Monday, June 29, 2009

Kafe Beriani Gam Putrajaya

There was a small stage on the extreme end of the shack. It had an amateurish feel to it, complete with colourful lightings that used to amaze us back in the eighties. You know, those orange and green and red tinted bulbs. The first thought that ran in my mind was that the stage serves as some sort of platform for budding artists to showchase their talents come lunch or dinner time. And I thought that was really cool.

We were having lunch at Kafe Beriani on the afternoon of the Malaysian F1 Grand Prix. A pretty good choice, relatively speaking, as I was sure food at the circuit would be jacked up beyond the decibels of the roaring engines. And to be honest, if not for the race, I wouldn't have found a good reason to travel all the way to this part of the world to gam with the beriani.

As we settled down to try what appeared to be a (huge) plate of rather mildly coloured grains and decorated with a handful of crackers, Zaiton Sameon was about to take the stage. If you have lived through the eighties in Malaysia (and Singapore, to an extend), you would have heard her name at least once. Or more specifically, her infamous song called Menaruh Harapan. As we saw her, it hadn't crossed our minds that she was to perform that afternoon. We simply thought she was there to buy some berianis.

Then, backed by a band of musicians, she began to sing. There were less than a dozen watching her perform but she kept on going, with the same poise we witnessed back in the days of Juara Lagu 1987. One has got to respect this artist for still choosing to do what she loved as the twenty over odd years after Menaruh Harapan had not been easy on her. I wish the best for her in the future, be it in her music career or in life.

Back on our table, the food looked appetising. Well, almost everything red do. There's a good selection of meat to complement the rice. We had the chicken and mutton, which both came in huge cuts. Taste-wise, rather mild if you ask me. And that's quite disappointing as the essentials to a good curry (regardless of culture and cooking styles) include just a simple, sufficient blend of spices. Definitely would have been better had a heavier dosage of flavouring spices been added to the curries. On the bright side, both meats were well-cooked and softly flaky. Served warm as well.

The free-flowing dalcar that came with the rice was a happy potion. Fatty, but definitely happy as it was really flavoursome. One could almost see the half centimetre thick of glistening oil covering the mutton and dhal stew. We have a better word for that. Yes, rich. Now, why can't the mutton and chicken curries be as tasty as this? I drenched the rice with one whole bowl of dalcar and that was really satisfying. No regrets as I burnt it all out walking around the circuit and dashing to the carpark as the rain began to pour, when the race came to a halt.

Tad expensive too, if you ask me. At RM13 for the mutton and RM11 for the chicken sets, I would've expected a more memorable (tastier) gam. I could only applaud the solid portions.

As for the trip down memory lane, now that was something else.

Something good.

Kafe Beriani Gam Putrajaya
Lot Sub 4
Jalan Kajang-Puchong
Mukim Dengkil
43000 Sepang

Click here for Bangsar-Babe's review.

15 comments:

Sean said...

now that's a name i haven't heard in years. gosh, how did you even recognize her? her accident was one of those tragic twists of fate, but it seems cruel that she now performs at a nasi briyani restaurant. i can't help but think it's more out of necessity than choice...

backStreetGluttons said...

Interesting that you have journeyed against all odds to the ends of the world to catch the hallucinatory sonic bust extravaganza called f1 but instead was more taken in by the colored rice and sentimentally swayed to the almost no-more-pulse menaruh harapan. We would have loved her 37-24-38 shape if not for your unshakeable nikonian passion with the sharp grains !

We are suckers for the wrong-planned and the wrongly expected such as this and can feel the tingling senses heating up

Selba said...

Yuuuummmm.... sounds a good combination between F1 Grand Prix with Beriani rice plus mutton gravy... so manly! hehehe..

ladyironchef said...

I wasn't expecting this post, not when the previous reached your quota of the magical seven. HAHA

aww.. free flow eh? sounds good, but sinful.

fatboybakes said...

gawd, the poor woman lost a son in car accident. talk about names from the past! i am sure 95% of your readers donno who zaiton is.

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Pal...you make beriani look soooo good! The dhal was damn shiok...*drools* But for that price and humid ambiance, I'd rather go to JM Bariani in Subang. ;P

Precious Pea said...

Sedap betul lah..can see from the picture how good it is. I was told again and again that this place seriously good.

ai wei said...

spicy food again?! wow, u have all spicy food in a row.

aiks, can't take spicy food now. have to wait til all pimples are cleared >__<

Sugar Bean said...

Wow, Ai Wei is right, so many spicy food, and 3 Indian food in a row. Hehe, looks delicious. We had Indian food here recently, tasted quite different from the ones that we had in KL.

Unknown said...

Mate, one fine resturant for you to check out is Saint Pierre The Resturant in Singapore. The well known chief Emmanuel Stroobant is feature here in TV Australia Masterchef. http://www.masterchef.com
He was feature here as celebrity chef challenge.

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

i b the 1st hands up to say i dont know whos the lady is..

but i do know what nasi briyani is.. n reading this makes me hungry..(just b4 gym somemore)

HairyBerry said...

sean, well, i didnt know until she began to sing. it was my friend who recognized her from afar. yeah, her story was definitely a tragic one. i was still in primary school back then and everyone around me was talking about it. i share your sentiment on the necessity bit. and that thought actually followed me somehow to the F1 race. i guess all that we can do is wish her the best in her career. who knows another menaruh harapan is in store for her, right? that'll be awesome, i think! :D

backstreetgluttons, thanks for the complement, team! i was at the f1 race because i got free tickets, which cost RM500 a piece. so, i guess that's a very good opportunity to go see something that i cant afford..hehe...as for the rice, definitely an interesting find despite the price. yeah, talking about a pic of kak zaiton! my friend was supposed to send me her pics (he got zoom lens!) but havent received it til now. :( agree on the unexpected. nothing beats spontaneity. sometimes la, hehehe...

selba, manly? hehehe...cool! :D i guess most men do like meat and the adrenalin rush. oh, and curry of course! all the aphrodisiacs in the world! :D

ladyironchef, hafta have some element of surprise mah, sometimes..haha! yeah, quite fat the dalcar but the taste was really good stuff!

fatboybakes, yeah, i agree! i dun think some of my ex-classmates know oso..haha! but her song was so famous back then! there was that isabella song also. gosh, remember muzik-muzik on tv3?

HairyBerry said...

bangsar-babe, thanks! yeah, lurve the dalcar, though was rather cold when we had it. ohhh, thanks for the recommendation! will sure be checking that out! hopefully before the next f1! hehehe...

precious pea, yeah, apparently this place is really famous. a lunchspot for those who work in serdang. do check it out before you head to Australia!!

ai wei, haha, no lar, this one not really that spicy la. and i had lotsa cooling dishes in between the meals. pimples? drink cincau! very cooling. :D

sugar bean, well, i dont think this one is purely Indian. i think it has been localised with the gam factor and the cooking style of the rendangs and curry chicken. u had Indian food in Cardiff? cool! do blog about it!

joyce, thanks for the info! well, i did check out Brussel Sprouts by Chef Stroonbant before. Saint Pierre has got to be one of the more well-known fine dines in town. eh, let's go there when u are back! :D

joe, can check out her songs on youtube! :D come to think of it, i havent had briyani in a longgggg time d...but of course, i havent been to the gym in an even longer time oso...the time is here!

Anonymous said...

i have been following this blog for some time now, good job by the way

HairyBerry said...

anonymous, thanks for reading! :)