THE MADRAS CLUB,
51, Jalan 11/62A,
Bandar Menjalara, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 010-250 9147
Opening hours: 7am to 10pm daily.
FOR a hearty meal of home-cooked South Indian food and a banana leaf meal, the Madras Club is an obvious choice.
Located in the heart of Bandar Manjalara, Kepong, the Indian restaurant is popular with the predominantly Chinese community in the area.
I had the chance to taste mooru, a spiced buttermilk drink, for the first time.
The aromatic fragrance of the curry leaf was unmistakable as one of the ingredients mixed into the beverage, alongside green chilli and coriander.
It is indeed a thirst quencher and good for digestion, but the slight spicy taste of the mooru is not something that I would look for in a drink.
“The mooru might not appeal to everyone but some really love it,” said restaurant owner Subathra Jeyabalan.
Opening a restaurant has always been Subathra’s dream and it became a reality four months ago after she decided to quit her job.
“I grew up in Kepong. What is lacking in Bandar Manjalara is an Indian restaurant. The Madras Club is the first Indian restaurant in this commercial area,” she said, adding that her customers comprised all races.
The aromatic mutton marrow bone dry curry.
Stepping into the restaurant made me feel at home as it has a simple and laidback setting which resembles the local kopitiam.
But unlike a kopitiam, here one gets to order a steaming-hot plate of mutton marrow bone dry curry, which is one of the restaurant’s highlights.
With huge chunks of meat hanging on the bone, the tender mutton does not have the usual strong meat taste. The thick curry is perfect with rice.
The rich flavour of the dish is simply appetising and customers can request for a straw to sip the bone marrow.
The soy sauce prawns are cooked using a secret recipe concocted by Sanjeevi.
Subathra’s aunt Sanjeevi Devi, who helms the kitchen is the creator of various recipes here. She was tight-lipped when asked about ways to get rid of the gamey taste of mutton.
“There is a secret recipe. Other than that, the dish consists of a lot of garlic, ginger and cinnamon to enhance the taste,” she said.
We also got to savour Sanjeevi’s favourite dish –- soy sauce prawns.
The shelled prawns cooked in soy sauce, ginger and garlic besides several types of spices, were well-seasoned.
Another highlight was the fish head curry.
Garoupa fish head curry.
Using garoupa and red snapper for their firm and meaty flesh, the peppery and fragrant curry with hints of cumin, coriander, chillies and other spices, is great for those who love their food spicy.
Customers usually “flood” their rice with the curry. The banana leaf meal is served with three different vegetables daily such as longbean peratal, lady’s fingers with garlic and onion, dhal spinach, fried bittergourd and pachadi.
The sambal sardine and flower crab curry are other popular dishes.
