[Note: The establishments visited have, very often, a far greater range of dishes on their menu than we could possibly sample. This, then, is a selection of what they have to offer and our opinion of it.]
In a day of intense busy-ness, we decided to go out for a quick, and late, lunch.
Just for a change there was a general decision made to try a new-ish restaurant in Taman Melawati called ‘Sari Ratu Restaurant’.
This place specialises in ‘nasi padang’ and so the expectation was that there would be a variety of Indonesian foods available.
Given that we were quite late—around 1600hrs, in entering the restaurant there was a further expectation that the choices may now be rather limited.
Yes—there was Indonesian food available and no—there seemed to be no reduction in the choices.
We tried quite a selection:
Ikan Danau (crispy)—these are tiny fish that would, in Britain, be called whitebait but not so oily.
Nila bakar—barbecued tilapia.
Gulai daging cincang—curried beef.
Pergedil—like meat patties but vegetable.
Telur gulai—egg curry
Sayur campur—mixed vegetables
Nasi puteh—white rice
To start with the small fishes were delightful even if they were a little on the dry side for my taste. Nevertheless they were good and plentiful accompanied by some chilis and green beans (kacang panjang).
The barbecued tilapia was excellent, a fine flavour and simply done without recourse to any ‘extras’ or flavourings.
A wonderful curried beef. The small chunks of beef were partly spoiled by being a bit gristly but that is often the case here, we find. The kuah (gravy) was delicious and had a hint of coconut in there.
Similarly, the egg curry was a very tasty boiled egg sliced in half and immersed in gravy that had a suggestion of lemon grass that blended beautifully with the egg.
The mixed vegetables were primarily ‘white carrot’ (parsnip) and green beans in a light sauce.
Finally—the pergerdil. Magic. This must be the best pergerdil I have tasted here in Malaysia. It was out of this world and made the whole, wonderful, meal a delight.
Perhaps I should also add that the kicap and chili sauce to accompany the tilapia was also of the highest quality.
We shall go again.
The price?
A little more than you might expect but worth every penny. We did have, as you see, quite an extensive selection so individually it was good value.
Location?
On the main street that goes through the middle of Taman Melawati; it is almost next door to another splendid restaurant called “Mohd Chan Abdullah” that specialises in Chinese food for Muslims.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restoran-Sari-Ratu-Taman-Melawati/717697811699391?fref=ts
