Arab food in a malay village

My first taste of an arabic dish was when I was a small boy. For breakfast one day, my mother cooked some mashed green-coloured beans with spices and toasted a few french loaf slices to go with it. The dish was eaten with an egg fried in ghee plus some roughly-chopped onions and green chillies as garnish.

At first try, the thing had a spicy-bitter taste that was hard to describe... but I loved it. Mom said that the dish is called `kacang pol'. Funny name, I thought... but later on in life I noted that there are variants to the name : pol, pool, ful and even phool. All these from translating the original arabic name of foul medames.

In my trip to Cairo in 2004, I had my first taste of authentic foul medames. The buffet breakfast spread at the hotel had two versions of the dish, Egyptian-style and Lebanese-style... of course I tried both. Slightly different tasting compared to mom's version but delicious all the same.

My exposure to middle-eastern cuisine further broadened during my short stint working in the United Arab Emirates. The tough pressure of work was somewhat compensated by food-tasting adventures. That was where I developed an affection for lamb mandey and lovely fresh salad dishes. Nowadays, whenever I hear of an Arabic restaurant opening up in KL, I would make an effort to try it out. To date, Saba Restaurant at Jelatek is still the best in my book.

Of late, Johor Bahru is seeing a few genuine Arabic restaurants opening for business... genuine in this sense, meaning with real Arab cooks. Not those run by locals who cook from recipes they learned when they were students in Egypt or Jordan or wherever. The latest one is called Wadi El-Arab Restaurant located right here in my district of Kg Melayu Majidee. It just opened a few weeks ago and I must say the owner is taking a huge gamble in opening a speciality restaurant out of the city centre.

It was our youngest son's 17th birthday on Friday and so I decided to have the celebration dinner at this new eating place. Wadi El-Arab is located just across the Medan Selera Kg Melayu (where you can get the best ABC in all of JB). The place used to be someone's house and was renovated into a restaurant. Decor-wise, there is nothing to shout about. The front part of the dining area is carpeted and has low tables for that sitting-on-the-floor experience. The inner dining area has simple round tables of the kopitiam type, not quite to my liking.

The menu choices is about average I guess, but sufficient enough for those not familiar with arabian food to try out some variety. They have bokhari rice, makloubeh, kofta, shawarma, shish tawok plus some salads and soups. Most importantly (to me, at least) they have mandey.

The birthday boy and his elder brother had grilled lamb kofta while the missus ordered the same but beef. These are spiced minced meat rolled onto metal skewers, grilled over charcoal fire, served with roasted eggplant and homous, and eaten with arab flat bread. I ordered what else but lamb mandey... at RM19.80 per plate, the most expensive rice dish on the main course menu. Wasn't the best that I had (which would still be at a restaurant somewhere in Muscat, Oman) but still on the okay side. The kofta dishes are the tasty ones. Overall not too bad... but they really need to pull in more crowd to make the long haul.

The cover menu card

Mandey lamb rice

Lamb kofta

And I honestly hope they do because it is now so easy for me to satisfy my craving for a mid-eastern dish with this place at my doorstep. I'm already thinking of the next dish to try.... perhaps their makloubeh, the upside-down rice and lamb/chicken combo.

A Good Makan Spot in JB (4)

With the missus lodged in the 1st Class Ward of Hospital Sultanah Aminah, it has been consecutive dining out experience for my youngest son and me for the past three nights. Not that I don't know how to cook... but with the rush back from work, battling the evening traffic and trying to reach the hospital before end of visiting hours, I can't be bothered to spend time in the kitchen.

What I've been doing is to get home as early as I can, pick up my son and then head off to the hospital to visit his mother. On the way back, we stop by any convenient makan place to grab a bite to eat.

For our dinner tonight, I decided to re-visit a classy restaurant located at Jalan Abdullah Tahir, not far from JB city centre. Actually, the main reason for dinner at this place is because I wanted to wash my car. Jalan Abdullah Tahir is the carwash centre of JB.... there are maybe 7 or 8 places (I've lost count) where you can have your car cleaned.

Banafee Village Restaurant is located next to such a carwash and so it's terribly convenient to let your car have a shower while you have some chow. We first tried out this restaurant when it opened for business around two years ago. It was a Ramadhan buffet spread and I wasn't very much impressed at that time because the food wasn't that tasty. As such, it never crossed my mind to give the place another try.... until tonight.

This time around, I am happy to note that there have been improvements. The menu now is quite extensive. They offer Chinese, Western and even Arabic cuisine. I decided to try out the Lamb Hanith, a traditional Yemeni dish while my young man went  for the Baked Lamb Leg. I believe I've mentioned this before... father and son are both lamb enthusiasts.

The leg arrived first and my son quickly tucked into it. I asked him if it tasted good and he simply nodded. I always trust his judgement when it comes to the taste of lamb dishes. I cut off a piece of the meat from his plate and tried it myself and sure enough, the dish was cooked by a pro.

My order of lamb and rice arrived. When I opened the foil package containing the lamb, my first impression was that it looked a bit dry. Upon the actual eating of it, I decided that the taste was not too bad. Maybe slightly below my favourite lamb hanith dish at Saba Restaurant in KL, but I'll give Banafee the thumbs up. My plate of rice and the accompanying salad was wiped clean.

I believe Banafee Village also offer live music entertainment but we didn't stay to watch. My car is already washed and it was time to head home and blog about it.

Baked lamb leg

Hot and cold. Teh halia in the mug and choco milkshake for the young man

Lamb hanith... delicious.

Sour and spicy

In the days before there was the North-South Expressway, a trip by car from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur would eat up time in the region of 6 hours. You have two main routes which you can choose; the first is by way of Yong Peng - Segamat - Tampin - Seremban on the Federal Route1 while the second involve turning on to Federal Route5 at Air Hitam and onwards to Batu Pahat - Muar - Melaka before rejoining the route at Tampin.

I usually prefer to take the 2nd alternative even though it means passing through more small towns and villages (i.e. a longer journey time). I like to travel this way because I can break my journey at a few places of choice where I get to taste some lovely foodstuff. Depending on the time of travel, I could either stop for makan at Batu Pahat for mouth-watering nasi beriyani, or at Muar for some delicious mee bandung.

Ever since the completion of the highway, it has been ages since we last drove on the Batu Pahat - Muar road. That meant that it has been quite a while since we last sampled the original beriyani Batu Pahat or mee bandung Muar. Over the years, we hear more recommendations from friends about good makan places in BP, Muar and even Melaka but unless we have specific reasons to make a detour, we were unable to try them out.

On our journey to KL last Friday however, we decided to take the old road, just so we can try and taste a dish that has been highly recommended by a few friends and relatives. It is a dish that both Johor and Melaka folks claim to cook better than people from other states in Malaysia, and it is called Asam Pedas. According to word-of-mouth and also TV reports, the place to get the tastiest asam pedas is at the small town of Parit Jawa in Muar.

We have never been to this place before, so our decision to check it out is purely based on trial and error. Driving from south, Parit Jawa is located a few kilometres before reaching Muar town. As we approached Parit Jawa, we spotted a signboard saying `Medan Selera Asam Pedas'. We followed the sign and later reached an area by the river that looks like the place where fishermen unload their catch from the sea. There are a few food stalls claiming to sell the famous asam pedas so we simply chose one that seems to have more customers.

The stall we patronised is called Asam Pedas Mak Ngah. I left it to my better half to pick the dishes and she chose kepala ikan jenahak, kupang (mussels) goreng cili, tauge masak lemak, telur asin and ulam sambal belacan. It was a lovely spread and the taste was not disappointing. The trick to delicious asam pedas is in using fresh fish. The three of us (wife, son and myself) wiped the plates clean. Truly worth the extra miles in making the detour and the damage was only RM48. Now that's real value for money.

A view of the spread

Jenahak fish head

Tasty fresh mussels

The fishermen's jetty at Parit Jawa

Ada mee di sebalik udang...

If you happen to travel from Pontian town towards the fishing village of Kukup, you may notice a bridge crossing Sungai Rambah. Next to this bridge is a small fisherman's jetty and a simple foodstall. The look of the foodstall is nothing to write about... I've passed by this road countless times and had not noticed it until a friend suggested I try tasting the mee bandung udang. And when it comes to trying out tasty makan places, I'm always up for it...

A few days ago, I was on my way to look for a place to break my fast and noticed that the foodstall was open. I made a stop and had a look at the simple handwritten menu on a large card pasted on the wall. I ordered a nescafe tarik and mee bandung.

The stall owner asks if I want mee bandung biasa, mee bandung udang or mee bandung udang special. `Yang special tu macam mana bang?' I ask back.

`Oh, yang itu udang lebih,' was the simple reply. Of course I have to go for the special la kan?

Prawns and noodles are really meant for each other. Any dish involving the combination of these two ingredients normally cannot go wrong. When my plate of mee bandung udang special arrived at my table, the large prawns actually covered the noodles. The whole dish was delicious. The prawns were fresh and the gravy tasty too. Of course I had to sort of not think about the effects of increased cholesterol intake... if you know what I mean.

Makanlah selagi ada selera.... that's my motto.

At only RM8 a plate, this dish was worth it

A different taste of KFC (kampung fried chicken)

On Thursday, The Star Online carried a news item about a blogger and Google being sued by the owner of a fish head curry restaurant in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently the blogger had written a negative review of the restaurant in May of last year and this supposedly caused a drop in the restaurant's business.

Although the suit has just been filed, does it mean that bloggers cannot do anymore food reviews, or at least the negative ones? I have read the blog posting in question and except for a demeaning phrase, I consider the rest of it as the blogger's personal opinion of the food that he had tasted. If the restaurant's business can significantly suffer because of that one review, then whoever wrote that piece must've been one influential blogger indeed! Instead of trying to improve the taste of his dishes, the restaurant owner has decided to sue the blogger... and amazingly dragging Google into the process at the same time. Let's pause for a moment and consider the reverse scenario. If the blogger had written a ravingly positive review and this helped improve the restaurant's income, would the owner pay the blogger some form of reward?

Lest I get sued next, I am not naming the restaurant or the blogger, or linking the post that caused the restaurant owner to be upset.... read the Star article and google the names for yourself. I note that a few other blogs have also picked up on the story.

I have written a few restaurant and food reviews myself... and why not? Food is my second most favourite subject. Will I be discouraged to write anymore reviews because of this incident? I don't think so... in fact, I am writing one right now...

Ever since being transferred to Kuala Lumpur early last year, I have heard a few friends mention of a certain makan place in Cheras that serves tasty ayam kampung goreng. The proper translation for this is actually `fried kampung chicken' but saying it as `kampung fried chicken' gives it a twist in comparison to the other more famous fried chicken variety. The operative word here is `kampung', which is the adjective describing the chicken. Translating it to `village chicken' somehow does not sound quite right. The closest equivalent in English that I can offer is probably `free-range chicken'. This is the variety of poultry reared in open farms as opposed to the broiler chickens bred in closed pens strictly for their meat where their lifespan is a mere 42 days (or thereabouts) from hatching to slaughter.

Restoran A. Hassan is located next to the KL velodrome in Cheras. Their signature dish is ayam kampung goreng. Yesterday, with the help of a colleague, I visited the place for the first time. It was packed with the lunchtime office crowd but there were tables available because the restaurant has additional eating areas on the upper floors. That fact alone tells us how popular the place is. If fried chicken is not your fancy, not to worry.... there are plenty of other dishes to choose from. Prices are reasonable and parking surprisingly is very convenient. Made me wonder why I had not discovered this place much earlier.

So the next time I am in Cheras during lunchtime... you know where you can find me. That concludes my first food review for the year.

Sorry for just including the pic of the building. Pic of the actual ayam kampung dish is too blurry...

Blogging from Kuantan

If there is such a thing as an adopted hometown, then Kuantan would be mine. Perhaps I'll retire here...

I am in Kuantan now to attend the wedding of a nephew on my wife's side. The nikah ceremony would be held this morning but I don't want to wait after that to post something because I may not have the time. It would be a busy schedule to travel back to KL later today and then rush back to JB on Sunday morning for another wedding invitation there.

So to kill some time before breakfast, here's some pics taken in Kuantan.... what else but my favourite subject of food.

The first night here, we had dinner at The New Horizon Garden Restaurant. It's the second time we are there, the first being in December last year. It is a very cosy restaurant recommended by blogger Mamasita and I'd now probably be patronising the place every time I come to Kuantan. After the dinner, I uploaded one of the pics to my FB wall and immediately got a response from another Kuantan blogger-friend, Versedanggerik. Apparently she was also there at about the same time but she was dining with her friends on the upper floor. So near and yet so far...

Lunch the following day was at Restoran Wak Sofian, located in one of the old row of shophouses at Jalan Besar. This place serves minang food or what I call as nasi padang. Quite tasty. Reminds me of a nasi padang stall in JB I used to frequent for lunch during the early days of being a salaried worker.

The boys were first to dig in, as usual

Deep fried siakap Hongkong style

Sizzling spicy squid

Large squids cooked minang-style

Jalan-jalan & makan-makan

Ever since coming over to work at our KL Head Office, I have encouraged my staff, especially the junior engineers, to visit the project sites while the works are still under construction. This will broaden their knowledge and provide them with some understanding on the methods of construction. Sometimes, young engineers prepare designs based on ideal theoretical principles without consideration to practicality.

Last Friday, I took a group of them to visit two of our project sites, in Perak and in Penang. The first project in Terong, Perak is a secondary school in its early stages of construction. Afterwards, we headed out to Butterworth where we spent the night. The next day, we visited the second project at North Butterworth Container Terminal, where the construction of the extension berth and container storage facilities is nearing completion.

Apart from the technical visits, there are of course the makan-makan sessions which everyone looks forward to. We had dinner at Puncak Mutiara Cafe... the place I previously wrote about here -> Beriani Peha Kambing.

Lunch was at the famous Din Ikan Bakar of Kepala Batas. Actually to me, the taste of the grilled seafood at Din's is biasa-biasa saja... but what makes the place really special is the variety of fish that you can find. This includes ikan merah, ikan pari, sotong, udang and ketam. In addition to seafood, they also have a variety of daging and ayam bakar. All of them really mouth-watering... and I've not even mentioned the soups.

It was a really tiring two days but thoroughly enjoyable... and I hope my staff have learned something new too. Now what I need to do is to work out that excess food in my system...

 

  At SMK Toh Johan, Terong, project site

Post-panamax quay cranes at NBCT project site

Thumbs-up for the grilled kambing

Ikan merah bakar, ikan pari bakar dan ulam-ulaman... masa ni udang bakar belum sampai

How can you think about cholesterol when you see grilled prawns like these...

Just look at the size of that shrimp.

Flooded prawn mee

It has been a while since I last posted about food... so let's do that now.

I'm not sure if I have translated the name of this dish correctly. In Malay it is called `mee banjir udang', the implication being that there are more prawns than noodles in one bowl of the stuff. Well... you know how people tend to exaggerate. The prawns don't quite flood the dish but there are a few large ones and fresh and juicy too.

Ada udang di sebalik mee? Ataupun ada mee di sebalik udang?

I am of course, talking about the famous prawn mee of Kuala Sepetang in Perak. Having heard of this delicacy from some friends and seen it on local TV food programmes, I couldn't resist heading out to the place although it is nearly a 40-minutes drive away from our project site in Taiping. But no distance is going to stop me from trying out something that many people claim to be so tasty. So tasty that some travellers going north are willing to make a detour and exit the highway at Changkat Jering just to have some of it.

I was told that there are many stalls that sell mee banjir udang along the road from Simpang Taiping all the way to Kuala Sepetang (formerly known as Port Weld). We stopped at a place called Warong Mak Teh, a few kilometres short of Kuala Sepetang town. The stall serves the mee udang in two sizes : biasa (normal) or besar (large). Of course I went for the large portion.

So what's my verdict? Ok, I guess... but certainly tastier that the other so-called famous mee udang of Sungai Dua in Penang. Maybe I did not stop at the correct stall. I'll try the other stalls on my next trip to Taiping before I come to a conclusive opinion. But then, someone told me to try the mee kicap in Ipoh first. Hmmm.... so many places to go and so many things to eat...

Beriani Peha Kambing

If a thing is worth doing, then it's worth overdoing. I am going for three strikes in a row in posting about food...

I'm in Penang at the moment with a colleague. We left KL yesterday after lunch and after a leisurely drive on the NSE, arrived at Butterworth slightly past 6pm. It has been quite a while since I was last here having previously been a regular visitor while handling a project around five years back.

One of the things that I love about Penang is the variety of really delicious food that can be found. I know I've mentioned this previously but it is something that is worth overstating.

Last night, friends from Butterworth took us to a place we have not been to before, to taste fresh locally-reared mutton. The place is called Puncak Mutiara Cafe and it forms part of an agro-tourism enterprise located in Kg. Pelet in Permatang Pauh. The place is actually a goat farm and fruit orchard with a restaurant built within the compounds.

Putting our cholesterol worries aside for the moment, my colleague and I tried the Beriani Peha Kambing while our local friends had the so-called lighter meal of Grilled Kambing. The `peha kambing' in the name refers to a shank of leg bone with a huge chunk of meat on it. The taste was simply exquisite... soft, fresh and tender cooked to perfection. I'm not saying anymore except that I'll be coming to this place again for sure.

Nasi Ambang

It's back-to-back posting about food this week.

On my travel from KL to JB on the North-South Expressway, I would normally make a rest stop at Pagoh RnR. Apart from being located at about halfway of the total distance, the other main reason for stopping here is to taste the nasi ambang sold at one of the foodstalls. In all my travels up and down the NSE, there is only this one stall that sells it.

Nasi ambang is a speciality of Malay kampung folk of Javanese ethnic origin. It is basically plain rice with portions of beef rendang or chicken, sambal goreng tempe (a mix of vegetables and soybean cake), serunding kelapa (fried grated coconut), salted fish and sambal belacan (pounded chilli and prawn paste), all served on a piece of banana leaf. Sometimes a small portion of mee goreng is also added.

I have fond childhood memories of nasi ambang (sometimes spelled as nasi ambeng, because of the specific way to pronounce it). We lived in a neighbourhood of mixed communities but with a fairly large number of orang Jawa. Almost every month, there would be khenduri or thanksgiving feasts, and the ones held by my Javanese neighbours were those I most look forward to... because the nasi ambang they served were simply delicious.

After recital of the surah Yasin and prayers, the meal would be served in large round trays (dulang or talam, in Malay). Plain rice would be packed on the tray and layered with a piece of banana leaf, cut to a round shape slightly smaller than the tray. The other delicacies (meat, chicken, vegetables etc.) are then placed on the leaf. Four persons would share to eat from one tray but we were not supposed to finish it because the balance is meant to be packed and taken home. The task of splitting the stuff on the tray into four equal portions, so that no one party feel deprived, is actually quite enviable. The person who does it has to make sure that one guy doesn't get more meat or chicken from another. In the end, it is the spirit of cooperation and semangat bertimbang rasa that wins the day. That's why the relationships among neighbours were so close in those days.

I had a craving to eat nasi ambang again today... and so for lunch, we headed out to Bandar Baru Uda in Tampoi, JB where the best nasi ambang stall is located. The stall is called Mat Corner and a normal plate of nasi ambang daging or ayam costs RM4. The special plate which has both beef and chicken, costs RM5.50. My wife had the normal plate while my son and I both went for the special, of course. Selagi selera masih ada...

Kueyteow Doli dan Mee Kicap

In May last year, I posted about a makan place called Mali's Corner in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. That place is famous for its Penang Char Kuetiaw. Blogger friend Ladymarko then suggested that I should try the famous Kuey Teow Doli in Taiping, Perak.

I was in Taiping with a colleague on Monday, for the first time. I remembered Ladymarko's comment and decided to look for the place. We had to stop to ask for directions. An elderly gentleman manning a provision shop gave me vague directions but we found the restaurant soon enough.

Doli Kuey Teow Goreng, Taiping

The bill shows standard plate RM4 and large plate RM6

I had the big plate kuetiaw while my colleague had the standard sized one. The taste was okay la.... tapi saya lebih suka yang Mali's Corner.

Driving back to KL later that afternoon, I stopped at Tapah Rest Area for a break. Although I had just eaten a large plate of kuetiaw a few hours earlier, I couldn't resist buying myself a plate of mee kicap from the Chinese-owned Express Stall. This place was a regular stopping point during my frequent trips up north a few years ago.

Mee kicap at RSA Tapah, southbound

There's actually nothing much to shout about this mee kicap. It is an exceedingly simple dish of yellow noodles with beansprouts blanched in hot water, splashed with some soy sauce and topped with slices of fishcake and fishballs. I ordered an additional portion of chicken meat (the one meant for nasi ayam) to give the dish extra flavour. Complete the meal with a glass of apple asam boi from the stall next door and I'm one satisfied customer...

Dinner in Kuantan

Just a brief update on our east coast trip. We are in Kuantan since Friday and plan to drive up to Kuala Trengganu later this afternoon.

It has been seafood dinners for the past two evenings. The first was at Restoran Timur that I got to know of through a Facebook contact. Last night we had dinner at the popular New Horizon Garden Restaurant that I first read in mamasita's blog.

The following are some pics. Full story after we get back...

Oldstock and his 2nd son at Restoran Timur

We had steamed fish, squids in dried chilli and butter prawns

Cousins, at the entrance of New Horizon Garden

Thai-style deep-fried fish as part of a 6 dish package

A good makan spot in Setapak, KL

I was first introduced to Penang char kuetiaw when I was handling a project in Butterworth some years back. I had asked my secretary of a good place to have dinner one evening and she recommended that I try this popular char kuetiaw stall in Bukit Mertajam. I have never been to Bukit Mertajam before but I'm the sort of guy who's game enough to go exploring wherever there is good food to be found.

So armed with simple directions on how to get there, I took a drive to BM in search of the place. After a few tawafs of BM town, I found the stall. And yes, the char kuetiaw tasted good. When I got back to Kuala Lumpur, I found a few stalls around the Melawati area that sold similar tasting char kuetiaw but not as delicious as the one I had in Bukit Mertajam.

Recently, on Astro's Warung Kita programme, they showed a makan place at Taman Bunga Raya near TAR College that sells Penang char kuetiaw. It is called Mali's Corner. On one of my trips to KL last month, I tried to look for this place. I found it... but good lord, the queue to get your plate of the dish was so long! I was terribly hungry and could not afford to wait, so I had something else at another stall.

When we were in KL again last Sunday, my sister-in-law informed us that Mali's Corner has opened a new branch in Setapak Indah. We decided to give it a try.


The new Mali's Corner is a decent-looking restaurant within a row of newly-built shops at an area called Platinum Walk. There are a number of other restaurants on the same row, so you actually have a good choice if you fancy eating something else.

This new restaurant is more upmarket than the original establishment, which is really just a roadside stall. But they still practice the same system of self-service. You go up to the counter to place your order, wait for a few minutes for the kitchen to sizzle-up your char kuetiaw, collect and it bring it to your table. The price of a plate is understandably a bit higher now but not by much. A small plate costs RM4, the large plate costs RM5 while the special plate is priced at RM6.50.

We had the large plate. It tasted not bad at all... on par with what I had at Bukit Mertajam. Certainly worth the RM5.

Mali's Corner also sells nasi lemak with ayam goreng panas. I am told this dish tastes delicious too. I'll be certainly trying this out on our next trip to Setapak.

A good makan spot in Mersing, Johor

I mentioned earlier that we spent the second day of Aidilfitri at my wife's kampung. Having had enough of ketupat and rendang for two days, I decided to take the family out for dinner. As it was still the second day of raya, I didn't think that there would be many restaurants open for business yet, but we took a chance of exploring the small town of Mersing anyway.

Surprise, surprise! We found one that was open and what a find it was. The restaurant is called Sally's Place and the tagline on the signboard says that they serve Chinese Muslim food. Sally's Place is quite unique in that it is actually an old Malay kampung house. The original living room and bedrooms in the raised section of the house are now converted to dining areas. The kitchen is located in a front annexe on the ground floor. Being still a small-time business, the interior decor is nothing to shout about... but the taste of the food was something else.

Our meal that night was made up of Siakap fish steamed Teochew-style, hot-plate ginger beef, black pepper prawns, mixed vegetable soup and egg foo-yung. The steamed fish was exquisite and the beef was delicious. The prawns were a tad small, both in size and portion but the black pepper taste was actually quite good. If they had served us large-sized prawns (for which I don't mind paying for), it would have been perfect. The soup and eggs were not bad too. We cleared all the dishes, no leftovers.

Steamed Siakap, Teochew-style

Black pepper prawns

The whole meal for four cost me RM67 only. How's that for value for money.

I was told that Sally's Place began operating only recently, about 3 or 4 months ago. I hope they can maintain their taste and I wish them continued success. The restaurant is located about two kilometres from the centre of Mersing town, north after the bridge on the road to Endau. They are open during dinner time only.

I went to the place again the next day to take a photo of the house from the outside. Opposite the house is a tranquil beach facing the North China Sea.

If you happen to be spending a night in Mersing, do drop by Sally's Place for a lovely dinner of Chinese Muslim cuisine.

Old Malay kampung house converted into a restaurant

Mersing Kanan beach with a view of Pulau Setindan

Update 01 Dec 2021 : Sally's Place ceased operations many years ago. A few other businesses have taken over the place since then. None seem to last. The house still exists but it's only outdoor dining now.