Shanmuga Vilas @ Tanjung Malim, Perak

Having started their business in 1959, Restaurant Shanmuga Vilas is the oldest Indian restaurant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Being the weekend, I was back in my hometown and today for lunch, we all decided to head out to this good old place that we have dined all these years. 

Restaurant Shanmuga Vilas in Tanjung Malim, Perak

Interior of the Restaurant

Over the years, though this restaurant has been through a number of renovations, the core is very much the same. This has been a common neighbourhood restaurant for most of us and we are all good friends with the owner and his family. Recently, with the developments that have been taking place in Tanjung Malim with the upgrading of UPSI to a university status, Proton City and the opening of a few other polytechnics, there has been a number of other Tamil restaurants that has sprouted and as such, the business at this restaurant has very much been affected.  

The Owner 

Coca Cola @ RM 2.00

As usual, there were just a few other people at this restaurant today for lunch. It was just us and another two tables that were occupied. We took our places and then the drinks were served. As usual, there is a lot to chat with the owner but still, all this happened as they were serving us. 

Idli @ RM 0.80 each

Spicy Coconut Chutney

My brother was in the mood for Idli instead of rice. He had three Idli's and they came at RM 0.80 each. The Idli's as always is pretty good here. They are at the right size and is soft and fluffy. I would rate their Idli's at 8.5/10 . The Spicy White Coconut Chutney was another treat. It was infused with spices at the right balance and was at the appropriate thickness. In some restaurants, they literally serve this watery but here, it is authentically prepared. I would rate their chutney at 9/10 .

Vegetables

The vegetables were a little disappointing to me. Firstly, due to the lack of crowd they only prepared two vegetable preparations today. Secondly, it was not fresh at all and seemed like those written off vegetables that you could buy at a very cheap price from the markets. I would only rate these at 3/10 .

Vegetarian Meal @ RM 4.00 per pax

The three of us had Vegetarian meals today. For a set of the above vegetable meal, it came at RM 4.00 each. I had expressed my views on the vegetables before and do not want to repeat myself here. The first gravy that I tried is the above Sambar. The Sambar was also not that great, in my opinion and was rather flat. It did not seem to be close to where it used to be years ago. I would only rate the Sambar at 5/10 .

Second Gravy To Taste is their Kulambu

I had another helping of a different gravy and this was their Vegetable Kulambu. This was fantastic. It was really prepared very well and was excellent. I would rate their Vegetable Kulambu at 10/10 .

Rasam

Finally, we all had the above Rasam that came complimentary with the meal. The Rasam was averagely good and I would rate it at 7/10 .

Overall, this is a decently good place to have your meals but I guess they would need to improve on their variety of vegetables offered. Service is good as always and it is just sad that there has been a lot of competition out there but they have not improvised to stand out to be what they were in the yesteryear's. 

Address: No. 6, Jalan Douglas, 35900 Tanjung Malim, Perak, Malaysia.

Telephone: +605 4596 041

Opening Hours: 0700 - 2230 Daily