The first thing you'd notice about the place is the pleasant and clean interior. The walls are plastered with dark/light brown tiles and the tables and chairs match that facade rather well. All the staff are clad in neat green uniforms while the chefs wear white chef outfits complete with aprons and high hats.
On the few occasions I was there, the service was faultless. A friendly face would approach me as soon as I find a seat. The best part about Nasi Kandar Penang however, is the (over) loaded array of offerings that ensures something for everyone. Go to the nasi section and the powerful aroma of the kari ikan is enough to make you smack your lips with glee.
In the goreng section, just about every kind of meat is available: ikan, ketam, sotong and even burung puyuh. For those who don't really have the stomach for steaming, hot curry however, there are also other conventional malay dishes like ayam masak kicap, ayam merah and sayur campur. I must warn again that the curry is as hot as it looks and on my first trip there, I failed to finish everything on my plate, since I poured too much of the hot stuff on my rice.
If you're not into rice, there's no need to worry, as the list under the mee section is quite long. I tried the mee goreng once and was duly satisfied, though it tasted like any other mee goreng mamak.
What else is there? Well, the question is, what do you want? Rojak? Of course they have it. Satay? No problem. Not only that, this is probably one of the few mamak restaurants that also serves Western food. Yup, look closely and you'll see Chicken Chop, Chicken Maryland and few others listed on the menu!
As this is Taman Tun, you can expect the kind of crowd that hangs out here. Apart from the regular Ahmads, Ah Chongs and Muthus, you'll also see pan-asian looking teenagers in Guess Jeans, Datins in tudungs and the hand phone-carrying business execs.
The best time to hang out here is dinner time, when there are tables and chairs set up on the side walk and you can actually dine alfresco, where you can best enjoy the exotic aroma and the sounds of "teh tarik satu!", with kualis clanking and all. Just the way a true mamak joint should be.
(courtesy of Live-e & M.Zulkifli)
