Some were friendly and happy to chit-chat, but most were preoccupied with business.
Numerous eateries and open-air restaurants offering predominantly Malay and Thai cuisine line both sides of Jalan Raja Muda Musa. Options vary from nasi kerabu to satay and nasi campur as well as bubur nasi berlauk, a dish that seems to be synonymous with Kampung Baru. Just like nasi campur (rice with a selection of dishes), there is a range of dishes to choose from but instead of rice, they are taken with porridge.
Yes, delicious choices are aplenty in Kampung Baru and I reckon that most, if not all, offer decent fare but which would be the locals’ favourites?
One makcik I chatted with while chowing down on excellent meat skewers from Sate Padang Pak Saf sang praises of Suraya Seafood. I’d visited the restaurant during Ramadan and the crowd was crazy. But subsequent visits on weekday evenings saw the place just as hectic and noisy with almost non-existent service; somehow it still draws in a steady crowd.
Two other outlets favoured for good food plus great variety are Kak Som and Chunburi Seafood Kampung Baru. Both offer addictive nasi kerabu, nasi dagang and laksam as well as the typical nasi campur dishes. Nasi kerabu is rice cooked with bunga telang (butterfly pea flower) to give it that distinctive blue hue and accompanied by a variety of shredded raw herbs and vegetables. The other elements in the dish are coconut flakes for that toasty flavour and splashes of sambal and budu (fish sauce). Try this if you don’t mind raw vegetables; otherwise you might want to dig into nasi dagang — rice steamed in coconut milk, served with fish curry, hard-boiled egg and pickled vegetables — instead.
Gerai Pak Lang Ikan Bakar stood out from the other nasi campur outlets for its impressive array of grilled fish. Equally impressive is the long table laden with trays of beef, chicken, fish, cow lung, vegetable and various other ingredients cooked in different ways. The raw vegetables, or ulam, are paired with up to four choices of sambal.
Local food aside, at Medan Selera Pintu Gerbang Amir (A Station Steak House) one can tuck into hearty portions of pasta, chicken chop, steaks and grilled lamb for under RM40. However, flavours are very much localised so do set your expectations accordingly.
Gerai Pak Lang Ikan Bakar; Chunburi Seafood; Nasi Briyani Gam An-Nur; Nasi Lemak Wanjor; Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa; Sate Padang Pak Saf; Suraya Seafood; Kak Som; Medan Selera Pintu Gerbang Amir (A Station Steak House)
LRT/MRT: Kampung Baru
Distance: 200 metres
Operating hours: 7.00am to 2am.
