Restoran Al-Salam @ Bandar Baru Nilai, Negeri Sembilan

After my game of golf, feeling hungry, my brother and drove around Bandar Baru Nilai in search for a place to have lunch. It was beyond the usual lunch hours and many places were already closed after the first half of their normal business hours. It seems that lunch places are difficult to find around this side of Nilai except for the usual KFC, Mc Donalds and other fast food eateries. Most places seem to close at 3.00 pm only to reopen at 5.30 pm . Having been caught in between those timings, we finally stumbled upon this restaurant called Restoran Al-Salam that's located along Jalan BBN 1/2B . 

Corner Unit

Parking Is Convenient

Indoor & Outdoor Seating Spaces

Nice Decoration

This restaurant was quite huge with both indoor and outdoor seating areas. Once we arrived, I did a quick Google search on this restaurant just to get some feedback. Most of the feedback didn't seem too positive. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing over and over and that was all about average food and sky high prices. Well, no one mentioned that the food was horrible and so that was okay with us. We were already starving and were truly in bliss to have found this restaurant and so decided on giving this place a try. parking was very convenient and that was another plus point. I wonder why this locality seems so dead. Seems like a deserted place. After all, with it's close proximity with all the Universities and Colleges, I would definitely expect more traffic here. Coming back to the restaurant, the place was reasonably clean and the staffs were quite friendly. Some of them were even chatty and that felt nice. They have also spent quite a bit of money on the renovations. Being my very first visit here, I asked them for their menu to see the options that were available and one of the staffs got it for us.

Menu

Drinks Menu

Breakfast Items Menu

Thosai & Roti Canai Menu

Naan & Tandoori Menu

Tomyam Variety

Tomyam Variety

Western Food Variety

Tomyam Variety

Western Food Variety

Western Food Variety

Western Food Variety

Western Food Variety

Wow! Their menu was very elaborate with a wide variety of dishes available. Prices were definitely on the high side. Besides the usual Indian Muslim food, the variety also extended to Tomyam and Western Food. The Western Food wasn't cheap either. Having gone through their menu, we walked in to check out their Curries. 

Curries

Perhaps, many of their dishes had been sold out during lunch and these were the only left overs. Still good variety, but it didn't look too great. I was somewhat not convinced but my brother decided to give it a try. Good it was as I could also then taste them and give a wider coverage  in my review this evening. I then left my brother to select his dishes and walked back to our table.

My Brother's Lunch @ RM 5.00

Do note that we did not know the prices of these until the time that we paid for them. Having known them now, I would share them as and when I write about each of those items that we had. This alone was priced at RM 5.00 . It was just a plate of rice, some Sambal Sotong gravy (minus the sotong), some Fish Gravy, a little bit of Mixed Vegetables and some Fried Bitter Gourd. Pretty much, this is a vegetarian meal (except for the fact that we took a dash of gravies from the non vegetarian dishes) and should rightfully only cost us RM 3.50 or RM 4.00 at most. The price of RM 5.00 for this was definitely high.

Sambal Sotong Gravy and Fish Gravy

Their Sambal Sotong gravy was a tad too sweet. I would expect 'Sambal' to be spicy but this was like some 'Honey' dish. Definitely a wrong choice. Taste was also very mediocre. I would only rate this gravy at 5/10 . Their Fish Gravy was also nothing much to shout about too but it was surely better when compared to the earlier one. Non spicy but sufficiently spiced, I would rate this at 7/10 . Overall, very average curries.

Fried Bitter Gourd

This was quite decent in taste though some had been slightly over fried and caused a slight burn to the Bitter Gourd. But taste wise, it was nice. I would rate this at 8/10 .

Mixed Vegetable

Another preparation that was nice. Nothing much in terms of the vegetables used, slightly over cooked but tasty. Would have been better if the amount of oil used was reduced and also the cooking time lessened. I would rate this at 8/10 .

Fried Chicken @ RM 9.00 per thigh

Fried Chicken @ RM 9.00 per thigh

In contrast to all the earlier dishes that we tried, this Fried Chicken was simply superb! It was a full thigh that had been chopped and served separately. The marination was simply fantastic, the chicken was cooked to perfection and it tasted so juicy and the meat was very tender. Absolutely loved it. Taste wise, I would rate this at 9.5/10 . Coming to the pricing, is RM 9.00 justified for this? Personally, I would not mind paying for quality and this indeed was 'quality'. Of course, other's may have different views and I truly respect that. As for me, I sincerely felt that the earlier curries definitely did not deserve the price paid but this truly did.

Sup Kambing @ RM 4.90

Well Flavoured

Nice Mutton Cuts

I, having seen that they had the Indian Muslim Sup Ayam and Sup Kambing, decided to go for the latter as it is one of my all time favourite Indian Muslim dishes. And this one was very reasonably priced at RM 4.90 .The usual one that I go for in Kuala Lumpur is around RM 6.50 and it's about the same size with the same amount of meat content. So, this is definitely cheap! Taste wise, it was just okay. The soup was well flavoured but it could have been definitely better. Lacked pepper too! That spicy factor that I was looking for was surely missing, otherwise it was nice. The meat cuts were lean without too much fat in them. I wouldn't say that this is one that is recommended but no harm trying if you feel like having it. I would rate this at 6/10 .

Computerised Chit

Once we were done with our lunch, we handed the above chit to the cashier who then mentioned the total payable amount which brought us both to a shock. It was then I had asked him for the detailed print out and the cashier provided it. Without saying anything more, we just paid for our meal and left. In summary, I feel that their curries aren't great. Their Mutton Soup was quite average too. The only dish that truly stood out this evening would be their Fried Chicken and once again, the price is subjective and depends on the individual as to how you perceive it. Definitely not for one who's planning on just having a quick meal during lunch before heading back to office. Those would definitely get a shock of their lives. Do judge for yourselves and then decided if this eatery is suitable.

Address: Along Jalan BBN 1/2B, Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai,

                Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.

Opening Hours: 24 Hours Daily

Website: http://www.restoranalsalam.com/index.htm 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Al-Salam-Nilai/157746257614729