Maidin Sup Kambing @ Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Maidin Sup Kambing is a stall that needs no introduction to most Mutton Soup lovers in the Klang Valley. This gentleman has been in business for ages and is so famous that he has been promoted by a number of TV channels including the ASTRO Vaanavil Rasikka Rusikka Team. 

Just A Humble Stall

Located Right In Front Of AA Pharmacy

I have always wanted to try this Mutton Soup but never got a chance.  I have come numerous times to Lucky Garden Bangsar and it's always either his off day of he was sold out. Business starts at around 6 pm and goes on till around 11 pm. But if you want Mutton, then please be here before 7.30 pm as that tends to get sold out very fast. Even this evening, he had run out of mutton and we had to settle for his Chicken Soup. 

Prices

Ayam Kampung Soup @ RM 10.00

It's just unfortunate that we could not have his famous Mutton Soup as it was sold out and we settled for his Ayam Kampung Soup. The portion was huge and pricey too. The soup itself was something very unique, rich in spices and not the usual kind of soup that is mostly found in Indian Muslim restaurants. My rating for this preparation shall be 8/10. Definitely worth giving it a try when you're in Lucky Garden, Bangsar. 

Address: 30, Persiaran Ara Kiri, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours: 1800 - 2300 Daily

Tino's Pizza Express @ Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur

Bangsar South is a place that has tremendously transformed in the recent years. When I used to visit this place a couple of years back, there were only a handful of eateries. Today, there are so many choices. This afternoon, we were at Bangsar South and decided to give Tony's Pizza Express a try. 

Located At The Ground Floor of Nexus Bangsar South

Very Catchy Designs

This outlet is located on the Ground Floor of Nexus Bangsar South and their business hours are 10 to 10, daily. Their concept was simple and I loved the chic designs. Service levels were excellent too and their staffs were very friendly and helpful. 

They had a good variety of pizza's and they were reasonably priced. As for the crust options, both classic and thin crust were available. Since my friend was a vegetarian, we decided to go for any one of the vegetarian pizzas and finally decided on the Margherita Pizza. 

Margherita Pizza (M) @ RM 21.90

We had initially wanted to order two pizza's but the waiter informed us that one is good for two. Luckily she did stop us as it was really huge. The Margherita Pizza comes with cherry tomatoes, grada padano, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. I found the ingredients to be good and even the bread was soft and lovely. Together, it was definitely a good one and my rating for this shall be 8/10. 

Tino's Pizza does offer some very good pizza's and the variety that is available is impressive. Their pizza's are tasty and reasonably priced. Vegetarian options are available too. If you're around Bangsar South, I would recommend giving this place a try. 

Address: Lot G-15, Nexus Bangsar South, 7, Jalan Kerinchi, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours: 1000 - 2200 Daily

Tedboy Express @ Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

For those living around Bangsar and Kerinchi, you would have been familiar with Tedboy Express. Tedboy Express is a bakery that is located around Bangsar and Bangsar South area. In fact, if I am not mistaken, they have two outlets inside of Bangsar South alone. 

Tedboy Express in Wisma Averis, Bangsar South

Waiting For Our Orders

It has been a while since I last visited them and that was at their other outlet in Bangsar South. I happened to be at Wisma Averis this afternoon and I was surprised to see that they had another much larger outlet here. As it usually is with all their outlets, this too is very much a self service bakery cum restaurant. Besides the usual buns and sandwiches, I was surprised to find that this outlet does also offer some local dishes as well. Not sure if this was something that was only available here or a newly introduced cuisine across all their outlets. 

Iced Honey Lemon @ RM 10.00

Iced Lemon Tea @ RM 10.00

Their drinks have always been impressive and I am very glad that they have been maintaining the quality. Both drinks that we had ordered were absolutely perfect. They were so refreshing and it wouldn't be wrong for me to say that these drinks were amazingly good. My rating for these shall be 10/10. 

Ayam Percik Set with Acar @ RM 15.00

Chicken Pepperoni Pizza @ RM 15.90

Their Ayam Percik Set was decent. I find the portions to be good and for such a set up, their pricing was reasonable too. Taste wise, I would rate this dish at 7/10. Their Chicken Pepperoni Pizza was good. Freshly made to order and they were pretty generous with the ingredients. Even their cheese was of a good quality. My rating for this shall be 8/10. 

Sausage Cheese Danish @ RM 4.80

Cream Cheese Danish @ RM 3.80

Ham & Corn @ RM 2.50

Creamy Chicken Quiche @ RM 3.50

We took a few of their buns and sampled among ourselves. As expected, they were all good and the prices were justified. If I were to rate these, my average rating for their buns shall be 8/10. 

For some good coffee, buns and sandwiches around Bangsar and Kerinchi area, I would recommend Tedboy Express. They do have an excellent variety of buns and they are amazingly good. Reasonable prices as well. Besides these, they also serve some local dishes and those too were good. 

Address: 10, Wisma Averis Tower 2, 8, Jalan Kerinchi, Bangsar South, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours: Monday - Saturday 0800 - 2000 (Closed on Sundays) 

Om Shakthi Chello's Appam Stall @ Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Om Shakti Chelo's Appam stall has been around for about 29 years now. Most KL'ites living around Bangsar would be very familiar with this stall. This stall is located along Lorong Ara Kiri 3 in Lucky Garden.

Om Shakthi Chello's Appam Stall

This stall is located at the far end of the Lucky Garden Hawker Centre. There is another stall in the middle that claims to have the best Appam in KL. I am not too sure about that but the stall that I am referring to is the one located at the end where most crowd could be seen at any time. What makes this Appam unique is that it is prepared according to the Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) style of preparation which is moist at the center unlike the Indian style which is dry and you would have to add coconut milk while eating. Here however, the coconut milk is added while cooking making the taste completely different to the Indian one. Besides the plain one, they also have the one with Brown Sugar added.Those days, cooking is only done by the lady boss but due to expansion, she has trained a few Filipino helpers to assist with the preparation and they seem to be doing it well too. We were here around 6.30 pm to order 10 Milk Appams and we were told to wait for 40 minutes as they have orders pending. This is very common here as business is really good.  

Plain Pal Appam @ RM 1.50 each

Brown Sugar Appam @ RM 1.70 each

We wanted to take away and they had skilfully packed them with layers of plastic between the Appam's so that they do not stick on to one another. I have not seen this Sri Lankan variety of Appam made elsewhere except in Ceylonese homes and functions. Except that of late, we do have some Sri Lankan restaurants that do have these but they are sold at premium prices.  I believe that this is the only place where you could get them in a stall like concept. The Appam's were perfect. The plain Appam's were priced at RM 1.50 each and the ones with Brown Sugar are priced at RM 1.70 each. I would rate these Appam's at 9/10 . Definitely some good stuff !

Vegetarian Curry Puffs @ RM 0.80 each

Another good one at this stall is their Curry Puffs which should not be missed. Do note that all items here are vegetarian. The puffs have a filling of curried potatoes which is mildly spiced and tastes very good. These puffs deserve a rating of 9/10 as well .

If you are an Appam lover or just happen to be in Bangsar, it is highly recommended that you give this place a try. You would definitely love it and quite possibly become a regular customer. The food is so good that people don't mind waiting in line. Good food and reasonable prices. 

Address: 6A, Lorong Ara Kiri 3, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Business Hours: 1215 - 2100  Closed on Friday & Sundays

Restoran Bala's Banana Leaf @ Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Another South Indian restaurant that had started not too long ago in Bangsar is Bala's Banana Leaf. Located in the congested area of Lucky Garden, this restaurant has managed to make a name for itself and has a steady flow of loyal customers. 

Bala's Banana Leaf Along Lorong Ara Kiri 1

Outdoor Seating Area

Curries Station

This restaurant is located along the same row as TLC Supermarket. Parking is an issue here but if you try driving along the houses, then you should be able to find a spot to work. Nevertheless, it's still quite a walk. The set up is posh, very typical of what you would find in an upscale community like Bangsar and they have both indoor and outdoor seating areas. Service is speedy and each waiter is responsible for a table.He would take the orders, serve you and is responsible for the billing as well. 

Banana Leaf Rice Meal @ RM 8.00 + Iced Water @ RM 0.50

Their Banana Leaf Rice Meal is priced at RM 8.00 and it comes with Rice, free flow of curries, four vegetables, pickles, Moor Milagai, Appalam and Rasam. My drink was a glass of Iced Water and this was priced at fifty cents a glass. For that kind of spread, RM 8.00 is cheap for Bangsar. And the same for the drink as well. 

Vegetables

Rasam

The selection of vegetables were good and they were prepared reasonably well. They had in fact wanted to serve me a larger portion of vegetables and it was I that had stopped them as I did not want to waste. That itself shows that the management does not restrict the waiters from serving larger portions. This is the total opposite of some very famous Banana Leaf Rice restaurants that serve limited portions and charge you for refills. I loved the way the veggies were prepared and my rating for these shall be 8/10. Their Rasam was good as well. Generous with the spices and it did taste good. This too shall get a 8/10 from me. 

Fish Curry

Sambar

Both the curries that I tried this evening was excellent. Their Fish Curry had a lovely blend of flavours and their Sambar came with lots of vegetables. Both deserve a rating of 8/10. 

Mutton Perattal @ RM 10.60

I had also ordered a plate of Mutton Perattal and this was priced at RM 10.60 . Portion wise, I felt that it was a little expensive. The cuts were fatty too but the gravy was delicious. Still, I felt that it was overpriced. Perhaps I would try some other meat dish the next time. My rating for this preparation shall be 7/10. 

My Bill

If you're looking for a good vegetarian Banana Leaf Rice Meal, than Bala's Banana Leaf does offer some good deals. They are very generous with the vegetables and their curries are pretty good. On the contrary, I felt that their meat dish was slightly pricey. Service levels are exceptionally good and the ambience is lovely. Definitely a place that I wouldn't mind coming back. 

Address: No. 25, Lorong Ara Kiri 1, Lucky Garden, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Business Hours: 0800 - 0000 Daily

The Ganga Cafe @ Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

I have heard about Ganga Cafe from many of my expatriate friends. Lot's of positive reviews shared and it's one of those rare places where you get Maharashtrian cuisine in Kuala Lumpur. It has always been on my list of must visit restaurants and only today I got the opportunity to visit this restaurant. 

Ganga Cafe In Taman Bukit Pantai

Located Amidst A Green Residential Area

Simple And Nice

This cafe is located in Taman Bukit Pantai. right between Bangsar and Pantai. Finding the place should not be a problem if you use any of the GPS systems. One of the big challenges here is parking, especially late evenings since there are many high end restaurants along this same row and with very minimal parking bays. One option would be to use the jockey services available. Otherwise, you would end up going in circles just to find a place to park. 

As you can see in their menu, they mainly concentrate on Maharashtrian food and most street food that you commonly get in the streets of Mumbai. Kindly do note that this is a vegetarian restaurant as well. I would not say that their prices are very cheap but these are food items that we do not commonly get in Malaysia and that slight premium is acceptable. Waiting time can be long since most of their dishes are cooked to order. Do expect a wait time of 40 minutes on average. 

Ganga Standard Thali Set @ RM 9.90

Comes With A Choice Of Rice Or Chapati

They do have two types of Thali Meals, 'Light' and 'Standard'. This is their standard one, comes with four vegetables, two gravies and Rasam. Also, you have a choice of going for Rice or Chapati and I opted for the latter. The curries were good and so were the gravies. Definitely different to the ones that we get in South Indian restaurants. If I were to rate them, I would give them 8/10. Their Chapathi's were good as well. The right thickness and served hot. I would rate these at 8/10 as well.

Hyderabad Dum Briyani @ RM 18.00

Raita

Their Hyderabad Dum Briyani was nothing much to be honest. Or, perhaps I am so used to having meat based Briyanis, this seemed like it lacked flavours. But I have eaten Vegetarian Briyani in South India and the flavours were good. Based on this, I can only conclude that this was not up to the mark. It was a little dry as well and lacked gravy. The Raita on the other hand was good but sadly, the rice slacked. My rating for this dish would be 6/10 only. 

Pav Bhaji @ RM 8.90

Their Pav Bhaji was awesome! It tasted exactly like the ones that I had had in Mumbai. The buns were soft and the vegetarian gravy mixed with diced onions and lime was awesome. I would give this 10/10 for sure. 

Vegetarian Mutton @ RM 5.00

Unlike the other dishes that we have tasted thus far, their Vegetarian Mutton was a let down. Firstly, the mock mutton itself wasn't great. Secondly, the portion was probably half the size of my palm and for RM 5.00, that's just not justified. And most importantly, it didn't taste that great either. Considering all these, I would only give this 4/10. 

Sev Potato Poori @ RM 6.00

Their Sev Potato Poori was excellent. Loved the mixture of ingredients inside the Poori's and the taste was very pleasant and authentic. Without a doubt, this is another dish that deserves 10/10. 

Vada Pav @ RM 6.90 each

Their Vada Pav's were just brilliant. Each bite brought scenes of my previous Mumbai visits to my mind. The taste was so authentic and I just fell in love with it. 10/10 is what this heavenly Pav deserves. 

Masala Tea @ RM 3.90

Their Masala Tea was exactly what you would get in Mumbai which isn't like any of those that we would get in South India. Very bold bodied, very rich in spices and a subdued tea taste is what I would say this was. Though it wasn't one that I thoroughly enjoyed since my taste buds are more tuned in to the South Indian version, for it's authenticity I would give it a 10/10. 

The Bill

If you're looking for a place to have authentic Maharashtrian Vegetarian food in Kuala Lumpur, I would suggest Ganga Cafe. Located in Taman Bukit Pantai, they do offer some amazing dishes at very decent prices. A good place for vegetarians who are looking for variety. 

Address: No.19, Lorong Kurau, Taman Bukit Pantai, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur.

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday 0900 - 2300

                             Sunday 1000 - 1500