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This long-running restaurant (est. 1973) continues to draw people in search of good Malaysian cooking, and benefits from the warmth and smile of Fatizah Shawal, daughter of the original owners.
These days, the dining room is modern-looking, with grey and orange-red walls embedded with motifs of the hibiscus flower, but it’s still the place to come for traditional offerings such as sambal ikan bilis and petai – sun-dried young anchovies (ikan bilis) served with sator beans (petai) and spicy shrimp paste (sambal) – a dish guaranteed to thrill the taste buds. For a milder kick, try tahu sumbat, deep-fried tofu filled with beansprouts and cucumber, with a piquant nutty sauce.
Ikan panggang, whole mackerel stuffed with spices, grilled, then cut into a butterfly shape, had the oily fish and spiciness perfectly offset by a sour tamarind dip – a fond reminder of meals at the beach. To finish, bubur kacang is a comforting mung bean stew with coconut milk and a dash of palm sugar.