Buzzing with FOOD

 This place hardly needs any introduction. Anyone who craves for some authentic banana leaf cuisine will surely be reminded of Passions of Kerala Restaurant. They have a branch in Brown Garden, this one in Service Road (off Burmah Road) and the latest new outlet at New World Park.

Of the 3 branches, I prefer the environment and setting in Service Road. It still maintains its old pre-war house charm (unlike the spanking new cafe concept in New World Park) and is considerably very clean (Brown Garden’s branch is a little worn out, hence looking less appealing). There’s air-conditioning in here too, although the restaurant doors are left open.

Some spices crucial in Indian cooking. No spice no Indian food, as they say.

Menu

Prices differ from branch to branch. The one in New World Park is more expensive.

All the portion and serving shown in the menu are meant for one to two pax.

How can I go to an Indian restaurant without ordering my favourite mango lassi (RM 4.50)

Banana leaf being laid out.

The vegetarian set (RM 5.00) includes five types of dishes - chilli beansprout, pickled mango, mayo salad, papadam and one more which I cant recall.

If 2 pieces of papadam is not enough, you can order a basket but it cost RM 1.00, not FOC.

One serving of McNairs fried chicken. This taste great as it was well marinated with spices but not spicy. The only setback was that one piece of chicken was a little uncooked in the center part, near the bones. Other than that, it’s a winner.

Fried ladies fingers. I was trying to get others to agree to order the fried bitter gourd but they were not as adventurous and opted for ladies fingers. Not over-fried and very crunchy. This can be gone in minutes since it’s a nice dish to munch on while waiting for other dishes to be served. Same goes with the fried squid  (sotong). I guess I was too busy eating and hence forgot to snap a photo of that dish. But it was as crunchy as the ladies fingers and didn’t taste "rubbery".

Mutton masala is richly cooked in their special masala sauce. It was very tender and goes very well with rice.

Curry fish with ladies fingers. The never-fail curry version with ikan bawal. Not very spicy for me but others might think otherwise.

Chicken masala. Isn’t this table full of "masalah"?? Haha, no it’s not the masalah (problem) but masala. This dish is very flavourful and has a thick gravy coating the chicken. Their combination of spices is just right. You won’t feel like there’s too strong taste of one certain spice, which can contribute to the downfall of a dish.

Fish curry, chicken curry and dhall all united to drown the rice and other side dishes on the banana leaf. You can request to have more or less gravy, depending on your stlye of eating. Me, I prefer my rice wet, so more gravy please!!!

Price list.

Thank you to the guest whom we brought here to eat. It was suppose to be my treat, since I’m the one bringing the guest out for dinner, but I was a minute too late in grabbing the bill.

Contact:

40, Service Road (Burmah Square),
10050, Penang
Tel:04-229 2570

Map:

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Annalakshmi is an international chain of vegetarian restaurants operating in a unique concept of "Eat to your heart’s content, Pay what your heart feels". It is a Non-profit organization.

Eating is considered a sacred ritual everyday in everybody’s life as the prayer goes — “thank you for today’s bread”. Anna means food and Lakshmi is the presiding deity. Hence the food served is “Prasad” - a sanctified offering. Any food or drink prepared lovingly, selflessly is delicious and nourishing, not because of its recipe and rich ingredients, but because of the spirit of self-less.

It has a branch in Perth called as Annalakshmi on the swan, located on the Swan River.

read more here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact:

Annalakshmi Vegetarian Restaurant

a.k.a The Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia

 1, Babington Avenue, Georgetown,
10300, Penang

Tel: 04-2288 575

http://www.annalakshmi.org

 

Others:
Payment is purely on donation basis (Pay as you wish)

Business Hours:

11.30am onwards - Lunch
6.30pm onwards - Dinner

(Monday to Sunday)

GPS:

5°23.460′ N   100°16.726′ E

Map:

This is an invited review at Karaikudi Restaurant, located at Market Street, in Little India. (What/Where is Karaikudi, here’s the history)

I personally was excited to have a chance to try out this restaurant, courtesy of PenangTuaPui’s invitation and of course the restaurant’s marketeer. I have not heard of this restaurant earlier and although I do pass by that area occasionally, I never really laid my eyes on this outlet.

Very nice and pleasant interior

"Chettinad Cuisine At Its Best" is the restaurant’s theme!

First up came the Mango Lassi @ RM 4 per glass.

It is very smooth and fresh, and yet not too sour. A real deal for this one. Don’t miss ordering it.

Vegetable Soup @ RM 3 per bowl. Very mild and simple soup. Contains cauliflower, carrots and long beans.

Bitter Gourd Chips @ RM 6 per basket. Very thinly sliced and lightly battered, retaining it’s freshness while giving a crunchy taste. The dried chilli and curry leaves are deep-fried together in the hot oil to release the aroma into the bitter gourd.

Deep-fried Squid @ RM 8. This dish is has a very beautiful color.The squid is not over-fried and the lime added a zest to this crispy dish.

Chicken cutlet @ RM 6. This nugget-look-alike taste good. The meat is very well marinated and grinded finely. The added curry leaves brings another level of taste to this humble dish.

A close-up shot of the above

Ladies Finger Pepper Fry @ RM 7 per bowl.

My favourite dish of the night. Don’t be fooled by the simple presentation and look of this dish. Once you’ve tasted it, you will yearn for more, just like us. We had to order a second helping!! The black pepper really went well with the ladies fingers. A very special and fragrant dish. This is the first time I tried this combination of pound black pepper stir-fried with ladies finger and a thumbs up from me. Best eaten while it’s hot from the wok.

Chettinad Potato Masala @ RM 6 per bowl. A potato dish with some carrots and lots of onions. Not spicy and goes well with rice. The potato was a little hard though.

Mutton Chukka Varuval @ RM 18 per bowl. Diced mutton saute with chettinad spices. I only took a small bite and tried to know the taste. The meat is tender but the gravy is quite spicy. There’s a lot of dried chillies and curry leaves inside. But from the responses, it’s a very good dish for those who enjoys mutton!

Egg Podimass @ RM 4 per bowl. It’s scrambled egg with onions, salt and pepper. A very simple dish.

Kadai Vegetable @ RM 9 per bowl. Another of my favourite of the night. The spices all add up perfectly and brings this simple dish to a great and strong spice taste. The gravy is very thick and the aroma is lovely. Thumbs up!!

Chicken Kothu Paratha @ RM 9 per plate. This dish is quite interesting. It is something like the roti goreng I had at mamak stalls in KL. The paratha is teared off into bits and fried with chicken meat.

Kashmiri Naan @ RM 6. This naan is topped with dried cherry and sesames.

Look what’s inside! It’s not just plain naan. Dried fruits and dessicated coconut are stuffed inside. It taste a little dry if eaten without the gravy. The dried fruits and coconut gives a sweet taste to the otherwise plain naan.

Chicken Dhum Briyani @ 9.50 per set. Cooked in sealed pot over slow fire to capture the aroma and flavour. Dhum means "to steam" and "mature" a dish. This set comes with a claypot of chicken briyani with egg on top, raita (the white gravy) and curry chicken gravy. The rice is very flavourful and taste great with raita. The raita itself is a little sourish, a little like diluted yogurt. The curry gravy was nice too. Thumbs up for this dish as well.

Chettinad Special Dosai @ RM 4 per piece. Beetroot, onion, carrot, mashed cabbage and corriander made up the garnish on top of the dosai. This is a nicer version of plain dosai with the beetroot and other ingredients giving this dish some crunch.

The accompanying sauce/gravy are plain chutney (made of coconut), tomato puree and curry gravy.

All in one…

The special surprise of the night was Sizzling Brownies @ RM 10 per piece. Baked chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce and cashewnuts. Served in a sizzling plate, hence the name. A little funny to find western dessert in an Indian restaurant but nevertheless it’s something interesting and many enjoyed it. I personally think the brownie is a bit burnt after putting it in the plate. I don’t fancy burnt taste, so I didn’t really enjoy this dessert. The ice-cream is, as usual, good though.

Brownie sticking on the plate.

Lastly, we were served with a cup of Chettinad Filtered Coffee @ RM 2.80 per cup. It came in a very interesting manner. A steel cup inside a steel mini bowl. The bowl serves no purpose other than acting like a saucer for the cup and spoon. Do not be fooled to think that you have to pour the coffee into the bowl to drink it!!! Hehe. Someone was told to do that in the other branch!!

The cup on the right photo is Masala Tea @ RM 3 per cup. It doesn’t taste as strong as the ones I had in India but many wasn’t fancy of it. It’s like a love or hate thing. You either love it and accepts the smell and taste or can’t stand it even without having a sip! It has cinnamon, cardamon bark,cloves and star anise taste in it. So would you like this kind of taste in you tea?

Overall, the food is more authentic and it is not as spicy (not like other Indian food, it’ll burn your tastebuds, leaving you unable to taste the dish). There’s plenty of choices too and the service is very prompt and friendly. Will definitely go back for more!!

Karaikudi Restaurant has a branch in Tanjung Bungah. 

The address and contact of Karaikudi Restaurant is as above. They are open daily all year round, except on Deepavali day.

Business hours are from:

11.00am to 4.00pm - Lunch
4.00pm to 7.00pm - Snacks
7.00pm to 11.00pm - Dinner

Website: http://www.karaikudi.com.my/