Restoran Mandala, Nepalese Cuisine [Kuala Lumpur]

Super Dry

Di tiap negara, pasti ada pengalaman makan makanan yang enak, ada yang biasa-biasa doang atau sampai parah. Khusus Kuala Lumpur, rata-rata tiap kali ke sini saya selalu puas dengan semua masakannya, bahkan yang included dalam kamar hotel atau hostel.

In each countries / city, we usually had the experience of sampling variety of dishes, ranging from great to bad. Kuala Lumpur is usually an exception, I never had any bad culinary experience here, be it in a posh restaurant, to the simple breakfast served with our lodging.

Resto Mandala Kuala Lumpur

Resto Mandala Kuala Lumpur

Saya mampir ke resto ini saat setelah jalan-jalan pagi dan melihat banyak food truck di sekitar lapangan jalan Medan Pasar.
Pertama sudah niat ingin mencoba makanan di food truck, tapi setelah melihat tempat makannya kecil dan ribet, akhirnya mencari resto di sekitarnya dan bertemu Resto Mandala ini. 

I encountered this restaurant by chance, whilst taking a morning stroll around the food truck area in Jln Medan Pasar yard.

At first glance I'm intrigued to sample the dishes from various food truck here, but after seeing the lack of seating, I decided to try the conventional restaurant around, Restaurant Mandala.

Resto Mandala KL (Fuji XM1 + 16-50mm)

Restoran Mandala Kuala Lumpur (Fuji XM1 + 16-50mm)

Kali ini ada pengecualian di Kuala Lumpur, setelah berkali-kali ke sini akhirnya bertemu dengan makanan yang saya tidak cocok sama sekali. Dari segi citarasa sih tidak ada masalah, rasanya cukup enak, ada paduan rasa gurih, asin dan dipadu segarnya jeruk nipis dan bumbu di tomat.

Tapi sisanya, ampun-ampun keringnya.

This time around I'm not so lucky, since I found one of the only food in KL that really does sucks. 

The thing that I have many qualms here isn't the taste, which was decent, instead it's the textures of the dish.

It's bone dry dish, with decent taste, and me having skipped breakfast as usual, was a bit famished at the moment, so despite the dryness I manage to finish most of them.

Mandala Special - MYR 17 (Samsung S6)

Mandala Special - Puffed Rice (Olympus EM10 + Olympus 45mm f1.8)

Yang ini puffed rice, alias nasi yang dioven sampai kering dan crunchy. Andai satu ini saja bahannya diganti nasi punel biasa, mungkin bisa termasuk jajaran menu yang saya rekomendasikan. Sayangnya nasinya pun dibikin dalam bentuk super kering seperti ini.
Kalau pingin tahu rasanya bagaimana, bisa diwakilkan dengan sereal rice krispies di atas.

Kalau dibikin untuk sereal dan diberi susu sih jadi enak, kalau dimakan keringan kurang cocok untuk selera saya.

This one is a puffed rice, which is the first time I've encountered such type of dish. If only they've used a reguler cooked rice, that would really help alleviate the dish. Alas that was not the case, and this rice just add to the absolute dryness of the dish.

If you never encountered this kind of dish, and you're curious, just imagine having dry rice krispies cereal in a dish.

Roasted Mutton in Mandala Special (Olympus EM10 + Olympus 45mm f1.8)

Daging kambingnya cukup enak, diberi bumbu yang pas, rasanya amat smokey. Masalahnya sama dengan komponen masakan lainnya, sangat kering. Kalau daging ini dikombinasi dengan nasi + gulai gaya india mungkin bakal cocok, kalau dalam kondisi seperti Mandala Special ini, penyiksaan buat mulut dan tenggorokan.

The mutton was pretty good, it was seasoned well, with heavy smoky taste and a very charred exterior. Problem is, it's very dry, just like the rest of the dish.

If this were combined with something like a cooked rice and Indian style curry, would make a killer combo. In this dish though, it's a torture for teeth, jaw, and throat, going down.

Mandala Special - Khatta Meetha?

Yang ini bentuknya mirip sekali dengan jajanan favorit saya dari India, Haldiram's Khatta Meetha. Rasanya tidak buruk, spicy tapi tidak penuh MSG seperti sebagian snack brand internasional.
Tapi sekali lagi, kering kerontang, susah untuk dinikmati dalam kombinasi hidangan ini.

This particular one is a favorite of mine, one particular snack from Haldiram's brand, a very popular Indian snack brand. It tastes great on it's own, but again, as with almost all the dish component, it's super dry.

Khatta Meetha (click the picture for link to the brand)

Mandala Special - Roasted Peanut

Komponen berikutnya termasuk umum, kacang garing (lagi) yang bisa kerasa nyangkut di tenggorokan kalau tidak dikunyah dengan baik.

Another dry ingredients in the dish, roasted peanuts. If you don't chew it to a pulp, it'll lodge on your throat.

Mandala Special - Tomato & Onion

Satu-satunya bahan masakan ini yang tidak kering, cah tomat dan bawang. Sayangnya tidak terlalu berkuah, hanya tidak kering saja, jadi masih tidak membantu banyak untuk mengurangi keringnya masakan Mandala Special.

The only ingredients here that isn't bone dry, a sauteed tomato and onion. Too bad it doesn't have much broth in it, so it didn't really helps the dryness of the dish a lot.

Sempat minta sambal, tapi pelayannya cuman bingung saja dan bilang tidak ada, padahal sudah minta dalam bahasa Indonesia (Malay) dan Inggris.

Akhirnya saya minta tambahan jeruk nipis untuk sekedar menambah cairan dalam menu antik ini.

Asked for chilli sauce, or any kind of sauce they got, unfortunately the waitress were just dumb-founded and shrug her shoulder, albeit asking both in English and Malay/ Indonesian.
I resorted to asking for extra lime, just to add some liquid to this dry-fest.

Complimentary Mineral Water

Salah satu yang menarik di resto ini adalah adanya minuman air botolan gratis. Sebelum pesan apa-apa sudah dibawakan sebotol minuman ini. Kebanyakan meja di sebelah saya memesan minuman beralkohol untuk menemani makan.

This restaurant offer a mineral water bottle as a complimentary beverage. When I arrive here, the waiter brought me the bottled water before ordering anything, so that's nice.

Most of the tables beside me that day ordered alcoholic beverage, which seems to be a drink from Nepal.

Tentang Puffed Rice, saya sempat curiga apa mungkin hidangan aneh itu saja yang memakai puffed rice. Ternyata tidak, di meja sebelah yang kebetulan ditinggal lama oleh empunya, saya sempat mengambil foto (maaf berantakan) dan ada sisa puffed rice juga di sana. Jadi memang masakan Nepal sepertinya dominan tekstur kering.

About that puffed rice. I had a big suspicion that the puffed rice were just one weird dish being served there. Turns out I was wrong, a table beside me were left very long by their patrons, and I had the chance to photograph one of their dish (sorry for the mess). You can see bits of puffed rice there too, which tells me that Nepalese cuisine are really big in to dry textures.

After Meal Mukhwas

Mukhwas : kalau suka dengan rasa spicy, bisa ambil mukhwas ini di dekat kasirnya. Kalau untuk saya cukup menarik rasanya walau sedikit pedas.
Mukhwas adalah snack setelah makan yang umumnya disajikan di resto India. Biasanya terdiri dari adas, biji pekak, biji wijen dan kelapa, dan minyak peppermint. 

Mukhwas is a colorful Indian after-meal snack or digestive aid. It also freshens breath. It can be made of various seeds and nuts, but often found with fennel seeds, anise seeds, coconut, and sesame seeds. They are sweet in flavor and highly aromatic due to added sugar and the addition of various essential oils, including peppermint oil. The seeds can be savory or sweet-coated in sugar and brightly colored.^[1] Plain water drunk after chewing and consuming the fennel seeds contained therein tastes extremely sweet

Food Trucks Around

Di sekeliling resto ini, atau tepatnya sebelum ke resto ini bakalan bertemu banyak food truck di sekeliling lapangan yang ada di depan Mandala.

Sayangnya belum pernah mencoba sendiri, tapi kalau melihat ramainya orang yang makan, bisa juga dijadikan jujugan kuliner yang menarik saat menginap di daerah China Town / Petaling.

Around the restaurant there are many popular food trucks, which seems to be of great quality. Price are also quite affordable, similar with what you'll pay in a hawker center in Malaysia.

I haven't tried them yet myself, but judging from the crowd, it would be a good bet for culinary destination when you're staying around Chinatown / Central Market area.

Food Truck - Pasar Medan KL

Food Truck - Pasar Medan KL

Food Truck - Pasar Medan KL

Food Truck - Pasar Medan KL

Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Restoran Mandala Menu

Map :