Last week, my friend and I had a trip to Kuala
Lumpur for our assignment. We visited a lot of places such as Beryl’s factory,
Pastry Pro, International Book Fair,IKEA, and many more. Last day in our trip,
we’ve got the chance to set our foot in famous Rebung Restaurant. We arrived at
12.30 pm for lunch while the sky was bright. I was very excited because this is
the first time I came to Rebung Restaurant. The place is a converted bungalow
house with surrounding full with bamboo trees and located in a quiet residential street in Bangsar.
Besides, Rebung Restaurant owned by local
celebrity, Chef Ismail and his business partner Dr Sheikh Muszaphar, Malaysia’s
first astronaut. The menu features a wide range of authentic Malay dishes and
serves a la carte and buffet style at approximately 40 ringgit for lunch, 33
ringgit for hi-tea and 50 ringgit for dinner. I think the price are affordable
and worthwhile because it serves Malay feast with more than 40 items. There are
large varieties of appetizers and savoury dishes like ‘gulai tempoyak’, ‘asam pedas ikan pari’,
‘lala masak sambal’,‘siput sedut masak lemak keladi’ and many more that can make us
drooling. The dessert station also serves up local sweet treats. At the corner
of the restaurant, there are few numbers of cooking station making ‘onde-onde’,
‘roti jala’, ‘goreng pisang’ and ‘rojak’.
Apart from
that, the atmosphere is relaxing and cozy with great interior design of dining
room. Guests can choose whether they want to have their meal in air-con area or
experience the marvelous foods outdoor.
I came
with an empty stomach and the foods look so tempting and delicious that just by
looking at them makes me starving. I’d try ‘ikan bakar’ that fully recommended
by my friend and surprisingly the taste was so unforgettable that it became my
favorite dish there. The ‘ikan bakar’ has the unusuall temptation that can
attract the crowd to try it when it is grilled to perfection.
Then,
the restaurant offers a wide variety of fish such as catfish, cencaru(hardtail),
kembung(mackerel) and jenahak(mangrove snapper). The supply tends
to vary according to the types of catch that land in the market. I’d pick a
catfish as my main dish that day. I love how the fish covered with a robust and
rich paste of ground chili and spices.
When I ate the fish, it taste really tasty and the freshness of the fish
is great with some sweet taste though the fish has marinated. But, my lecturer gave something as an advice
that to avoid eating ‘ikan bakar’ with an over fish odour or has meat that
disintegrates at the slightest prodding of the fork.
The
other specialty of ikanbakar is the distinct sauces concocted by the kitchen
staff. The type of the sauces is sos air asam (tamarind – based sauce
with chopped shallot and chilli) and sos kicap hitam bercili (dark soya sauce
with sliced shallot and chili dip). The sauce has a unique taste and its very
match to dip with the fish.
Last
but not least, I’m very satisfied with this restaurant because the service was
fast, the food are really tasty, close-to-authentic, and reasonably-priced with
quite a good spread. I would recommend this restaurant to my family and
friends. I hope I will come again and try the other dishes next time.
RESTAURANT REBUNG CHEF ISMAIL | Address: No 4-2 Lorong Maarof , Bangsar Park, 59000 Kuala Lumpur |Tel: 603 22832119|Opening hours: Mon – Sun, 11am – 11pm daily |Halal
