It’s Chinese New Year (CNY) holidays and during times like this is when you’d realize most of the cafe in Petaling Jaya are mostly chinese operated. Why ? Well, because almost all of them are closed. It is a fact easily overlooked when business is operating as usual because what your brain is busy thinking is ‘where and what to eat,’ right? However, when almost every cafe in the area is closed for the holidays, it isnt cuisine options of type of food you be cracking your head for. Hence, it is during times like this you’d wish for them CNY to pass real soon because I want me some chinese fooodddddd!
Anyways, we were in TTDI area – had to get some groceries from Heros, trying to scout the area, seeing what was available and there it was, Bedouin. Naturally, I did what everyone else would do nowadays, which was to get onto Google and see how it is rated by the public. It must be good because ratings from 355 individuals gave it an average of 4.1/5. So yea, that sealed the deal, we were going to have lunch at this eatery.
I’d say that you would get a pretty good Arabian feel here. They had middle eastern music playing on their audio, the waiters here are all of the middle eastern variety, you’d see paintings on the wall with notable quotes from that side of the world and of course, their Menu, most of the things on it – I’ve never heard of, lol, mostly because I rarely indulge in this particular cuisine. Oooo and look at them desserts … yup, the Arabian experience, alright 🙂 Affordable too, at 5 to 6 ringgit each.
I did not give them desserts a try though because lets just say by the time I was done with lunch , I was soooo stuffed that having these small sized desserts would have caused my tummy to burst – if there is such a thing lah but I look forward to giving it a try during my next visit.
Babaghanoush, 11 ringgit + Mulawwah (Small), 5 ringgit
This was suppose to be an appetizer, the Babaghanoush. Due to my lack of experience with this cuisine, I left the ordering to my friends since they have attempted these dishes many, many times. When they decided to start with this appetizer, I was all in due to my liking for eggplant. The dish basically consisted of ‘ freshly grilled eggplant dip combined with tomato, pepper, onion, parsley ‘ with a good dose of olive oil. It was yummy, had the definite taste of eggplant wit a pleasant mix of flavors provided by the other items. To me, it was a delicious gooey dish of oily, thick puree? gravy? I liked it.
While we were placing an order for this dish, the waiter was pretty insistent on us ordering a side of roti/bread with it, and hey, we obliged. He would know best which dishes goes well with what since he comes from the middle east. The roti , Mulawwah only cost us 5 ringgit, so, it isn’t a case of him trying to rip us of by persuading us to order more. If that were the case, a dish worth just 5 ringgit wouldn’t cut it, right? Anyways, he suggested that we order their SMALL option since we were all ” we ate roti canai this morning, we prefer having the smallest possible roti this time since its a starter anyway’ … but when the Mulawwah arrived at our table, our mouths literally dropped open onto the table – look at the size of the roti ??? If this was Small, I wonder what their Medium and Big looked like, lol. It sure was bigger that the usual naans and roti canai we come across often, the texture were pretty similar though. I loved it though, it was thin, soft and moist. It is difficult to explain but the roti was lovely, truly. Whether you have it dipped in some Babaghanoush or simply having it on its own, it still ended up tasting yummy and it cost me 5 ringgit? It sure comes cheap.
Chicken Mandy (half chicken), 26 ringgit
This was da bomb! It was very good. Oooo man, I got to start with the chicken. The reason I ordered half a chicken rather than the other available option – Quater, was because based on my experience with many other eateries, most of the time, the chicken pieces offered are usually little or smaller in size. So, just to be on the safe side, I opted for half a chicken. When it arrived though, Wowza! when these folks say ‘half a chicken’ then they would deliver exactly that because it literally was a whole piece of half a chicken. Then, when I started cutting into it – the meat was sooooooo tender that it literally fell of the bone. There was no hardship at all, no having to ‘fight’ and ‘wrestle’ with the meat to break it apart. It tasted equally as awesome. There wasn’t as much flavor on the meat as it did on the rice but whatever flavor there was + plus the naturally feel of being baked – simply awesome! Having the chicken with the rice though …. heavenly. That is all there is to say 🙂
Lamb Kebab Sandwich, 13 ringgit
The ‘Kebab’ taste and flavor was truly evident with every mouth you take. They call it a sandwich, I call it a wrap. It consisted of Arabic bread + well seasoned lamb mince meat, shaped into a sausage + homemade sauce + sliced vegetables with a side of fries. At a price of 13 ringgit, it is one of those dishes I do not mind dropping by to ‘take-away’ at the end of the day, after work. The last thing I would want is to have a heavy meal at night just before head to bed , nope. What I would want is something not too heavy yet filling and this sandwich could fit the bill. I look forward to giving their chicken options a try.
Would I head back here?
Yes, considering the good food and the affordable price, the location is a plus too – heck yes, I am returning.
Address: No. 6, Jalan Wan Kadir, TTDI
Opening hours: Everyday. 12 pm – 11.30 pm.
Signing out now, Ciao.
