Monday, September 15, 2008

Banana Leaf Rice @ Sri Nirwana Maju Bangsar

Talk about wanting to do something and actually doing it only after 1 year. I have always wanted to write about this Sri Nirwana Maju banana leaf restaurant. It has always been regarded as one of the better places to go for Banana Leaf, although I it might not be the cheapest.

This visit is a first for me in 2008, and surprisingly the first ever visit for Sayang to this restaurant. I mean we have dropped by at Saravanan Bhavan but not to this place. So as usual all banana leaf meals begin with, is the standard vegetarian meal. I think it costs RM5 or something like that, with unlimited rice, and vege. The deep fried bitter gourd on the right most, was on top form that night, it tasted totally out of this world, so naturally I asked for more during the meal.

We also asked for Sotong Goreng, which was made just nice. The marinate was aromatic, and forms a thin layer of flavouring onto the squid, which otherwise would have tasted like nothing. This was a great dish, deep fried, squid wasn't hard, and it tasted great.

We also tried their Fried Balos fish, Rm2 for a small piece each. It was quite alright.

Their fried chicken was so so, and nothing really much to shout about.

Overall I found this place to be quite alright, the food is good, service is fast. It can get quite pack during dinner hours, and you might have to wait for a place to seat. Now that can be quite a turn off. However, having said that, the reason why people come in droves is that this place serve some really nice banana leaf rice.

Also read:

Lyrical Lemongrass Visit

Kiasu's Visit

Sri Nirwana Maju
Address: 43, Jalan Telawi 3,
Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL.

Telephone: 03-2287 8445

16 Comments:

KY said...

haiyoh! why did you use fork & spoon! hehe

Stanley said...

the next time if you are going to the banana leaf for dinner, remember to invite me along.. :p

Bernsy said...

ky - must be fair, Sayang use hands, i must use spoons lo, maybe next time I bring misterstan along they can use chopsticks....

Yum yum !!

choi yen said...

The fried sotong don have any batter hor~~~good~good~

Stanley said...

chopsticks? haha. i use knife and fork :p

Christina Kim said...

I will use fork and spoon too...hehe, so no worries.
And the sotong does look nice:)

Anonymous said...

The maggi goreng oso good here. :-)

Bernsy said...

mimi - syioks and very nice chow yau yuee...

Misterstan - nice...

christy - most of their meat, chicken, fish , and sotong all should be quite nice, because you pick them up from the fridge, hand it to them for frying.. so it comes out smoking hot... and crispy...

Lemongrass - hmm... no wonder quite a lot of ppl also ordered that ...

Anonymous said...

I would beg to differ your exaltations of Nirwana. I go there regularly, simply on the accounts on being coaxed by philistine friends who think they know good Indian food. But of course, prioritizing the company over the cuisine, I always oblige whenever cool people ask me to go there.

But the food has always been tasteless and extraordinarily expensive, even by Bangsar standards. A fried sotong dish, very much like the one you ordered set me back by RM20, simply for that one dish and though their fried bittergourd is divine, the same cannot be said about everything else, service included.

Now, for some kickass banana leaf rice, Raju's in Jalan Gasing, PJ is still my preferred choice.

An understated restaurant situated beside a monsoon drain with tables under the trees, Malaysian fare is never better.

Bernsy said...

Regina,

Thanks for dropping by. The food at Nirwana used to be even better, a few years back, that I can vouch for.

Check out my Raju's review here
http://bernsy.blogspot.com/2007/01/banana-leaf-meal-restoran-raju-pj.html

I wouldn't say I know all about Indian food, because I am still experimenting... trying here and there all....

Tirath Khera said...

I would like to agree with the review stating that the food at nirwana is good.. however, I had a very bad experience over there last friday whereby my friend and I were discriminated being Malaysians.. we went over for lunch, and as usual, it was crowded, especially outside, and we waited for a table as one of the tables opened in front of their neighbouring shop, which was occupied by some white foreigners was about to be cleared.. as soon as they were done, we had a seat there, and we were ignored for some time, and when we called to the waiter, he practically shooed us and told us he has to close the table, and when we refused to get up, he told us to speak to his boss.. so here comes the boss to prove how good the service there is.. us being hoteliers, customer service is a very important factor when dining, and nirwana maju proved not to have any.. an indian lady came over to our table, the so called boss, and she spoke to us in a very rude manner, a very harsh tone and with no courtesy, just telling us that to move away from that table, and they have to close it, and we don't understand how bad her neighbour is who won't let her open the table there.. I then asked her one simple question, if you are not allowed to do so, then why is the table here?? she kept on arguing, and claimed that the table was for a the previous guest, they requested for it, which was exactly what i was doing too.. so, we malaysians were discriminated clear cut.. ain't that bad? she could've chosen a nicer manner to tell us, but she chose not to.. so, we have decided to boycot the restaurant despite the good food, which we feel can be obtainable elsewhere, with excellent service to, unlike what we got there...

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Unknown said...

Hi Guys,
I used to an ardent fan of Nirvana Maju. Guess a lot have changed since; Taste, Service, Discrimination etc. I have found my new haven for Banana Leaf. Thanks to my Texas Instruments buddies. It's a place called Sam's Kitchen at Taman Maluri. I go there at least once a week to get my dosage of Kire Curry(Spinach), Mutton Varuval etc... The staffs; I would say well-trained, friendly, Food; Excellent, Cleanliness; The owners has done a great job at keeping the place spick and span. Check it out! 234, Jalan Mahkota, Taman Maluri, Cheras

Sree said...

Nirwana Maju bangsar is the wost place I have ever went, Iwas there yesterday with my office people and the lady owner in the place basically was so rude to us while taking the order and the whole experience was so bad service, We have banned the place now.

Bernsy said...

Wow, this is not the first time I heard of this complain. I was back in KL recently and I did pay Nirwana a visit. Food is still ok, and service is not as personal as before. We were made to queue up and that lady boss (who never smiles) would stand around and refuse to greet her customers ( yeah I know what you mean).

Anyways, food was still good, this was from my visit when we came back in July.

Unknown said...

RUDE OWNERS, OVERPRICED FOR SIMPLE PLAIN INDIAN FOOD, CRAMPED SURROUNDINGS IS NOT A PLACE TO GO NEXT TIME.IN FUTURE GO TO LORONG MAAROF SHOPS FOR BETTER CORRECT PRICED FOODS AND BETTER RESPECT! Heard this place is counting its days to close dow