Wednesday 13 February 2013

Sri Ganapathi Mess @ Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Little is known about this eatery in PJ Old Town that is situated in a house. That was the thought that I had in mind before heading to Sri Ganapathi Mess. Once I was there, I changed my thoughts completely. This Sri Ganapathi Mess is located along the row of houses in PJ Old Town, right opposite the entrance to Sekolah Kebangsaan P.J. at Jalan 1/10.When we arrived here, finding a place to park the car was a great problem as there were loads of people heading to this restaurant. It is very easy to miss this house so just drive slowly and the greatest landmark is that it is exactly opposite the school.

Sri Ganapathi Mess at Jalan 1/10 Petaling Jaya
As you can see from the above photograph, it is just a small sign on one of the pillars that marks this house as a place of business. Another thing that you could use to identify the house is the statue of Nandi, or Lord Shiva's Bull which is there on the pillars holding the gates.

The Porch Converted into the Frying Station
The moment you walk in to the house, you would notice the porch which has the Frying Station. Here you could either choose your meat cuts or just walk in too to get a place. Either way, their fish portions are all the same size and you would get a decent piece. Unlike those big commercial restaurants, here they do not charge by the grams and each piece follows a fixed price.

The First Seating Area
As we walked in, I was amazed to see the number of people here. It was the living room of the house and here is where most of the curries and dishes were stored. The place was buzzing with activity.

One of the dining rooms

Curry Station for this room
The entire house was converted into the mess. Each room was a dining hall and we walked through the rooms to find the place that had a vacant and clean table. We found our place and then was attended to shortly. Luckily, we arrived by 12 noon and the crowd though huge, was not as bad as it was by the time it turned 1 pm. By 1 pm, loads of people were waiting for tables and the servers were just crazily running around trying their best to serve people. The wait time was  much longer too.

Basic Meal @ RM 5.00
This is their basic meal set. It also comes with two large Pappadams which were extremely fresh and crisp. The choice of vegetables were also not the normal ones and the quality was good. Once again, they have choices of both Par Boil Rice and common White Rice. A large serving of pickles is also included in this meal. Then comes the curries. Today they had Fish, Chicken, Crab, Salted Fish and Venthayam Curry. I requested for a bowl of crab curry to try.

Crab Curry
The Crab Curry was definitely lovely. I was not in the mood to eat crabs today else I would have also ordered some crabs. This is one of the best crab curry ever served in restaurants. My rating for this gravy is 9/10 . After this, I ordered Venthayam Curry and that was also pretty decent. I would rate it 8/10 .

Fried Fish @ RM 5.00
The fish was definitely good too. It was crispy, juicy and fried to the right level. Priced rightly, I would rate this 8/10 .

Local Goat Perattal @ RM 9.00
There is a much to be said about the mutton offerings. They have the Mutton Varuval which uses the common Australian Lamb. A plate of that is sold at RM 6.00 .  They also have the Goat's Intestines. However for the Mutton Perattal as the above photograph, is made from the local goat and that is why it is more expensive. I find the goat to be overcooked today. Maybe they had boiled it over a long period of time before adding it to the curry. It was too soft beyond what it should be. However, the base curry was delicious. I would rate this at 6/10 .

Prawn Sambal @ RM 6.00
We also tried the above Prawn Sambal as it came highly recommended. I found this dish to be good. It was mildly spicy and the prawns were delicious. Made to perfection, this was one of the best Prawn Sambals (Tamil Style) that I have tried, besides the one that my late grandmother used to make. I would rate this at 10/10 . Highly recommended here.

Crab Rasam @ RM 1.00
Here they have two types of Rasam, Crab Rasam and Chicken Rasam. We opted for the Crab Rasam. This was literally made to perfection. It was piping hot, absolutely delicious Rasam. I savored every drop of it!!! The best Crab Rasam that I have tried in a very long time. I would rate this again 10/10 and strongly recommend this to everyone.

Price List and Offerings
 On the whole, this is a great place to have your lunch. The only setback is that it may be a little difficult to find. Please do also note that they are only open for lunch. They do have some very good dishes sold at very reasonable prices. After your meal, you would have to walk out to the living area and an old grandmother is there going through the bills and receiving payments. This is definitely one of the good places to have Banana Leaf meals.

Address:  47, Jalan 1/10, PJ Old Town,
                46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 7782 0863

Opening Hours: 1130 - 1500 Daily


10 comments:

  1. I truly enjoy reading your food posts. Thanks for sharing. Happy eating ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hie Hurricanemax, thank you so much for taking the time to read through my posts. Appreciate it :)

      Delete
  2. Just wanted to say thanks for the information. I'm sure a lot of people have read this or other posts and didn't comment :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your most welcome. Thank you for the kind gesture :)

      Delete
  3. Thanks for the post. I have a question. Do they speak hindi?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rizwan, unfortunately they only speak Tamil but speaking to them in English would do too.

      Delete
  4. The Crab Curry and Prawn Sambal definitely looks great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes....they are very good. Of course, there may be some negative reviews on the internet but everyone that I recommended here, returned very happy. A good place for good Tamil food!

      Delete
  5. Finally a delicious south indian banana leaf food restaurant to appreciate

    ReplyDelete
  6. 敬爱的佛教信土:
    我是甲洞三宝寺 (暹廟) SAMNAK SAMBODHI BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION NO: 19-21 JALAN 38 TAMAN DESA JAYA KEPONG 52100 KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA. 的理事, 当任此职多年, 对内的事務也一清二楚。

    最近, 在网络上看了PHRA PIYATHAMMO和尚和马华公会鸱唛区主席叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak)律师的双方信件, 使我的内心久久不能平伏, 良心受到很大的譴責, 不吐訢不痛快, 所以我要誠恳的説:他叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak)侓师叫外来的流流氓到三宝寺(暹廟)挑衅和尚打架及电招警方人员扣捕沙彌, 其嘲笑手法, 不外是要显示其权力, 而鞏固其职位, 以达到权力就是一切, 好让住持难堪, 自动離开, 方便行事……这种举动, 已间接的表逹其含意, 住持和尚兼顾问, 都无能为力,你们这些信徒能做什么?即使告马耒西亜佛教总会又能为难什么?这种心态, 的硧令人反感, 不是一个正信佛教者应有的行为。

    至今, 三宝寺的理事成员多数是其親戚, 这是实事, 加入会员需交RM100元费用,同时,必须经过叶金福(Yip Kum Fook)律师的同意,否则免談, 所以会员也不多。

    马华公会鹅唛区主席叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak)律师,自控制三宝寺之後,把三宝寺(暹廟)当着私人產業,聘用和尚賺钱,利用佛教的道地为政治活动埸所,而处理三宝寺的钱财也不透明?这点,值得信众追问。马来西亚地擴人多,和尚也不缺乏,为什么不用本地和尚当任住持化缘,却偏偏劳心劳神,浪费签证费,交通费? 还要烦劳梹城佛总的推荐信, 向文化不同, 而語言又不通之千哩外囯缅旬和尚求助? 为什么….为什么? 只要我们用头脑想一想,便一日了然, 不必晝虎添足。

    叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak )律师说:欢迎任何人如有意见,可以电话03:62762369/0122039700 Email: YIPKUMFOOK@HOTMAIL.COM 戓到其马华公会鹅唛区会甲洞三宝寺及以下地圵:NO.2,B JALAN 53 TAMAN DESA JAYA KEPONG 52100 SELANGOR, MALAYSIA.討論, 我要老实的提醒大家, 最好不要一个去見他, 因为这个人狡滑, 笑裡藏刀, 很阴险, 出家人都不放在眼裡, 連TAMAN DAYA 52100 KEPONG, KUALA LUMPUR. 众人的印度廟也敢放火燒, 利用权势把场地佔为己有, 由此可见, 他是何等的心毒? 还有现在三宝寺内, 各处都按裝计孔监视来人一举一动。

    目前, 三宝寺很多信徒及当地居民, 已经对叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak )律师不满, 但也不能做什么。他计划把三宝寺主席的职位轉给其子YIP JIUN HANN律师, 续承皇朝. 想近一部了觧詳情, 可上网得知。

    再说, 根据前理事在网络上给叶金福(Yip Kum Fook, MCA Gombak)律师的批評, 説他懂得包裝自己的道德守则, 以宗教为幌子手, 到处募款, 啇業经营, 政治活动为重, 并没依循佛教守則行事, 也没对人道作出貢献, 只不过借三宝寺宗教之名捞取权和私利而己, 其言也不为过, 是实事。

    在此, 我恳切希望, 廣大的佛教信仰者, 给予关注, 并共創義举, 弘扬佛教. 谢谢。

    Mr Lim Sok Chia敬啟

    ReplyDelete