SOME months back, a colleague of mine made mention about the famous Kampung Attap kari kepala ikan (fish head curry) in Kuala Lumpur and said there was a new branch.
“Eh Sam ah! We need to go to ZK kari kepala ikan’s makan place in Puchong la…,” he said.
Signature dish: The restaurant is famous for its fish head curry.It seems that they have opened a new outlet near the Sunway toll plaza on the LDP highway.
Now, I have passed by this place numerous times and noticed the new outlet.
And on one fateful day, my cycling and makan kaki Billy B called.
“Samo! Jom kita gi makan (let’s eat)!” he said.
“Okay braddah! Jumpa kat tempat biasa dalam lima minit (see you at our regular place in five minutes),” I responded.
I had a few places in mind for our makan session.
First on the list was Hassan Nasi Ayam Goreng Kampung in USJ 10, Taipan, Subang Jaya.
But having seen the owner’s new cars, high-powered motorcycles and his shop’s location, plus the parking nightmare in USJ 10, I changed my mind.
Instead, I suggest ZK kari kepala ikan’s new branch on the LDP highway near Puchong.
Billy and I wasted no time in making our way there.
We drove from our office in Phileo Damansara to the Petaling Jaya toll and made a U-turn to access the makan place.
When we got there, this place was empty.
It is a pale shadow of its main branch in Kampung Attap where makan kakis would park their vehicles illegally by the roadside.
It is practically impossible to makan there during lunch hour.
At the new branch, we literally ate like kings by having the place all to ourselves.
There were a few traffic cops having their lunch and the order of the day was the restaurant’s famous curry fish head.
Now, taste-wise, this outlet is consistent with their branch in Kuala Lumpur. On the Samo-scale, the fish head curry, with kari sotong and ayam goreng madu would easily score a 7 out of 10.
But when it comes to forking out the bill, we got jolted by paying a bomb!
On a piece of paper scribbled by the cashier, our total came up to RM97.50.
Now, here’s the breakdown: Fish head (RM60), a piece of squid (RM15), fried chicken (RM7), vegetables — a miserable plate of cabbage and a plate of ZK’s famous sliced onions with cucumber (RM5), three plates of rice (RM3) and RM4.50 for drinks.
Quiet day:The scene at ZK Restaurant in Petaling Jaya.This is by far, the most expensive lunch we have ever had.
I can stomach the RM60 fish head, but RM15 for one piece of squid is like being shot by arrows and speared at Custer’s Last Stand.
And by looking at their situation (empty tables and a high overhead), I am not surprised if they had our heads lobbed off with a blunt axe and scalped by a kitchen cleaver.
But spare the hefty pricetag, the only good experience at this makan place was the food.
And the irony was this: When we walked out, there was a Ramadan promotion.
It was out of date and printed on it, there is a package deal pricing at RM110 for five people.
“Eh Samo! We ate for five people la!,” joked Billy.
“Hahah! What to do braddah, one hungry XXL-sized Chinese and Malay guy enter this shop, and the sound of a kapak being honed played in my head…,” I said.
All good things said and done, if you have a car (this place is not accessible by public transport) and a GPS, the lat-long coordinates are: N 03 03 584, E 101 36 793.
