Malay Food. Almost a staple diet for me. Spicy and filled with a myriad of flavours and undoubtedly inspired by other cooking styles of the region, not to mention also by the other races that make up this interesting cultural hodge podge known as Malaysia.
My ex-housemates dropped by from Seremban for a visit. Having heard about Bijan, I have been wanting to go there for a long time. The restaurant was very tastefully decorated and housed in a bungalow on Ceylon Hill. The dining ambiance was superb with a lot of traditional artifacts being used imaginatively throughout the restaurant to give it a rustic feel.
Ordered Pegedil (left) and Fried Chicken Wings (right) as starters. The pegedil tasted almost "western" as I could detect hints fo butter/dairy, which is a little bit too weird for me. Chicken wings were oily and salty. Bad start.
The Ikan Keli Goreng Berlada (top) was fragrant fresh. But the Catfish was limpid and soft. Not crunchy at all. It needed a lot of Viagra. The lada tumis was also too bland. Chicken curry with Jackfruit (bottom) needed more flavours too. It was bland.
River Prawns Curry. Large, fresh water prawns. Humongous. Must have been fed on steroids or something. But at RM75, it had better be good. Unfortunately it was uninspiringly adequate, but not out of this world fantastic.
Kerabu Pucuk Paku. A tad too salty, but otherwise OK. Dinner for 3 of us came up to RM 215 after taxes, which is pretty reasonable considering the total package. The service was excellent and friendly.
But I had such high expectations from this place, after reading so many flogs raving about it. The food was only OK, and watered down, perhaps to cater for their sizable Mat Salleh clientele. We decided not to order desserts and went back home for some Teuscher instead. If anybody has been to Ibonda, please let me know how the grub there fares.
