Enak KL at Starhill Gallery

As I mentioned in my previous entry, we made another excuse to go out for a family dinner last weekend celebrating Mum's birthday. I was given the task of picking the venue. It turned out to be a tough one. Mum wanted a Malay restaurant, preferably buffet.

I searched online as well as taken out my restaurant guidebook. A few names came to mind. We did Rebung last year. Ibunda was full. Seri Malaysia and Warisan was closed on Sunday. We did not fancy going up the KL Tower or KLCC again. Hotel restaurants? None of them offer a real Malay treat, plus we did Le Meridien the other evening.

I wonder what Imran actually picked?The boys got their order of nasi goreng first. And a yummy one at that.In the end, we went to Enak KL at Starhill Gallery, Bukit Bintang. It came highly recommended, winning the best Malay restaurant accolades in the last couple of years. Plus we never been there before. I booked a table for the 11 of us, and we arrived at around 8.30. There was no buffet, so we picked items of the menu to share.

The food were surprisingly good. The ambiance was exciting, the children could not stand still, while being mesmerised by the dimmed lighting of the whole of the Lower Ground floor of Starhill. The service was excellent! The staffs there made us really felt welcomed, and Mum was happy.

The order has arrived. From left clockwise, asam pedas jenahak, ayam gurung berempah, daging hitam and gulai udang.Kerabu asparagus.We had asam pedas, prawn curry, daging hitam and kerabu asparagus, among other things. They tasted nice. I must warn you however that the place was not exactly cheap ….. but I supposed you would get what you paid for, and everybody had a good time.

Some of the items however ran out. I was told that the daging bakar was a specialty. Maybe net time ...

More information on Enak KL can be found here.

Back Home

We set off early this morning. We were already in the car by 7.30 and was well on our way by 8am.

Traffic was much lighter than expected, and we reached KL by 11.30 in the morning. We did not take any toilet break. One bit of problem was we had a bit of a problem with the air-conditioning in my car. I thought it needed the compressor fixed. It was well warm by the time I reached KL.

Under four hours seemed to be pretty standard time for Penang KL. This was actually from Sungai Petani rather. I have known people who travel sub three hours, but I would rather not tell you who that was.

So, I reached home much earlier than anticipated. Time to take the boys out for lunch, but unfortunately, I had some lectures I need sorting out during for the coming week. So, probably had to burn the midnight oil tonight.

A Full Day

Since I was only in Penang overnight, I had to cram as many visits as I could today. And I did just that.

I went straight to my Grandmother's house in Georgetown. My parents and sister soon joined me. Before long, my eldest Uncle and his daughters and grandchildren also arrived. We hang around for a bit, before leaving for lunch.

As usual, it had to be nasi kandar. We went to Kassim, right opposite Komtar. It was only half open from the looks of things. But, it was still authentic stuff. Two servings of rice and a few scoops of fish curry later, we were ready to hit Seberang.

My Grandmother in the middle, with her two eldest sons, my Dad on the left most, and my Uncle, second from the right.

First stop, my Auntie's place in Seberang Jaya. One of their daughters - my cousin - will be getting married in October and they were busy making preparations. It looked like it would be another trip up North next month. Then we went to Kepala Batas, and stopped at a couple of houses - both were my Uncles - and was joined by another Auntie. And tonight, I would be spending the evening at another Auntie's house in Sungai Petani. Now that was a full day if you asked me.

Lunch was almost served.The damage in the endOne of my handsome nephews.My sister, Julia.My Uncle, Basir, at my late Grandfather's house.

It was nice catching up with the family although most of them were asking where Anita and my boys were. Had to leave them behind, for efficiency you see.

We just had a hefty dinner and would sure be having coffee and a chat after that. I was sure I would be sleeping like a baby. Had to start the journey early tomorrow. I was sure the traffic would be heavy if we left late. Here are the photos from the trip.

The Open Afternoon

That was a full afternoon. Right after Smurfs, we rushed to Bangsar Village to buy food and cakes for the open house later on.

After Asar, a few of our cousins turned up with their families. Some of them had not been over for quite some time. A nice chit chat. They stayed until Maghrib.

We were lucky that we had enough food. Apart from the take-outs, Anita cooked spaghetti and another cousin of ours made a curry. Unfortunately, one of our uncle couldn't make it as he was taken ill after his chemotherapy last week. He was feeling weak with some mouth ulcer to boot. We may need to go owe at his place to visit in the coming few days.

Looking forward for another full day tomorrow. A few of Anita's friends from the UK would be meeting up for afternoon tea in Bangsar. Will be joining them after Jumaat prayers.

The Rest of Raya

Irfan reluctant to pose for picturesI spend a large chunk of Raya yesterday at my parents house in Bukit Antarabangsa, finally returning to the Gombak home after 6 pm. We just stayed and relax, rather than going around as most of our friends were away to their kampung.

Irfan and his cousinsIn the morning, before going out to my parents' house, my brother-in-law and his family came to visit. All in their baju Raya, and Dad-in-law was especially happy to have all his grandchildren around, all six of them. We dined and consumed way too much food. As soon as I reached my Mum's, we had more food, and by mid afternoon, I was dozing away on the couch.

All six grandshildrenAnd the four of usTheir Startroopers kasut RayaSoon after, Idlan was back into the swings of thingsThe evening was quiet. We spent time with dinner and television, and it was almost midnight when we finally hit the bed. We have yet set a plan for the rest of the week yet, but it was very likely that I would make a quick trip to Penang on Saturday without Anita. Just a quick visit to say hi to the family and visit my elderly Grandmother.

The photos from the day was uploaded here.