In my previous post, I mentioned a certain ustaz (religious teacher) from Penang who used to sell roti canai and murtabak at a stall in front of the Bandong shops here in the morning but he has since left town and is no longer around. In the meantime, I noticed some boys setting up a stall in that same area at the so-called Bandong Walk (2.313880, 111.825717)…
– the area has been nicely upgraded and proper stalls have been constructed for those intending to do a little bit of business there.
These very nice and friendly boys from Johore will offer you a chair as soon as you have placed your order so you can sit comfortably and wait (like that lady in the above photograph), a far cry from those places where they make you stand in the hot sun and queue to pay them money for what you want. Outrageous, I must say, and I just cannot understand why there ARE people willing to subject themselves to such humiliation. Not me, never mind how good what they are selling may be!
This is the dough…
…all neatly-arranged in a covered tray, ready to be used and this is the kuah dal (dhal gravy/dip)…
…in a covered container.
These are the other ingredients…
…that would go into your order should you be thus inclined, including the eggs for the roti telur and the sardines for the murtabak sardin.
I wanted two roti canai kosong (RM1.00 each) and two roti telur (RM2.00 each) and this young and handsome boy got down to work right away, spreading the dough…
…on the worktop and when it was good and ready, he lifted it up gently…
…and started flipping it…
…over and over again to make it thinner and broader.
Once done, he folded them into squares and placed them on the metal hot plate to cook…
…flipping them regularly to make sure that they were all browned to perfection on both sides…
Somebody did tell me once that she heard somebody saying that their roti canai was nicer than the ustaz‘s but I would beg to disagree. I did not think they were as nice and the dhal dip here was very much nicer but to give credit where credit is due, I was quite happy with what I bought.
I asked for their business hours and they told me they would open at around 6 or 7.00 a.m. till 11.00 a.m. and in the afternoon, they would be here – according to them, they are affiliated, the one and the same.
They also have these nasi lemak bungkus (RM1.00 each)…
…for sale so I bought two, one for me and one for my missus, to try. I would say they were all right, nothing to get excited about but for RM1.00 each, I see no cause for complaint. That…
…was a pretty good lunch we had that day.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
I love those authentic Malay nasi lemak. Especially from the road side. So good.
I think my first time seeing a roadside roti canai stall. Not in Kuching.
Come to think of it, this is the only one here, all at hawkers centres and coffee shops, but then again, that row of stalls along the nice revamped Bandong Walk may be considered as a hawker centre already, not quite a roadside stall like the ustaz’s long ago.
I know one in particular – the nasi lemak from the kueh stalls that is very nice. This one is just ok, but RM1 only, can’t complain. 😀
Usually, i will have one kosong and one with egg…
Those were what we had – two of each for me and my missus, two of us.
I have seen few Malay stalls selling roti canai & murtabak. They are picking up the skills of doing it. I like how they twist & flip the dough. Nice or not, it all depends on the gravy to go with.
There is a difference in the quality of the roti too. I like the roti telur at one place here, thin crispy type served with curry gravy – the rest comes across something like omelette.
Nice photos. Amazing that the nasi lemak is only RM1!
Outdoors, natural daylight – great for digicam shots. Yes, we still can get those RM1 nasi lemak bungkus here.
The frozen roti canai in London are rather too thick for my liking. I think they are locally made.
The best nasi lemak I had was from a bus station at either Kelantan or Trengganu.
We had one very good one here – it is the rice that I am looking for, other things are all secondary – but he moved and I have not been able to locate him since and before that, one that was just as good was at Cititel, Penang. So far I am still looking for one that comes anywhere near these two but I have not been very successful – some quite nice ones around but yet to come across one that would make me go, “Wowwwwww!!!!”
We do have frozen roti canai and all the rest at the supermarkets here too, some with the dhal or curry dip provided in sachets – they’re ok, the ones here.
I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
It was all right…RM2.00, that’s US50 cents! Can’t complain. 😀
I am always fascinated by how they flip the roti canai. If I were to try that, the whole thing will break and get stuck everywhere 😀
Never tried, shouldn’t be a problem – no problem with the frozen ones…or with pancakes. Sometimes with egg, flipping too hard may cause the yolk to break and I would get so pissed off.
Oopssss!!!! You mean flipping the uncooked dough. I guess it doesn’t really matter. It happens sometimes – a tear developing as the dough is being flipped. They just keep on stretching it until it is as thin as possible and then they just fold it into a square and cook, no problem at all.
Good ol’ Malaysian staples – nasi lemak and roti canai – add in a plate of char kuey teow and you really have the most perfectly satisfying local meal 😀
Oh my! Roti and nasi plus noodles, carbs overload!
This morning I felt like taking roti canai but eventually ended up taking chinese noodles because I saw the stall selling my favourite kueh bakul… So my roti canai and naan will have to wait for tomorrow’s breakfast! 🙂 I like them crispy and less oily preferably… and eaten with tomato chutney… best!
They serve roti canai with tomato chutney there? Not here – it’s either the dhal curry dip…or regular curry gravy, depending on where one goes. Naan, will have to go to the sole Indian (and Indonesian combined) restaurant here, can’t remember what they serve it with there – have not been for a while now. Maybe should drop by coming weekend – my girl loves the food there.
The global economic crisis affected the ustaz? Unemployed and become a boss selling roti now? 😀
No, he was making good use of his free time in the morning, just a couple of hours early every morning when most people would just laze around and go on sleeping – he was teaching in the afternoon…and some ustaz-es in the regular schools here are very free, whole school only a handful of students, one form (note, not one class) only a few – can count the number using the fingers on one hand, some schools. Some have none at all and are asked to teach other subjects that they can teach – it’s very different here in Sarawak, not like the states over at your side.
Whatever it is, such an effort to supplement their family income is to be respected – now that he and his family have moved back to Penang, I wonder if he is still so free and still doing it there or not. I am sure he would have lots and lots of students there, not like here. Such a waste if he isn’t, his roti canai and murtabak are very nice…plus he would probably need the extra pocket money a lot more there – cost of living is so much higher!
Nice..still can get nasi lemak for RM1.00.
No more there? I hear they’re still RM1.00 at the roadside stalls, the bungkus ones?
I agree with you about waiting. I avoid queues at all costs – especially those where I’d have to wait in the hot sun.
Not that they are giving out anything free…and even then, I would not bother.
That nasi lemak is quite different to the way I used to see them back in Malaysia, it looks like they put it in plastic now instead of banana leaf
Those would be the authentic ones – banana leaf on the inside, newspaper on the outside. They still have those but now, there are these plastic ones or some wrapped in brown waxed paper. Would be nicer, of course, in banana leaf.