The Lankan Crabs @ Jln Kemuja, Bangsar - Chicken Briyani da' bomb 😍😍

Hellooooo folks, hope all is well with you guys. I know it has been a while since we’ve last posted a review. With the increase in Covid related cases, we decided to or rather attempted to cook and eat at home. Success rate of the attempts were at about 40%. Yup, we spent more time ruining lunch and dinner than acing it. Burnt, overcooked, undercooked, overseasoned, underseasoned, wrong ingredients used and etc. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. The fact that we lasted 3 weeks was epicly shocking. Uggghh, we needed a break. Some things are best left to the professionals, ey?

After some consideration, we mutually decided to indulge in some indian food. There is something about the spices and taste of this particular cuisine that never ceases to amaze me. A fried suggested Lankan Crab, located along Jalan Kemuja, Bangsar. It is within the same row of shops as Lisette’s Cafe & Bakery and Transparent Coffee. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about this Ceylonese restaurant and so, was looking forward to giving it a try.

Compared to the usual, with MCO/CMCO in place, parking was rather easy. Plenty of spots available by the roadside. So, we parked, walked over, placed our order and received our food within 15 minutes.

Chicken Briyani, RM 45 + Brinjal Moju, Rm 10 + Sinni Sambol, RM 5

( Rice, Chicken (top left), Brinjal Moju, Sambol (top right), Egg)

I know….I know. RM 45 for Chicken Briyani?? Whaaattt?? 😱😱

Do take note that it comes in a (very) large portion and is meant for two. I personally think two pax is a bit of a stretch. Those two fellas have got to be really, really hungry, have a very large stomach and/or usually eats loads of rice per serving. Based on the portion I received, it was good enough to feed 3 – 4 individuals. Very large portion size indeed. In this regard, paying RM 45 was certainly good value for money.

The Chicken Briyani was an absolute delight. I loveeee briyani that is packed with spices and filled with raisin, cashews and etc. Know how long it has been since I’ve came across such briyani?? Yearsssss. Sure, I eat this particular dish every now and then and it almost always comes with varying degrees of spices but the raisins and cashews though – years. It makes all the differences, the sweetness from the raisins and the crunchyness of the cashews but it is often served without nowadays. Why? I don’t know. Mighthy glad there were plenty of those here though. The rice itself was moist and dense, so no gravy was necessary. The chicken was tender, juicy and flavorful, comes with a whole chicken thigh + breast piece which is served in 3 parts. Just like the rice, the chicken pieces were large too. I especially enjoyed the bits spices scattered all over the dish. It literally consisted of lumps of flavorful paste that is made up of spices, slightly wet and made a perfect addition to an already tasty rice. The Chicken Briyani also came with 2 eggs. Overall, a truly satisfying dish. I loved it.

This too was delicious. It consisted of thinly sliced, fried brinjal onions and chillies. If you are a brinjal lover like I am, you’d love this dish. This Ceylonese dish is also commmonly served in Indian restaurants, however, the one here was not soggy, wet and soaked in oil, as would usually be the case with the ones served at Indian restaurants. Here, it was slightly wet but because it was nicely toasted/fried beforehand, it was able to retain its dry crispyness. Tasty it was with a slight lemon-ny kick to it. Made a perfect addition to the briyani. Yummm! The portion size was generous, good enough to serve 2,3.

This I ordered for no particular reason. It was not needed for the briyani as that dish was good enough to eat on its own. I simply wanted an add on, something spicy? The Sinni Sambol provided me exactly that. It was spicy and sweet too. It tasted similar to some of the nasi lemak sambal out there – minus the anchovies. I liked the sweetness from the caramelized onions which was the main star of this dish. Having it with the briyani was awesome, with the variety of flavors, it was simply divine. This too was good enough to serve 2, 3 pax.

Every dish I tasted was good. I think this may as well be one of the best briyanis I’ve tasted in a while. Do give it a try if you are able to, spending RM 45 for it is worth it. Not only does it taste really good, you’d get a portion size good enough to serve 2,3 or even 4 peeps.