Bangsar? Yes! Bangsar! It is just too addictive that I have to included it here. Just to clarify, our blog handles the travels, including the food found in KL/PJ, as work takes me to KL/PJ all the time. This entry is special, been putting if off for some time now, it is just too addictive to leave out. A must try!
Everyone knows the famous TMC Supermarket in Lucky Gardens, Bangsar and just behind it is a row of aged stalls featuring various types of food. One stands out - the nameless fish head curry stall - right at the end. You can't miss it, it is always packed and during peak, people are queuing up to be served. The multi-lingual bald headed owner I suspect was a stand up comedian in his previous life, listening to him communicate with his workers is like watching a Tamil comedy on TV. He is a comic and he keeps you entertained - its part and parcel of the deal here.
The food is nothing special, really. Fish Head Curry, cooked in huge pots with some ladies finger thrown in, not over done - just right. If you want vegetables, there is some simple boiled taugeh. Just queue up and serve yourself.
The basics here - rice with some fish curry. Then your choice comes: fried fish (small. normally when I don't take a fish head, this is my alternative), fried chicken, fried squid/sotong or if you have 2 or more in your group, you can choose to take a fish head. It comes in various sizes and a verity of fishes.
Since there was 2 other partners in crime this afternoon, decided to take a big fish head (it looked like Ikan Merah). As you can see here, it is just 'plonked' into the plate and served - no dressing up - crude raw stuff. Mind you, we were seated at a make-shift area by the road side, under the trees, placed with movable tables and chairs. The lucky ones were under the DBKL built stall, congested and hot, but no body complains.
Next up, fried chicken! Well marinated and just scooped out of the frying pan - its a must have, to go along with the curry. They keep frying and dishing it out, you can't resist. It has a nice home made taste to it. Very tasty.
Same goes for the fried squid/sotong - big ones, deep fried and served just out of the frying pan. Delicious! It is nice and crunchy (fresh) and goes well with the fish curry. Normally nice big ones, but today it was a bit smaller.
Now put the fish head curry, the chunks of rightly cooked flesh you scoop out of the head, the ladies fingers, the sotong and the fried chicken together, topped up with a dash of taugeh, it makes a perfect mouth watering lunch. I notice everyone stopped talking once food was served, busy eating.
We were seated on the road shoulder behind the stall and observing the people coming here (over the last few months, on previous visits), it ranges from the guy with a Porsche to the foreign workers from TMC. You can get a meal as cheap as RM3.50 or a lavish big fish head curry feast plus all the extras and 2 drinks each for RM60 (RM20 per person) - which in my books is very affordable.
Surgeon General Warning: Let me warn you about the addiction. I first tried this fish head curry about 6 months ago, soon after introduced it to a friend of mine, then another. All of us has since confessed, we get sudden unexplainable urge to drive up to Lucky Garden to have this fish head curry, sometimes eating alone. Why? I suspect some serious addiction to this fish head curry! Don't ask me what they put in the curry, I suspect it is something I can't write here about. We now have a regular once-a-month, Saturday afternoon outing to Bangsar to savour this fish head curry. It is one of a kind.
I'll say its similar to the once-upon-a-time Sentul Fish Head Curry and Hotel Istana's Fish Head Curry - which is just history today. So, rush out to Bangsar, before this becomes history. You won't regret it. Be prepared to queue up and sweat it out, during peak hours. Food is Halal, I term it as Malay-Indian type cooking and it is a typical ALL MALAYSIAN stall - all races. This is the real 1Malaysia Food!
This place is famous for their "lai sar yee" (translated as sandy fish?). The tilapia fish is filleted, sliced and deep fried (including the bones) together with something that gives it a grainy texture (hence the name, sandy fish). The fish is served with thinly sliced (julienne) cucumber and onions in a tangy vinegar sauce. Eaten together, the fish and cucumber is just heavenly. Whoever created the combination deserves a place in the Hall of Fame. The fish is usually picked clean with all but the main skeleton of the fish left behind.
Now for those in the know, this is also the best place in Kajang for a reasonably priced bowl of shark's fin soup. I must admit that I was never a big fan of shark's fin, and now with the anti-shark's fin eco movement, I have even less craving for it. But if you have a bent for it, give it a try here. It's a little starchy but it tastes pretty good. Pardon the half empty bowl, I only realized after it was half gone that I hadn't taken my pix yet. Too busy tucking in the good food.
Another signature dish here is taufoo topped with
