrimps, diced carrots and long beans, eggs and squid with a tinge of pleasing taste teasing my taste bud. The Singapore mee siam (fried noodles) is soft with squids and eggs and lots of crunchy bean sprouts. It is very mild and not too spicy. 

singapore mee siam-
too oily 

To add protein to our other wise carbo laden food, we both order buttered prawn and calamari. However, the buttered prawn were fried with curry leaves, thus leaving a strong smell and contradicted the buttery aroma of the butter. The calamari, is anything but calamari. It sits flat on the serving plate and might as well called it fried squids instead!

calamari

Over all, it is a nice new experience, and the Chinese fried rice really the star of the night earning a respectable 8 on Acepaizah's scale, while I give a 6 for the Buttered Prawn, for tasting "curry-ly" and for shocking me with the ultimate bill, which differs from the menu. 

la la lahaubaaaa

~Acepaizah~