What you’ve got…

The other day, Friday, our no-meat day, I felt like having nasi lemak, something that I had not had for a long time so I made my way to Bandong Walk. Unfortunately, the stall there was not open so I went over to the shop in the vicinity – I also liked their nasi lemak but it was late in the morning and they only had one packet with sambal sotong (RM6.00) left. The other two or three packets had meat in them.

I noticed a stall, two stalls away to the left of the former, that I had not seen before so I went over to have a look to see what they’d got. There was a lady, not a very young one, I think and a young guy, probably the son – one can never tell these days because everyone is wearing masks. LOL!!!

I asked them if their rice was lemak or not and the guy said it was all right. I think he wanted to take some of it for me to try so he opened the insulated rice container and I caught a whiff of the lemakness, the santan (coconut milk) and straight away, I told the guy that I wanted 3 packets (RM3.50 each)…

We had that for lunch that day and I must say they were very generous with everything, even the kacang (peanuts). My girl and the mum shared a packet and kept the remaining one for dinner that evening.

The sambal ikan bilis (dried anchovies) was not quite like the usual nasi lemak sambal but it was very nice, just a bit spicy and there was so much of it too. I sure would not mind going back there to buy from them should I feel like having nasi lemak again.

At their stall, they also sold lauk (dishes) and I liked how they were all in stainless steel trays (not plastic) with lids so they were all well covered. I bought two of the fish (RM2.00 each)…

– there were only two left. I see these small fish at my favourite fish & seafood stall sometimes but my girl and the mum are not fond of eating those so I never bought any from there. I do enjoy eating them myself and the two would be more than enough for me to buang gian (appease my craving).

I asked for a bit of the cempedak muda masak lemak (RM3.00)…

…too but to the most, I would say it was all right, not anything to get me running back for more. For one thing, I did not feel it was lemak at all for want of a lot more santan (coconut milk).

On the other hand, the pumpkin (RM3.00)…

…was simply out of this world! The addition of the very thin strips of daun kunyit (turmeric leaves) sure brought the taste of the dish to a whole new level – I dare say I had never tasted any that was nicer.

They said they started their stall in February this year. I cannot, for the dear life of me, remember the last time I dropped by this area of town, probably long before that and all throughout Ramadan. I kept my distance, avoiding all these places like a plague because there were cases in the kampungs daily for quite a while. #staysafe #staywell #stayhome

I enjoyed our small talk, the lady and the guy and I, in our Sarawak Malay dialect. They probably were wondering who this Chinese guy was, who was so fluent in their lingo, if they could make out the face behind the mask, that is and seeing how I quite liked my purchases that morning, I sure wouldn’t mind making my way back there again another day.