On a globe-trotting culinary adventure
The Klang Valley offers lots of international food. goes cosmopolitan to sample dishes from 10 countries
1. Mongolia: Mogolian BBQ, TengkaT Tong Shin/ChangkaT BukiT BinTang JunCTion, kuala luMPur
This sidewalk stall is located cheek-byjowl with a convenience store and exudes atmosphere with its glowing green lanterns. Take your pick from the glass case and the hawker will grill them for you.
There are skewers of broccoli, tofu, mushroom, corn, squid, lamb, chicken wings and fishballs.
All the meat skewers have been infused with a marinade that’s as hot as Genghis Khan’s temper. I tear a gobbet of meat from a de-shelled prawn, and it bursts with chilli heat mid-palate and fades away at the finish with a sweet exotic spice. Rating: 2. SPain: Chef Dairy, Jalan Sri harTaMaS 7, TaMan Sri harTaMaS, kl The menu is horribly difficult to read with its grey background and fine font. Apart from Spanish fare, there are also influences from other parts of the Mediterranean.
My squid ink paella is presented as bahia rice gussied up with mussels, squids and prawns cooked in squid ink. Seafood stock in the bahia rice brings the ocean to my nostrils. Hits of iodine from the squid ink slap a delicious high-five with the seafood. Though the menu has to go, the squid ink paella should stay. Rating:
3. Sri lanka: lankan Cafe, Jalan 5/59, TaMan PeTaling, PJ
Its simple menu does not contain any complex dishes. Several dish names are alien to me and the foreign waiters are of limited assistance. For dinner, there are
and amongst others.
My turns out to be string hoppers slicked up with spices and fortified with a small plate of sambal and store-bought crackers. The crackers are plasticky. The sambal is like a one-note blow torch attacking my tongue as it is devoid of layers of flavour. However, the string hoppers are punchy with ripples of exotic spice. The affordable price of this dish earns the cafe a spot on this list. Rating:
4. Peru: BraSaria, loT D-59-g, BloCk D, Jaya one, PJ
Pollo ala brasa, or grilled chicken a la Peru style, was invented by Roger Sculer in the 1950s, and is today one of the country’s most popular dishes. The grilled chicken comes with (Peruvian yellow rice with raisins) and a choice of grilled vegetables, green salad, snow peas or coleslaw.
The bird is the result of a perfect marriage with a bunch of burning logs. It holds the smokiness of the grill as it delivers hits of mild spiciness. It also has an uncommon succulence with a veneer of mild crispy exterior. My green salad is a kaleidoscope of crunchiness that rhumbas well with the yellow rice. Rating: