Leaf Dining South Indian Cuisine @ Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

Restaurant Leaf Dining South Indian Cuisine is a restaurant that specialises in Tamil Cuisine and is located in Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Although they have been around for the last five years, not much has been said about this restaurant in the web by fellow food bloggers. I guess there must be two reasons for this. Firstly, as far as the Tamil food scene in Solaris Mont Kiara is concerned, Ravi's Banana Leaf has got the spotlight due to the brand name and secondly, the location of this restaurant is in one secluded corner and the signs are not too catchy. These are the only two reasons that I can think off. This restaurant is located on the road fronting block and it is located in between AmBank and Public Bank towards the far end of the block. I have visited this restaurant some time back and I remember clearly that the food was fantastic then. With the same anticipation, I have returned here again today for a good banana leaf meal. 

Restaurant Leaf Dining South Indian Cuisine in Solaris Mont Kiara

Outside Seating Space

Indoor Seating Area

This restaurant occupies a single lot and has seating spaces both inside and outside. The decoration is quite grand and the restaurant is very clean. All the waiters here are very friendly and hard working. The moment I walked in, I was ushered to my table and then the menu was handed over to me. They definitely have a good selection of food to offer during lunch hours which includes Banana Leaf Set Meals as well as Briyanis. When the waiter saw me hesitating as in what to order, he then invited me to view the dishes at the counter towards the end of the restaurant. Without hesitation, I followed him. 

A Great Number of  Dishes At The Counter

Seafood  & Poultry Marinated and Ready To Be Fried Upon Orders

When I walked over to the food counter, I was totally taken by awe as to the number of dishes available and they all looked extremely good. I then decided upon the Banana Leaf Set Meal, Claypot Mutton, Egg Sambal and a glass of Iced Moor. Here the claypot dishes are quite good and they offer Claypot Mutton, Claypot Chicken and Claypot Crabs daily. The Briyani's also looked very tempting. There was also another section where marinated seafood & poultry were displayed and customers can order these items based on their preference and it would be fried in the kitchen and sent over. These items are priced by the grams. I also like the way that it is inside a covered glass display ensuring the hygiene is maintained at all times. 

Iced Moor @ RM 3.50

The Iced Moor was really fantastic. It was diluted to the right level and infused with the right amount of spices. I would rate this drink at 9.8/10 .

Basic Banana Leaf Meal Set

Basic Banana Leaf Meal Set @ RM 9.50

The Basic Banana Leaf Set Meal here is very satisfying. Although it is priced slightly higher at RM 9.50 compared to the market price of RM 6.00, here it comes with quality vegetables as well as other gravy and a desert. As for the rice, they offer both the Grade AAA Rice as well as Par Boil Rice. I went for the Par Boil Rice as I missed having that. Besides that, it also comes with Pickled Dried Chili, Lemon Pickles, Papadam, 3 good Vegetables, Venthayam Kulambu, Curd, Rasam and Kesari. This in itself is a very complete meal and it was very satisfying to see that quality vegetables were served here.Today they served Cucumber in Curd, Stir Fried Beetroot and Spinach Cooked with Ghee and Dhall. All the vegetables tasted excellent and I would rate their vegetables at 9.5/10 . You hardly get such vegetables being served these days in banana leaf restaurants. Besides these, they also have a number of other vegetables available if you wanted to top up and have a good vegetarian meal. The Venthayam Kulambu was also another excellent preparation and it seemed more like a home style cooking. I would rate that Kulambu at 9.5/10 . The Curd too was very fresh and creamy. It has been a long time since I had rice with Curd and today I had the pleasure of having that. I would rate their Curd at 9.7/10 . 

Trying Out Their Chicken Curry

Besides the above curries tried before this, I also wanted to try their Chicken Curry. This again was very well prepared. The gravy was very well spiced and it was so aromatic. I thoroughly enjoyed this curry too. I would rate this at 9.7/10 .

Claypot Mutton @ RM 10.00

The Claypot Mutton was delicious and savoury. It came with loads of mutton chunks and in a thick gravy that was cooked to perfection. It was so aromatic and did not have the usual mutton smell. If you are a small eater, this is good to be shared between two. I would admit that this was a very good dish but still it could not beat the one prepared by Krishna Curry House but it was not too far away. I would rate this preparation at 9.7/10 . So far, this would be the second best Claypot Mutton that I have tried.

Egg Sambal @ RM 2.50

To me, this Egg Sambal was just above average. I felt that this dish should have been served with more gravy than just the egg with very minimal gravy to it. This way, you are not able to taste any of the sambal and all you get to eat is the boiled egg. I would rate this at 6/10 as it was no more than an egg boiled well. 

Rasam included in the Set Meal

The Rasam here was once again quite good. They served Tomato Rasam today and that in itself is something quite rare. I would rate their Rasam at 9.5/10 .

Kesari

The above sweet called Kesari too was part of the set meal. This Kesari was very soft, a little dry and sticky but it was very very delicious. The recipe has definitely been altered slightly but it was all good. I would rate this Kesari at 10/10 .

Teh Tarik @ RM 1.50

As I finished my meal and settled the bill, I was walking out of the restaurant and then it started raining cats and dogs. My car was parked on the other side of Solaris and so I had to walk back to the restaurant and wait for the rain to stop. It felt odd sitting and not having anything and hence I ordered the above Teh Tarik. The Teh Terik felt similar to the tea prepared in India except that it had the 'Tarik' fusion added to it. Definitely very good tea. I would rate this drink at 9.8/10 .

Vegetarian Curry Puffs @ RM 0.80 each

Although I was already stuffed from my meal earlier, I did observe many customers walking in just to buy their Curry Puffs. They have two variety of Curry Puffs, Chicken and Vegetarian and most of them were going for the Vegetarian Curry Puff. Feeling slightly greedy and curious, I ordered a few of those. The Curry Puffs were good. I liked the way it was prepared. The skin was thin and soft and the fillings were made from spicy potato curry. Definitely good stuff and they are highly recommended. I would rate these at 9/10 .

On the whole, my dining experience here today was fantastic and in my opinion, they definitely serve more authentic Tamil food and is very close to the preparation that you get in Tamil Nadu, India. It is not localised to the Malaysian Tamil style of cooking and that makes them unique. Definitely a highly recommended place especially if you are looking at trying true Tamil food exactly as it is found in India.

Address: No. 5, Jalan Solaris 1, Solaris Mont Kiara,  

                50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 0700 - 2330 Daily

Telephone: +603 6203 6000