Wednesday June 24, 2009
Food
Warung food at warung prices... and it�s in a mall!
By Eu Hooi Khaw
JUNE 20 � Sitting at the new Warung in the MidValley Megamall brings on a wave of nostalgia. The zinc-aluminium covered tables, the wooden benches and stools are all part of the kampung ambience that Sue Ong has put together for this �stall� that sells anything from coffee, kaya toast and roti canai to mee rebus, nasi lemak, and even Ramli burgers. I told her we used to have a round table covered with zinc at home, and which was great for making mee koo (a Chinese red bun), and cookies.
Sue pointed out the older stools, and two benches she had rescued from her father�s sawmill in Taiping. �They used to lay wood across them for cutting,� she said of the benches. Six old jars came from a neighbour�s house (we used to store rice in one of these), and the pretty �warung� plates she got from Kelantan near the Thai border.
Sue laughed as we both recalled how those little ladles at her warung were used to pour red and brown syrup over the iceballs we used to enjoy.
Sue was helping her son Bryan to achieve his dream of a food business. It looks like his and his mum�s efforts are paying off. There are regulars who can�t seem to get enough of the food and drinks here, sitting in a bright and cool, not hot and sweaty warung, and enjoying their meal at warung prices.
We helped ourselves to the kuih from the woven trays and I drank Muar coffee (freshly ground every day) while waiting for our kaya toast. The serimuka was especially good: a thick, creamy pandan layer over santan-flavoured glutinous rice. I also liked the banana kuih that tasted like a bread pudding. The kuih is from well-known Malay kuih maker in Ampang Village.
The kaya toast was thin and crispy, with a thin slice of butter and kaya on top. The kaya had the right sweetness, aroma and consistency. That was for starters. (Enough to know that the toast is just RM2.50, iced coffee RM2.60).
Fried Chicken is very popular here, fried expertly and a la minute by someone who spent 18 years in KFC. The light and fluffy roti canai is served with a tasty dhal curry (RM2) but you can also have it with the hot and fragrant chicken rendang. I had this chicken with the Nasi Lemak that had also fried ikan bilis, a sweet sambal and a fried egg on top. Overall it�s a nasi lemak to come back for, and at only RM6.90.
I nibbled on some Fruit Rojak which had a rather sweet sauce, but is obviously liked by many.
I absolutely loved the Mee Rebus, made to a recipe from food consultant Rohani Jelani. The yellow noodles were in a delicious gravy blended with sweet potatoes. It�s a thin gravy with the hotness of dried chillies coming through, and fresh turmeric, coriander and shallots. Small chunks of potato and prawn fritters, fried beancurd and egg are in the Mee Rebus which has such a superfine quality about it, that you would want to drink the gravy up.
Rohani�s personal touch is also in the Curry Mee which I will try on my next visit. The Soto Ayam is done to a recipe supplied by another of Sue�s friends.
It was the first time I had a Ramli Burger and I must say it tasted good: chicken patty with egg and cheese. It was surprisingly light, not greasy. There�s been a conscious effort to reduce the oil and grease in the cooking of most of the food here.
If you�ve never had a Three-layer Tea, here�s the place to have it. It�s got gula Melaka at the bottom, evaporated milk and tea. I feared that it would be very sweet, but it wasn�t. Everything was well-balanced. The fragrance of the tea came through and blended superbly with the milk and gula Melaka. No wonder tea wins over coffee at this Warung.
It�s early days yet for the Warung, which intends to have Nasi Tumpang as one of its specialties. It�s one layer ayam terutup at the top, one layer rice with cucumber and egg, and serunding at the bottom. Note that the serunding is from Kelantan.
The Warung is located on the first floor of the North Court of Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur, towards the Jusco side. It opens at 8.30am for breakfast of eggs, kaya toast, French toast, coffee, tea or Milo Warung Special that has a lot of the Milo powder on top.
Thank you Eu Hooi Khaw for the lovely write up.
The original article can be found here.
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