Gourmet Garden

Days back while driving through the Jelutong Express-way, we noticed a typical looking Malay eating outlet beside the ramp just after the old land fill area along the express-way. As we just finish the eLawyer seminar at USM and had no plans of where to have lunch, we decided to try out the Malay eating outlet that we saw previously. When coming from the Georgetown area, just keep to the left after the Jelutong xpress-way Shell petrol station. The “makan” area is just after the old land fill. But if you are driving from the Bayan Lepas direction, after Tesco stay to the left and turn right at the first traffic lights and you will see the “makan” area.

The name of the stall is “Ani Nasi Campur Gulai Sembilang”, and it is housed in the “Balai Nelayan Jelutong”. The stall open’s for business daily except Sunday and their business hours are from 11:30am onwards until everything is gone from their trays. It literally closes after all their dishes are all sold out, and would just take about 2 to 3 hours. We were there some where near to 2:00pm and everything was all sold out except for some beef, squid, and some fish curries.

And thus, that is what we had for lunch that faithfull Saturday. 2 plates of white rice, 1 nasi tambah, 1 curry sembilang head, 1 piece of curry ikan pari  , 3 pieces of beef and some chilli squid. And the total demage is RM 17.00.

The chilli squid or “sotong pedas” was slightly chewy and over firm, but the taste was quite appetising with some sourness and heat. This dish almost taste like “sotong sambal”. With the gravy in toe, one could finish the whole plate of rice without anything else.

The beef that we had I guess was some sort of rendang or stewed beef. Anyway, it was tender and flavourful. The beef chunks that we had been moisten with a distinctive sardine like taste gravy with just the right amount of spice to bring out the beefy flavour. The heat in the chilli and spice did not overwhelm the sweet and affirmative taste of the beef chunks. The usage of curry leaves in this dish was also something that we do not see everyday at Malay “makan” stalls.

The “Ikan Pari” or stingray curry had some hint of “balacan” or fermented shrimp paste in it. The taste is of this dish is quite light but the gravy was creamy. It is a dish that I would not miss if the run out of stock on my next visit there.

Next on the table was the “Gulai Sembilang”, which is actually our local catfish cooked in their special “gulai” or curry. The gulai was light, sweet and full of fragrant of spices. As the gulai is light, it did not go well with white rice alone; one would need to mixed it with other heavier tasting gravies. But to enjoy it like one would do with soups would be a better way to enjoy the flavour the sembilang gulai has to offer. As for the sembilang fish head, it was creamy or “lemak” especially with those entire soft cartridge like flesh encasing the skull of the fish head. The mixture of spices used in the gulai was well balanced to rid the sembilang of any unappetising taste but yet left that sweet taste of fish still intact in the dish.   No wonder Ani is famous for their “gulai sembilang”!

On average, I would rate Ani Nasi Campur Gulai Sembilang:

* 3.8/5 for value (RM17 is a bit high just for 3 chunks of beef, scoops of squid, 1 piece of stingray meat and 1 catfish head)
* 3.9/5 for taste & texture (love the beef and catfish)
* 3.4/5 for service (not attentive when first approach the stall)
* 3.0/5 for cleanliness(by the sea and at make shift area, not much can be expected)
* 3.0/5 for atmosphere (a bit hot on sunny days)

Address : Balai Nelayan Jelutong, Jelutong Express-way, Penang.

Tel : 016-4584229 (Ani)

Business Hours : 11.30am – ?pm. Closed on Sundays.

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