Sam Hadramawt Restaurant @ Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya

Sam Hadramawt Restaurant is a restaurant that specialises in Middle Eastern Cuisines. Their dishes covers Arabic, Egyptian and Yemeni Cuisines. Being located in Kelana Jaya, this seems to be a favourite among the locals here but not much has been mentioned about this place in food blogs and the internet space. Having heard of this place from some friends, decided to discover the place myself and blog about it. 

Sam Hadramawt Restaurant at SS 6, Kelana Jaya

Interior Of The Restaurant

This restaurant is quite easy to find. To those who are familiar with SS 6 Kelana Jaya, this restaurant is located along the same row as Restoran Syed and right opposite CIMB Bank. Parking on the rear side of this shop is convenient as during the non working hours, that stretch is a little deserted and you could get access to this shop through the rear entrance. The rear entrance itself is again well lit with neon signs. The restaurant as you can see from the above photograph is decently decorated and has a posh feeling to it. 

The Menu

A Brief on the Name

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

The Menu

Well, the menu has a lot to offer and is not limited to the above photographed pages. There were just too many pages to photograph and above that, it is available online at their website. Though I have spent a considerable time in Dubai, I am still a nerd when it comes to ordering Middle Eastern food. As such, I sought the help of the workers and they were kind enough to spend time with me explaining each and every dish that I had questioned them. I must congratulate them for their kindness and customer care that they are putting into their business. Once we made up our mind, we confirmed the orders and then waited for the dishes to arrive.

Turkish Coffee @ RM 5.00

 I have tried Turkish Coffee when I was based in Dubai and usually it is quite nice. Here, this was not up to the mark and was a let down. A bit disappointed I was as this is the first to arrive and it did not set the expectations well. I hope the food is not like this. I would only rate this coffee at 4/10 .

Angie Pouring Her Barbican

Barbican i.e. Non Alcoholic Pineapple Flavoured Beer @ RM 4.00

As cute as it may sound, the above is a drink called Barbican which is a non alcoholic Pineapple flavoured beer. I have tried non alcoholic beer before and those were pretty much non flavoured. This one was available to in two flavours. I can't quite remember what the other flavour was but this pineapple flavour was quite nice. Being a beer, it gave a refreshing taste and the flavouring added a zing to it. Surely worth trying. I would rate this drink at 9/10 .

Rawani @ RM 4.00

All food here is made to order including the rice and bread and as such, the waiting time was quite long. The surprising thing is that we got our deserts before our main course and as we were already hungry, we decided to just eat first. The above is called Rawani, I do not know what it is made of, but it was delicious. Sweet with a little cheese like taste inside. I would rate this desert at 8.8/10 .

Muhalabiah @ RM 5.00

Another interesting desert which was something like custard, minus the sweetness. It is a cold dish and was pretty nice too. I would rate this dish at 7.5/10 .

Yemeni Bread @ RM 7.00

This bread was really good. It was just a single piece but huge. This is to be eaten with the dip sauce coming in the next two photos below but for me, the bread itself was so delicious and hot that you could eat it just by itself. I would rate this bread at 8.8/10 .

Mutabbal @ RM 8.00

This is the first dip that we got. It is called Mutabbal and it is a delicate blend of eggplant salad with olive oil, garlic, spice and tahinia sauce. Honestly I copied the above description from the menu and do not know what tahinia sauce is. However, the taste was quite decent. I would rate this at 7/10 .

Hummus @ RM 8.00

This was the other dip for the bread. Hummus is supposed to be a blend of Chick Peas with Tahinia Sauce and Olive Oil. This dip however was extremely delicious. Both of us loved this as it gave a wonderful ghee like taste. I would rate this at 9/10 .

Mandy Rice @ RM 6.00

Now with the bread done, time to have some rice. We ordered the Mandy Rice with some side dishes and it was quite a huge portion. After having had the bread earlier, we were mostly full and this was just to fill up the remaining space in the stomach. Both of us could not finish the full serving. The rice was delicious. It was the long grain type and delicious to even eat it on its own. I would rate this rice at 8.8/10 .

Left: Falafel @ RM 8.00 and Right: Koba @ RM 5.00

These were interesting side dishes. I was told both the above items are made from plant origin and no meat is used. To me, the Falafel tasted like Chicken Nuggets and it was nice. Initially I thought it was Chicken Nuggets until I cleared the air with the owner. I would rate this Falafel at 8.5/10 . The Koba however was not to my liking. Perhaps I am not used to it. I am not sure but to me, it tasted dull. I would only rate that 3/10 .

Left: Chicken Kebab @ RM 15 and Right: Lamb Kebab @ RM 16.00

Both the Chicken and Lamb Kebab's were delicious. This dish also came with some grilled vegetables. However, I find that for the above portion size, the price is a little expensive. No complaints taste wise though. Both Kebab's would score a rating of 8/10 .

Arabic Salad @ RM 8.00

To me this was just another salad and I could not see why it should be named as Arabic Salad and sold for RM 8.00 . The taste, well what is there to say. They were just vegetables and tasted like vegetables. No additional garnishing was added.

French Fries @ RM 5.00

Well, you might be wondering what French Fries are doing in an Arabic restaurant but hey, they had this too on their menu and do have this as a side dish in some of their main dishes. Well, these are just fries but I should say that they were fried well. Obviously I do not want to place a rating for this dish as it is just some fries.

Overall this is a nice place to have dinner for a change from the usual routine. The total bill for today was RM 104.00 . There are many reasons why I would come back to this place. Their service is good, food is nice and they are reasonably priced. Besides, they do offer a great variety and I would come back to try their other dishes in future. This is also a famous joint for Shisha. 

Address: No. 23, Jalan SS 6/12, Kelana Jaya, 

                47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 1100 - 2300 Daily

Telephone: +603 7886 9696 

Website: www.samhadramawt.com

Email: info@samhadramawt.com