Restaurant Malabar Palace is a one of it's kind restaurant that is located on the Ground Floor of Hartamas Shopping Centre. This restaurant is one of the few restaurants in Kuala Lumpur that specialises in Malayalee / Kerala cuisine. They have been around since 2009 and have had a good response from the locals around this area. Being inside a shopping mall, they have not had the exposure that they deserve except from a few patrons who have visited them and blogged about this restaurant. Other than that, it is little known to the world outside and this includes the Malayalee community. Since it is a Sunday, my brother and I decided to head here for a splurge lunch.
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| Restaurant Malabar Palace in Hartamas Shopping Centre |
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| Interior of the Restaurant |
This restaurant is located on the far end of the Ground Floor of Hartamas Shopping Centre. It does not have a very large seating capacity as there is a limited space. They have a very small outside seating area that can accommodate three small tables and then an inside seating area that accommodates roughly around 40 pax max at any one time. All their staffs including their Chef are from Kerala, India. Do note that this is a Halal restaurant but they also do offer alcohol on their menu.
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| Papadam |
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| Special Chutney |
The moment that we walked in a took our seats, the above Papadam and Chutney were served. This was served on the house. In fact, once the Papadam was done, they topped it up for us. This is the first time that I am seeing the Papadam being topped up. Usually, it is only for a single serving. The Papadam was fried fresh as we arrived and it was not something that was stale. The Chutney tasted something like the Inchi Puli but it was something else altogether. It tasted excellent and was slightly on the spicy side. In short, the Chutney was very delicious. I would rate it at 10/10 .
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
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| The Menu |
The above are just a few pages from their menu. They did have a very good selection of dishes and they were all reasonably priced.
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| Lassi @ RM 6.00 |
The Lassi here was quite good. It was thick and sweetened to just the right level. I would say that for RM 6.00, this is quite cheap. I would rate this drink at 9/10 .
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| Masala Tea @ RM 6.00 |
The Masala Tea was on the light side. There was a good amount of masala but it was not too strong. I would usually prefer this to be much stronger. Nevertheless, it was still nice. I would rate this drink at 7/10 .
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| Fish Cutlet @ RM 11.50 |
Their Fish Cutlet set came with two large cutlets along with some Spicy & Sour Mint Chutney. The Fish Cutlet was coated in bread crumbs and the patty was mixed with Potato's and some vegetables. I would have preferred the patty to only have fish instead of mixing it with other items as it had subdued the taste of the fish and it felt more like having a Potato Cutlet instead. I would rate this dish at 6.5/10 .
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| Malabar Special Soup @ RM 7.00 |
This soup was very unique as I had not seen this in any other Indian restaurants and it must be unique to Kerala. It was typically Lamb Bone Marrow cooked with lentils and the Chef's Special Sauce. There was also a lot of cumin and turmeric in it. It had chunks of mashed lamb in it and tasted really good, though slightly on the spicy side. I would rate this soup at 9.7/10 .
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| Malabar Crab Soup @ RM 10.00 |
This soup was made from Roasted Crab Meat along with some Coriander Roots, crushed Pepper, roasted Garlic and a mix of spices and it came in a clear broth. This soup was only above average though it came with a lot of crabs. I felt that it lacked pepper and it would have been better if more pepper was added to it. I would rate this soup at 6.5/10 .
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| 3 Butter Naans @ RM 12.60 |
We decided to have Naan's instead of rice. The Butter Naan's were priced at RM 4.20 each and that is definitely a very reasonable price. They were also very soft and came with loads of butter spread on them. This was definitely an excellent preparation. I would rate their Naan's at 10/10 .
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| Malabar Lamb Varatal @ RM 19.00 |
This dish is the Kerala style Lamb Masala that is pan roasted with onions, red chilies, peppercorns and enriched with turmeric, fresh ginger, clove, cinnamon, star anis and cardamon. Being pan roasted, the lamb was very tender and it was juicy and delicious with a slight clove aftertaste to it. Both of us enjoyed this dish and it was very well prepared. I would rate this dish at 9.5/10 .
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| Avial @ RM 12.00 |
This is a very traditional Malayalee dish and it is one of my favourites. It is typically Muringa Oleisora and mixed vegetables cooked with semi grated coconut, turmeric, yogurt, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Due to the yogurt, it has a slightly sour taste to it but it was absolutely delicious. A very well prepared dish. I would rate this dish at 10/10 .
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| Crab Varatal @ RM 28.00 |
This dish is the Kerala style Crab Masala that is pan roasted with onions, red chilies, peppercorns and enriched with turmeric, fresh ginger, clove, cinnamon, star anis and cardamon. Please do note that this dish is only available on weekends and Public Holidays. For the price of RM 28.00, it definitely did have a decent amount of crabs. Although the style of cooking was the same as per the previous Lamb dish, this was slightly on the spicy side. The Chef had ensured that the gravy was not only on the outside and it had seeped in well into the crab meat giving it an wonderful flavour. Definitely a highly recommended dish. I would rate this dish at 9.8/10 .
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| Kerala Payasam @ RM 7.00 |
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| Close Look at the Payasam |
Kerala Payasam is very much different to the Tamil Payasam. Here it is much thicker, has grated coconut in it and is made to be very much sweeter. There is also a lot of palm sugar that is added in the dish. Here, this Payasam was very well made and I would rate it at 9.5/10 .
On the whole, this place has definitely some good food to offer. If you love Indian food and want a change from the usual North Indian or Tamil style of dishes, this would be a great place as it gives you a new culinary experience and an array of dishes to taste which are specific to the state of Kerala.
Address: Lot G13A, Ground Floor, Hartamas Shopping Centre,
No. 60, Jalan Sri Hartamas, Sri Hartamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Opening Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily
Telephone: +603 6206 2310
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