** This list mostly includes eateries that offer the South Indian variety. The North Indian favorites will be covered in another list.
Asian Rice Pot @ Kelana Jaya
I visit this restaurant every other week. I simply love it. Food is delicious. Time and time again I’ve return, never once have they disappoint. They are very organized – there is a mutually agreed drill to it, lol. First, as soon as you enter, pick a table. Next, walk over to the rice section. Start with taking the rice (comes in 3 options – white rice, brown rice and briyani rice), then choose your curry (chicken curry, fish curry, crab curry, mutton curry and etc), then off to the meat section and lastly the vege section. Oooo and do not forget to grab yourself some papadums before you head back to your table. The atmosphere is almost always jovial, chatters and laughters is pretty much what you’d hear. Price wise, I think this restaurant also happens to be the cheapest among our 5 favourites? Certainly worth the No. 1 spot in our list.
Address: No. 11, Jalan SS5A/11, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya
Opening hours: Everyday. Mondays: 8 am – 4 pm. Tuesdays to Sundays: 8 am – 9.30 pm
Blog Post : Asian Rice Pot @ SS 5,Kelana Jaya (PJ) – One of my favorite Indian restaurants.
Shobana’s Kerala Litchen @ Bukit Gasing, PJ
This eatery is a lil underrated. If you are a regular in this side of town and like MALAYALEE cuisine/food, then you’d certainly know of Shobana’s. You’d find popular dishes like Sothi, Aviyal, Kerala Fish Curry/ Fish Sothi and many more being served here. It sure is delicious, I’ve visited this eatery numerous times and they have been consistent in providing us authentic, delicious food. Yum! Shobana’s is the kind of restaurant that I’d gladly bring my family and friends to, not because it is fancy, it isn’t. The charm is in its simplicity and homeliness.
Address: 357 C, Jalan 5/57, Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya.
Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays, 8 am – 6 pm.
Blog Post: Shobana’s Kerala Kitchen @ Bukit Gasing- Authentic Malayalee cuisine.
Shanar Curry House @ Bukit Gasing, PJ
This is your typical Indian restaurant. Located within the square behind Acha Curry House, within the same row as the new branch of Raju’s Banana Leaf, Shanar has been around for ages. You’d find plenty of old timers having their regular ‘old timers’ gatherings, office folks enjoying a wholesome indian meal, families, youngsters and etc. I’ve been here often enough that some of the guys working there have become my friends, lol. Food is delicious, loveee their chicken varuval. Do keep in mind though, the crowd favorites – like the varuval and paratal, usually finishes by 2 pm and they do take some time to refill it. So, if this is going to be your first time here, do be sure to arrive around 12 ish pm?
Address: Jalan 5/59, Bukit Gasing, Petaling Jaya
Opening hours: Everyday. 7 am – 10 pm.
Lawanya Food Corner @ Brickfields
This is our favorite ‘kedai tepi jalan’ for Indian rice. Be sure to get here early because 12 pm onwards this corner is bound to get crowded, really crowded. Crowded to an extent whereby you literally have to wait at the side of the road while holding your full plate of rice in hope for someone vacate their table – no joke. Good thing is, this shows that the food here has to be good, right? It sure is. The food is home cooked, that itself is an appeal + it is delicious. What more do we need.
Address: 1077/78, Lorong Scott, Brickfields (Same area as the Indian temples)
Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays, 8 am – 4 pm.
Blog Post: Lawanya Food Corner @ Brickfields – Yummy “Home-cooked” Indian Food
Yarl Restaurant @ Brickfields
Yarl is popular for serving up some good SRI LANKAN food. What used to look like just about any other Indian restaurant in Brickfields recently underwent a face lift and now, it has a chic, modern interior. Yess! An inviting interior with tasty, flavorful food – who can resist?? Certainly not me. I for one, am no pro when it comes to this particular cuisine, I sometimes still have difficulties differentiating it from regular Indian food but food is good, yawwww. Their dinner time offerings are awesome too and surprisingly cheap, affordable – Puttu at 2 ringgit, Sweet Appam at 2.50 ringgit, Thosai at 2 ringgit.
Address: No. 50, Jalan Padang Belia, Brickfields.
Opening hours: Everyday. 7 am – 10 pm.
Blog Post: Yarl Restaurant @ Brickfields – Sri Lankan yumminess.
UMAC House @ PJ
This eatery is a little unique because is located within a house that belongs to the University of Malaya Academic Club (UMAC). So yesss, it is a clubhouse. You’d find plenty of UM students and lecturers having their lunch here. Between the UM folks and the rest of us, the meat dishes are often quickly gobbled up – so be sure to arrive early. Food here is good. You would get the usual 4 vegetables, white rice/ brown rice, papadum combo + whatever meats you fancy. Service is sometime slow, especially when there is a crowd. Other than that, its all good.
The last time I was there, they were still trying to figure out if they serve us everything – as in we (customers) sit at the table, tell them what you want and they will bring it to you or we help ourselves – as in we get our plates, que up at the area where the rice, meat and vege is and help ourselves. Hopefully, they figured it out.
Address: No. 1, Jalan 12/5, Petaling Jaya.
Opening hours: Everyday. 11 am – 3.30 pm, 6 pm – 12 am.
Blog Post: UMAC House @ PJ – Tasty Banana Leaf Rice
Sri Ganapathi Mess @ PJ Old Town
This is another of our favorites. The fact that it is located in a house, within a residential area, that appealed to us. Not the usual kind of indian restaurants I’d come by. So, whenever I feel like a little change, I would head here. Food is delicious and flavorful. However, in sync with a trait shared by most indian restaurants, their service too suffers when it gets crowded. Things you request takes ages to come to you, refills sometimes need to be requested several times and etc. So, patience yea. Ooo and just FYI, they serve strickly rice – no chapathi, roti canai and etc., nada.
Address: No. 47, Jalan 1/10, Seksyen 1, Petaling Jaya. (PJ Old Town)
Opening hours: Everyday. 11.30 am – 4 pm.
Blog Post: Sri Ganapathi Mess @ PJ Old Town – Delicious Indian food with Authentic Curries.
Love that this takes such dinner in banana leaf. because I’m ditching my dinner plans and making this instead! Yum! thanks for the great share