It's a bit of a tradition that our group of colleagues at work takes turn to buy lunch for everyone, usually at the frequency of about once a year or so (when got bonus lah). Several weeks ago, it was Iman's time, and she managed to get another colleague to recommend a "new to us" place – Fatimah at Kampung Baru.
In a way, many of the Malay restaurants in Kampung Baru offers similar dishes at first glance, and it usually takes someone with experience in the area to know which are the must-order dishes in certain restaurants. For Fatimah Selera Kampung, what I enjoyed most was their daging salai, prawn gulai, and most definitely, the tempe. If you're a fan of tempe, don't miss it.
However, the true star at this restaurant, to me, has got to be their killer jangung drink. It's basically shaved iced with corn, and it's really, really awesome. If you're a fan of ais kacang, this is a little bit like that, but better.
Additionally, they also serve ikan bakar, asam pedas, ikan masak lada, ikan goreng asam, rendang, ulam, and more. For the lone rangers, there are also nasi/mee/meehun/koay teow goreng.
jagung ais is not to be missed!
Prices at Fatimah Selera Kampung is in tune with other such places in Kampung Baru. You may also want to check out Makanan Padang Asli (if you're a tunjang/beef tendon fan) and Grand Garuda (for another nasi padang alternative) if you're around the area.
Several weeks ago, a bunch of us went for another lunch session that's worth sharing, especially for those who work or stay near the East side of Klang Valley – Warisan Rasa Kuale (Ribu Ribu) at Medan Selera Taman Keramat. A place that serves up quite a good selection of local Malay dishes, and some awesome ikan bakar to boot.
Warisan Rasa Kuale is located at the food court right opposite Sapura building on Jalan Enggang at Taman Keramat. The stall itself is deep inside the food court and not visible from the street, you'll have to walk some 20 meters in.
The food court is your typical medan selera with tables covered in laminated plastic, and plastic chairs that are usually good enough to barely hold the weight of average Malaysian. Hygiene isn't top notch, but was acceptable.
The selling point of this stall is the choices of ikan bakar and the dishes they serve. There's no less than half a dozen different fish to choose from, including siakap, tilapia, kembung, keli, bawal, caru, patin, and even salmon! Additionally, they also have grilled lamb and grilled prawn.
There's also over a dozen different ulam to choose from. You want pegaga? petai? cherry tomato? bitter gourd? They're all here.
you gotta have greens, and spicy stuff!
Other than those grilled stuff and green stuff, there's also a good selection of other dishes. There's fish curry, sotong, several types of masakan lemak, there's kangkung belacan too.
Overall the food quality was rather good, and we liked that they serve three different types of sambal with ulam. I particularly enjoy the ikan bawal bakar (RM 20) with it's fatty flesh, as well as their grilled lamb (RM 7). Those are some of the must-order dishes if you're there.
If you're up to some awesome traditional Malay lunch not far from Keramat/Ampang area, this is quite a decent place to check out. Prices are quite reasonable for what you get too.