Aunty Nat

I visited Aunty Nat recently with a friend for lunch, and I am happy to say … it was a good lunch. Hmm… how’s that, to start off my article. And should I also say that it’s alright to think that this is going to be a good review, since I started it by mentioning “I had a good lunch?”. Of course not ! One should also take into consideration your lunch company, the traffic in the restaurant and also … the logistic of the place.

Aunty Nat is located in MidValley Megamall (someone told me it’s now known as Mid Valley City) … and it’s at the Boulevard. Alright, for the uninitiated … The Boulevard is not IN MidValley but opposite it. That’s right …. away from the mall. So don’t come complaining if you go hunting for Aunty Nat in the mall and can’t find it !

Having said that, I’d like to add that Aunty Nat some decent Nyonya food. Not only that, having a nice setup in the restaurant helps as well.

As quoted by Star Kuali “It’s rustic charm and quaintness, coupled with a touch of the contemporary, certainly appeals to many Malaysians, especially those with a penchant for Nyonya food”.

As for the food, we had 3 dishes … namely Brinjal with Dried Prawns, Assam Sotong and a Nyonya signature dish, Chicken PongTeh. Very often, this dish is the benchmark of a good Nyonya restaurant. I have tasted some of the ‘best’ homecooked Ayam (chicken) PongTeh and Ayam (chicken) buah keluak hence meeting my expectations on the quality of these Nyonya dishes will not be easy.

In Aunty Nat, the Brinjal with Dried Prawns were served with largely cut brinjal slices and sprinkles of dried prawns to add to the tasted. It’s a little spicy (most Nyonya dishes are either spicy or sour) but unfortunately the brinjals slices were a little to thick. At times, you may taste a little rawness in the brinjals.

As for the Assam Sotong (squid), I absolutely love the assam gravy. Spicy and sour, mix it with rice and you will have tingling ears as you swallow your next piece of squid down your throat. My thumbs up for this dish.

As for the Ayam (Chicken) PongTeh, the chicken is tender and just right … but as I took the first mouthful, I was expecting the aroma of the sweet bean paste but it was bland. Nothing close to my expectation. Just too bad I did not try the Perut Ikan dish … that’s another classic Nyonya dish that one should try in a Nyonya restaurant.

Have you ever wondered how did Nyonya food came about ? More often than not, we only say “Nyonya food” or “Peranakan food”, but we do not say “Baba food”. This is due to the fact the women do most of the cooking. Nyonya food was invented by the Peranakan people of Malaysia and Singapore. It uses mainly Chinese ingredients but blends them with South-East Asian spices such as coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, screwpine leaves, chillies and sambal. It can be considered as a blend of Chinese and Malay cooking.

Examples of Nyonya dishes include:

Laksa lemak is a type of laksa served in a rich coconut gravy.
Otak-otak is a fish cake grilled in a banana leaf wrapping. The town of Muar is famous for it.
Ayam pongteh, a chicken stew cooked with tauchu and gula melaka that is sweetish
Ayam buah keluak, a chicken dish cooked using the nuts from Pangium edule or the “Kepayang” tree, a mangrove tree that grows in Malaysia and Indonesia
Cincalok, a distinctly Peranakan condiment made of fermented shrimp
Se Bak, pork loin, marinated overnight with herbs and spices, cooked over a slow fire and simmered to perfection.

REVIEWS & INFORMATION

Contact Details

Aunty Nat
5G, Signature Office
The Boulevard Mid Valley
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Wilayah Persekutuan

Outlets:
• No. 26, Jalan SS21/39 (next to Standard Chartered bank) in Damansara Utama, Damansara
Phone: 03-7725 3011
• 4, Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur
Phone: 03-2168 8126

Ratings
OVERALL RATINGs : * * * (Nice setup but foodwise, there’s room for improvement)
Environment Ratings : * * * * (Authentic, nice & quiet)
Food Ratings : * * * (2 out of 3, come on … you can do it !)
Service Ratings : * * * * (Very attentive waiters)
Value Ratings : * * * (Quite EX. I rather wait my annual chance to eat my homecook ones)

Operation Details
Average Price : RM20++ per person
Business Hrs : Monday to Sunday 12:00 noon till 10:00 pm
Accepted Cards: AMEX, VISA, MASTERCARD

Miscellaneous Details
Halal : Yes
Dining Method : Dine in, take-away
Food/Cuisine : Nyonya
Specialities :
Tumeric Fried Chicken, Kiam Hu Curry, Lemon Grass Steamed Fish, Nyonya Assan Fish, Pan Fried Soya Sauce Prawn, Homemade Otak-Otak, Sambal Angle Beans, Ju Hu Char, Perut Ikan, Caramel Custard, Sago in Gula Melaka, Kan Sui Choong with Kaya.
Ambiance/Features : Authentic traditional settings
Reservations : Yes

- Set Menus and a la Carte Available

Sandias Meet

I figure I should write something about the recent ‘floggers’ gathering.

So here’s a little something that I compiled. I did not take much shots, all facial shots were virtually unrecognizable except one hence I decided to post only food shots.

Just to recap, meeting you fellow food bloggers at Sandias is rather exciting ! Just like what some of you mentioned, it’s like a blind date. You don’t know who you are meeting until the other person mention his/her “callsign”.

It’s rather like superheroes, you know … you never know their true identity. But of course, in our case .. all you have to do is ask.

Anyway … here’s are some food shots … and 1 single shot of Nigel stuffing up. Enjoy !

I

Colors Of Siam

This is gonna be an odd posting, since there won’t be much reviews involve … particularly since most of the food found here are really, really good !

I was at Plaza Damas last Sunday (6th May 2007) with my family and discovered that the Siam Fair was ongoing there. I’ve never really been to one, despite passing by a lot …. all the time. I remember seeing it in Amcorp Mall a couple of months back, but did not stop to look at it. I guess I took it for granted that these events are here all the time.

But this time round, I actually visited the booths individually and found that they sell very interesting stuffs. There were clothings .. those that is only available in Thailand, is now suddenly available here in Malaysia. They also sell crockeries, decorative stuffs … exotic costume jeweleries and many many other stuffs. Stuffs you only find in streets of Phuket or Bangkok. You’ll also find those folks serving you are all authentic Thai nationals …either that or they speak really lousy english with really good Thai accent. You know … the one that goes … veli chhhipp.. veli chhhipp.. you wann masshaage… oni thhenn linggitttt…. (english : very cheap, very cheap, you want massage? Only ten ringgit)

But I think the motherload of it was the food. I see tomyam … of course ! There’s tomyam noodles, curry laksas … local Thai desserts such as Mango in Sticky Rice (I learned abt this dessert from Basil, my recent review). So how exactly is the food here, you might ask….

Like I said earlier, generally the food found here are exceptionally delicious .. to my standard, that is …. ! The tomyam …. yum, yum … spicy …delicious, appetizing … the curry … thick and milky … the mangoes are … mouth-watering … the sticky rice with coconut milk is just so ever soft … it slides down your throat, just like that. And that ever so crunchy fried prawns … oooooh … wish I had a beer to down it with those prawns … dipped in that special chili sauce. Words can’t decribe much more of what I have experienced … other than to show it to you.

But let it be my word of advice to you … the travelling Thai fellows will be around until 22/5/2007 only. And they open daily from 10:30am to 9:30pm …. so

khhamm fhhasst fhhasst, veli fhhasst no mor …
(come fast fast, very fast no more)