Nasi Kandar is a meal synonymous with the northern state of Penang. "Nasi" means "rice" and "kandar" means "to carry" and it comes from the time when vendors sold rice and curry meals in containers balanced on each of a long pole that they carried on their shoulders as they moved around and hawked their fare.
As the name implies, nasi kandar is basically rice and curry and has its origins from indian muslims who migrated to Penang back in the day. Typically white rice on which a mix of various curries is poured onto (called "banjir" or "flooding" by locals), and served with various side orders such as fried chicken, beef spleen, cubed beef, lamb, fish roe, fried prawn or fried squid. Vegetables such as lady's finger/okra, green chillies, fried bittergourd, aubergine or fried cabbage or beansprouts complete the meal.
Of course Penangites will insist that you can only find good Nasi Kandar in Penang itself. But what happens if you are not in Penang and have a craving for the dish?
If you are in Kuala Lumpur, then its not a problem. Forget all the modern nasi kandar chain restaurants that are all over the place, head over to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (formerly Batu Road).
There are three establishments which are famed for their nasi kandar here, Yaseen Nasi Kandar, Restoran Nasi Kandar Ibramsha and Restoran Kudu bin Abdul. Each restaurant has its fans, but to most the best nasi kandar is at Kudu's.
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| Restoran Kudu bin Abdul |
Parking is difficult to get at Kudu's, especially on a week day, as there is limited road side parking. However, the restaurant is nearby the Medan Tuanku monorail station. Just walk out the Quill City mall side of the monorail station, go down the stairs (not into the mall) and walk along Jalan Sultan Ismail until you come to traffic light intersection with Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman (the Tune Hotel is opposite the road). Turn right and walk along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, and Kudu is on the corner lot of the block of shophouses.
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| The Corner Lot. |
Kudu has been around since 1969 and was apparently a favourite of P. Ramlee, who was one of the famed actors of the time. The restaurant is a humble open-air restaurant with plastic chairs, tables and plastic plates, so not for those who are looking for fine dining!
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| Be prepared to queue. |
At lunch time, there is always a queue, so you know that the food is good. Be prepared to queue for 20 to 30 minutes at least, and tables are also limited.
For those not in the know is, you don't sit down and wait for a menu! You need to queue to get to the food display counter to select the dishes that you want. Now maybe one of you may want to sit down at an empty table first to "reserve the table" but then someone else would need to queue for the poor guy. Best to do the honourable thing and all queue and hope that an empty table will magically appear later.
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| Sit at the communal long table and share the table with others. |
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| The food display. |
Once you get to the head of the queue, you tell the server what dishes that you want. The server will dish out a plate of white rice and "banjir" your rice with a mix of curries, then proceed to place your selected side dishes on the plate.
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| Fried fish. |
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| Okra, fried bean sprouts, curried eggs. |
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| Green chillies, half boiled eggs, omelettes and of course the curries. |
The server will hand you your plate and a slip of paper stating the cost of the meal. Go and find a place to sit down, attract a waiter's attention and order your drink.
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| Fried fish, bean sprouts, green chillies and okra. |
Wash your hands at the sink, and proceed to eat with your hands. That is the authentic way to eat Nasi Kandar. Cutlery? Keep that for your five star restaurants! Just kidding, there is of course fork and spoons, but really the best way to eat is with your right hand.
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| The bill? RM8. |
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| Sirap bandung, a mix of rose syrup, evaporated milk and soda water. |
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| Kudu |
Nasi Kandar Kudu bin Abdul
Address: 335 Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, 50300 Kuala Lumpur.
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