Friday, August 18, 2006

Nasi Padang @ Natrabu, Kampung Baru, KL




Natrabu, the famous Nasi Padang place from Indonesia has recently re-opened for business in Kampung Baru. Previously located around Sentral in Brickfields, the restaurant is now housed in a bungalow just behind the Petronas station, off Jalan Raja Muda Musa. I've not been to the first outlet but we were blown away by this place especially the food. In fact, out of all the Nasi Padang places I have eaten till to date, this is still the best and the priciest. The wait staff are decked in traditional Minang costumes and if you wish to plan a wedding, there's even a dais all ready for the important pelamin ceremony.



I love the juices at this place - totally pure and so thick. We had the Alpokat with chocolate sauce and their cucumber juice. It may too early to mention desserts at this point but they do a pretty mean Es Teller here. I like the colours of the dessert - large sago pearls, slices of avocado, young coconut slices, grass jelly cubes and jackfruit pieces.


At Natrabu, you can opt for two ways to be served; a selection of each of their special dishes to be placed on your table by them or just pick and choose what you want from the counter directly. I can't remember how many dishes they laid out for us but I know it covered almost the whole table. Although everything was very tempting, we had to resist and only take a few dishes. Even though we tried to limit our choices, we still ended up rolling down to our car with satisfied tummies.


I love their Rendang Minang - very rich and the beef that came with it was so tender. You need lots of rice to eat this.


My absolute favourite and something I can't seem to find in any other Nasi Padang place - the Ikan Teri Goreng. This picture does not justice as the curry leaf is blocking it but it's essentially small fishes which have been cut into half in the middle, deep fried and tossed in a dry sambal sauce. So addictive as it's so crunchy with just the hint of chilli.



Splashie Boy's favourite - the Perkedel which is made from mashed potato and beef and pan fried. I thought this was nothing exceptional and could be replicated in almost any Nasi Campur place in town.



Ayam Pop is a must have in a Nasi Padang place. Natrabu's version comes with a chilli sauce dip and the ubi kayu (sweet potato) leaves on the side. The chicken is juicy and fried every time you order it.



I love the Dendeng here - razor thin and crispy. The best I have tasted so far as it's not tough like the other places. Eat it with the sambal for a nice kick to the dish.



This was a yummy sambal which I ate alone as Splashie Boy preferred his crunchy long beans. I can't really remember what was inside it but it must be something he does not eat as he avoided this dish completely.





For vegetables, it was sweet potato leaves cooked in coconut milk. Nothing special about this dish and also found in most Nasi Padang places. I'm not showing the long beans dish as I felt it was ordinary as the one in Sari Ratu was nicer. Besides these dishes, they also serve deep fried chicken, prawns with petai (stinky bean), fish curry, grilled chicken, baby eels, brinjal with sambal and etc.

Although prices here are more expensive than the other Nasi Padang places in town, the food is yummy. It's also the only place I know so far which serves the yummy Ikan Teri so it's on my list of places to be revisited again and again.

Natrabu
No. 3, Lorong Raja Uda 1
Off Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz
Kampung Baru
Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03 - 2691 2701

(Open from 11.00 am to 11.30 pm daily)


*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.

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11 comments:

J said...

No worries.
The photos will tide us over for now.
(Oooh... and such yummy photos they are too!)

:)

MeiyeN said...

wow boo what kind of drinks and dessert is that? it looks delicious....

Izad said...

Yummy! I haven't tried Natrabu yet, just Sari Bonda in Desa Pandan. Thanks for the heads up, Boo. I think the drinks are lime juice and avocado mixed with chocolate syrup (which is absolutely yummy!)

Unknown said...

The cliche goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, but these piccies look like they're worth millions of calories!

LOL

FooDcrazEE said...

how am i to diet ? with pic like these

boo_licious said...

J - can't wait to see the La Suisse pixs!

Jackson - diet????? If you love cakes, do try the Choc Steamed Pudding at Alexis - heavenly stuff and so light.

mei yen - it's Indonesian Ais Kacang but with fruits. Drinks - cucumber juice and avocado juice with choc sauce. Very yummy.

Izad - go try! Very nice stuff and eat lots of the ikan teri as it's so addictive.

tigerjoe - hee hee, then poor jackson will have put on lots of weight just be looking at the pixs.

foodcrazee - no need to diet, just join and eat with your wife. If she has to grow fat, so must you to keep her happy.

Unknown said...

I'd never tried any nasi padang b4..but im pretty sure that u love nasi padang to the max with so much reviews did on it..if i were to try it some day natrabu would be my first choice since u said that they serve the best nasi padang!

D said...

Hey Boo,

Keep up the good work aye? I use your blog as one of my food guides whenever I'm visiting KL.
Just curious to know, what sort of gear do you use to take your photographs?
I'm pretty sure the quality points to a proper camera as it's far better than that of a cameraphone?

Cheers!

boo_licious said...

kat - no PD restaurant review as I have not been there for ages. Sorry!

bonnie - thxs for the info!

kampungboycitygal - if you love Malay food, you will love Natrabu's food.

d - nowadays camera phone quite advanced already so if you use the new models, you should be fine. See babe_kl's pixs as she takes really good ones with her camera phone. I use a Lumix FZ7 for my pixs.

Babe_KL said...

thanks for your kind words there boo_licious, it boils down to good lighting i would say.

darn its a torture here to see all those delish padang food. and i'm so hungry now. no wonder its tun M's fave. will try this place soon since its nearer town. how's the parking there?

boo_licious said...

babe - no problems. The parking is within the bungalow which is not that huge but sufficient.

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