Restoran Sahana Banana Leaf @ Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur

One of my friends recommend me to visit this restaurant that is located along Jalan Dungun, Bukit Damansara. Apparently, Sahana Banana Leaf Restaurant does some very unique Briyani's which is cooked in Lotus Leaf. Having heard of the concept, it was something that I was very curious to see and here I am today visiting them for lunch. 

The Restaurant Located Along Jalan Dungun

Coffee

This restaurant has been around for about a year now and they are located in Wisma Peristis which is directly opposite the old Wisma MBSB. Finding the restaurant is quite easy and there is an open space parking lot just before this building which makes parking quite easy. The restaurant itself is pretty posh looking. Well, being in Bukit Damansara, they would definitely need to maintain a certain standards in terms of appeal and charm and I felt that they did a great job in that sense. There's both indoor and outdoor seating as well. The staffs were very friendly and attentive to customers needs. In fact, the moment we walked in, we were greeted and our orders were immediately taken. There was no need for us to wait and try to catch the attention of the waiters. In a matter of minutes, our drinks were served. I had ordered a cup of coffee and it was good. Perfectly fixed, not too sweet and it was just nice. My rating for this drink would be 8/10. 

Lotus Leaf Mutton Briyani

Huge Portions

Being a fan of mutton, I decided to go for their Lotus Leaf Mutton Briyani and that too, was served in under 15 minutes from the time of order. The set came with a huge portion of Briyani wrapped in Lotus Leaf and there were two curries and some Cucumber and Onion Raita on the sides. They were very generous with the Appalam too. I am not too sure what the price for this would have been since my friend was the one who had paid for it and he refused to show me the bill. Nevertheless, from the total, I felt that this would have been in the range of RM 20+, maybe close to RM 30 which seemed reasonable to me. The challenge was in opening that Lotus Leaf wrapping as it kept tearing off and bits and pieces of the leaf was getting into the food. Opening it definitely requires a certain amount of skill and I felt that they should have opened it for us. At least, demonstrate it so that we do not get those particles into the food. And again, once I had opened it, I had to carry that huge leaf and find a place to dump it since it was really huge and there was no room on our table. So, they assisting with this would have been ideal. 

Two Curries & Raita

Mutton Briyani

Their curries were decent and it blended well with the Briyani. I would rate their curries at 8/10. Similarly, their Raita was also good and for that too, my rating shall be 8/10. The Briyani itself was sufficiently moist and the mutton came with some really delicious and thick gravy that I very much enjoyed. The amount of meat in the Briyani was quite a lot as well. The flavours were well balanced and neither one overpowered the other. Loved it for sure and my rating for this Lotus Leaf Mutton Briyani shall be 8/10. If you're looking for a unique Briyani, then Restoran Sahaha Banana Leaf would be one that I would recommend visiting. 

Address: Wisma Perintis, Jalan Dungun, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours: Monday - Saturday 0700 - 1900

                             Closed on Sundays

A Li Yaa Restaurant & Bar @ Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur

Located in Plaza Damansara is a Sri Lankan restaurant called A Li Yaa Island Restaurant & Bar. Previously having been occupying a bangalow unit located in Jalan Dungun, they have shifted to this new premises sometime in early 2011. Their specialty is Jaffnese and Sinhala Cuisine. They do not have the Halal status as they are running a bar, however it is pork free.I have previously dined at this restaurant sometime in April this year but since I had my family along with me, I wanted them to try this place out too as it surely would be something that they would love. Being a Jaffnese Tamil, I was very sure that they would surely appreciate these food more.

A Li Yaa Restaurant & Bar in Plaza Damansara

Entrance to the Restaurant

Bar Style Tables Located on the Outside

Interior of the Restaurant

This place is quite easy to locate. If you are familiar with Plaza Damansara, the famous landmark here is the CIMB Bank and this is just a few doors away along the same block. Along the corridor, they have an outdoor seating area which is themed more towards the bar style. This is more suitable for those who are having some drinks and bites to munch. These high stool type chairs are not suitable for those who come here to have full meals, especially senior people. The moment we arrived at the door, we were greeted by the staffs. The restaurant manager personally ushered us to our table. Since I had made a reservation earlier, things were smoother. I strongly feel that should you have a large group, it is best to make reservations a few days in advance as they tend to get full house quite easily, especially on the weekends.

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

My brother checking out the menu

I must say that the interior was beautifully designed. The menu was very elaborate and had a wide variety of dishes from the island country of Sri Lanka. Though the price may seem on the high side, the portions were huge and I am sure the taste would be excellent specially from me having tasted their food in the past. The manager assisted us with our orders advising us how much to order bearing in mind that there were only three of us.

The Drinks Menu

The Drinks Menu

The Drinks Menu

I was amused by the drinks menu. They had some interesting names there. Some were Blow Job, Quick F**k, Sex on the Beach and etc. Pretty weird names for drinks.  Having finalised our orders, the workers were quick to get to their feet. They are definitely well staffed and worked very efficiently. From my observation, I believe they get quite a number of high profile customers here and they had to ensure the professionalism was at the peak at all times, never allowing room for mistakes. In fact, they were even accurate in terms of having what to be delivered to you first. For example, starters were delivered first and the main course would never be sent until you finish the starters. There is a waiter assigned to each table to ensure customer satisfaction. This is the kind of satisfaction that I am surely willing to pay for.

Coca Cola @ RM 8.00

Ginger Beer @ RM 8.00

The drinks arrived pretty quickly, if I recall right, within five minutes of us placing our orders.We decided to go for soft drinks and they were served by the cans and were priced at RM 8.00 each. 

Cutlets Mixed Platter (L to R: Crab, Mutton, Fish & Potato Cutlets) @ RM 23.00 

Closer Look at the Fish Cutlets

This was the starters that we had. It was an assortment of their Cutlets which gives an option to try all their Cutlets. From left to right, they were Crab Cutlet, Mutton Cutlet, Fish Cutlet and Potato & Peas Cutlet. All their cutlets were excellent. They were was wildly spiced and would surely get you sweating. The Potato and Peas Cutlets was even spicier and had a great amount of spices and pepper in it. All of  these cutlets were heavenly. I would rate these at 10/10 .

Spring Hopper Kothu Chicken @ RM 20.00

This was a mains that came once we finished the above dish. This is basically fried Spring Hoppers with Chicken, something that is very common in Ceylonese homes. My late grandmother used to prepare this when she was around and it definitely brings a lot of memories and here, this restaurant was able to make it as good. An absolutely great dish which is very spicy. This dish would definitely hook you on to it. I would rate this at 10/10 .

Plain Appam part of the Appam Galore Set @ RM 20.00

Sri Lankan Sambals Served Along With The Plain Appam

Appam is another traditional Sri Lankan dish and it is quite different to the Indian Style of preparation. We wanted to try a variety of Appams and it was great that they had this set called Appam's Galore which is a choice of four different Appams. We chose one Plain Appam, one Egg Appam and two Sweet Appams. The Plain Appam comes with four different Sri Lankan Sambals. The Appam was good but the Sambals were excellent. I would rate their Plain Appam at 8.5/10 and their Sambals at 9.8/10 .

Egg Appam

The Egg Appam was well prepared, in fact it was better than their Plain Appam. I would rate this at 9.7/10 .

Sweet Appam

A major difference between the Indian Appam and the Jaffnese Appam is the center part. The Indian style is dry and they would pour some coconut milk just before serving it. The Jaffnese Style maintains the center to be wet, soft and richer and the coconut milk is poured during the cooking process. The only addition to this Sweet Appam would be that they have added some Palm Sugar in the center. Another great item here. Without fail, this scores 10/10 on my scale.

Aliyaa Puttu with Fish Curry Set @ RM 28.00

Ceylonese Style Fish Curry

The Puttu was another excellent dish. It came with some sides like Potato Masala, Coconut Sambal, Seeni Sambal, Okra and Brinjals accompanied by the above Fish Curry. You have a choice of Fish, Chicken, Mutton or Vegetarian Curry options to choose from. We asked the manager as to what he would recommend and he suggested the fish curry. The Indian Style of having Puttu is with Palm Sugar but the Sri Lankan style is to have it with curry. The fish curry was again extremely delicious and prepared according to the Sri Lankan style. I must say it was heavenly spicy and I am quite sure that they were using Sear Fish. I would rate both the above again at a perfect 10/10 .

Overall, this is definitely a great place to have Sri Lankan meals. Right from simple items like Appam to every day items like Spring Hopper Kothu, everything is made to perfection. I would surely return another time with my parents and sibling to try a number of other dishes.For today, the bill came to RM 126.50 and it is worth every cent spent.

Address: No. 48 G & M, Medan Setia 2, Plaza Damansara, 

                Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 2092 5378 / +6017 717 8700

Email: sangeeth@aliyaa.com

Website: http://aliyaa.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliyaamalaysia

Opening Hours: 1200 - 2300 Daily

A Li Yaa Island Restaurant & Bar @ Plaza Damansara, Kuala Lumpur

Located in Plaza Damansara is a Sri Lankan restaurant called A Li Yaa Island Restaurant & Bar. Previously having been occupying a bangalow unit located in Jalan Dungun, they have shifted to this new premises sometime early 2011. Their specialty is Jaffnese and Sinhala Cuisine. They do not have the Halal status as they are running a bar as well, however it is pork free. I have heard so much about their great food and today I am going to try it myself. Being a Jaffnese Tamil myself, I would surely appreciate these food more.

A Li Yaa Island Restaurant & Bar at Plaza Damansara

Their Logo

This place is quite easy to locate. If you are familiar with Plaza Damansara, the famous landmark here is the CIMB Bank and this is just a few doors away along the same block.

Bar Styled Outdoor Seating

Along the corridor, they have an outdoor seating area which is themed more towards the bar style. This is more suitable for those who are having some drinks and bites to munch. These high stool type chairs are not suitable for those who come here to have full meals, especially senior people.

Indoor Bar Counter

Us At Our Table

The moment we arrived at the door, we were greeted by the staffs. The restaurant manager personally ushered us to our table. Since I had made a reservation earlier, things were smoother. I strongly feel that should you have a large group, it is best to make reservations a few days in advance as they tend to get full house quite easily, especially on the weekends.

The Menu

Sorry I could not take more photographs of the interior of the restaurant as there were some high profile people in the house today. I must say that the interior was beautifully designed. The menu was very elaborate and had a wide variety of dishes from the island of Sri Lanka. Though the price may seem on the high side, the portions were huge and I am sure the taste would be excellent too. The manager assisted us with our orders advising us how much to order bearing in mind that there were only two of us. I was amused by the drinks menu. They had some interesting names there. Some were Blow Job, Quick F**k, Sex on the Beach and etc. Pretty weird names for drinks.  Having finalised our orders, the workers were quick to get to their feet. They are definitely well staffed and worked very efficiently. From my observation, I believe they get quite a number of high profile customers here and they had to ensure the professionalism was at the peak at all times, never allowing room for mistakes. In fact, they were even accurate in terms of having what to be delivered to you first. For example, starters were delivered first and the main course would never be sent until you finish the starters. There is a waiter assigned to each table to ensure customer satisfaction. This is the kind of satisfaction that I am surely willing to pay for.

Virgin Lemonade @ RM 9.00

The drinks arrived pretty quickly, if I recall right, within five minutes of us placing our orders. The above drink is called Virgin Lemonade. It was a pretty interesting drink that tasted lemonade and left a zingy taste at the end. Surely refreshing for the afternoon heat. I would rate this drink at 9/10 .

Virgin Mary @ RM 12.00

This was the drink that I had ordered for myself. It definitely had tomato in it as the base drink and there was also some tobacco leaves simmered on the top. Not sure what the other ingredients were but it definitely tasted great. Both the above mocktails are non alcoholic drinks. I would rate this at 9.5/10 .

Right: Fish Cutlet and Left: Potato & Peas Cutlets @ RM 15.00

This was the starters that we had. The fish cutlet was excellent. It was wildly spiced and surely would get you sweating. The Potato and Peas Cutlets was even spicier and had a great amount of spices and pepper in it. Both these cutlets were heavenly. I would rate these at 10/10 .

Spring Hopper Kothu Chicken @ RM 20.00

This was another starter that came once we finished the above dish. This is basically fried Spring Hoppers with Chicken. My late grandmother used to make this when she was around but here, this restaurant was able to make it better. An absolutely great dish which is very spicy. This dish would definitely hook you on to it. I would rate this at 10/10 .

Aliyaa Puttu With Fish Curry @ RM 29.00

The Fish Curry With The Above Set

The Puttu I must say was another excellent dish here. It came with some sides like Potato Masala, Coconut Sambal and Brinjals accompanied by the above Fish Curry. You have a choice of Fish, Chicken, Mutton, Beef or Vegetarian Curry options to choose from. We asked the manager as to what he would recommend and he suggested the fish curry. The Indian Style of having Puttu is with Palm Sugar but the Sri Lankan style is to have it with curry. The fish curry was again extremely delicious and I must say heavenly spicy and I am quite sure that they were using Sear Fish. I would rate both the above again at a flat 10/10 .

Mutton Paal Poriyal Set @ RM 29.00

Another great dish. It has been a very long time since I last had this Mutton Paal Poriyal. I know that not many people make it as the cooking process takes a very long time. Though the mutton here has a dark coloured texture, it is not as spicy as it seems. Paal poriyals are meant to be mild in their spiciness and it has been adhered to well here. This set again comes with some side dishes and you could also order the mutton as a stand alone dish. Depending on your choice, the options are available. Again, my rating for this dish is 10/10 .

Sweet Appam @ RM 6.00

A major difference between the Indian Appam and the Jaffnese Appam is the center part. The Indian style is dry and they would pour some coconut milk just before serving it. The Jaffnese Style maintains the center to be wet, soft and richer and the coconut milk is poured in even while cooking it. You have at least six variety of Appams here but we choose the sweet type each. The only addition to it would be that they would have some Palm Sugar included in the center. Another great item here. Without fail, this too scores 10/10 on my scale.

Overall, this is definitely a great place to have Sri Lankan meals. Right from simple items like Appam to every day items like Lumpris and even exotic dishes like the Colombo Crab Curry, everything is made to perfection. I would surely return another time with my parents and sibling to try a number of other dishes.I for sure know that my parents would enjoy the food here. For today, the bill came to RM 132.00 and it is worth every cent spent.

Address: No. 48 G & M, Medan Setia 2, Plaza Damansara, 
                Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Telephone: +603 2092 5378 / +6017 717 8700

Email: sangeeth@aliyaa.com

Web: www.aliyaa.com

Opening Hours: 1130 - 0100