Banana Leaf Rice @ Sri Paandi, Petaling Jaya

Come Sunday or any day where you can kick back, make time for a little banana leaf rice action. An institution in Petaling Jaya, this place was once under threat by a wicked rival who named themselves Sri Paandi too. Totally confusing customers and etc, that "curry war" as it was previously termed got loads of attention and even spanned a television commercial based on that infamous feud. Luckily now the whole debacle seems to be over, as the other Sri Paandi is gone leaving the "real one" there.

Dining here is always a great experience and service is impeccable. Once your bum touches the chair and you tell them you want banana leaf rice, you get mobbed by a team of purple shirt guys. First, it's the banana leaf chap, this affable fellow (who was very pleased with my picture of him) who carries a stack of leaves. As soon as the leaf is laid out, the symphony starts - "rice, curry vegetables, all kinds of crackers, rasam (that sourish soup), yoghurt to cool your tongue down and the various types of curries." Everything gets laden down as fast as you can blink and shout out yes or no.

Then there's the tray of deep fried goodies - the fish cutlets, chicken pieces, that always seem to go perfectly with the curries. It's not hard to spot him, as the fella who mans the tray walks around with his goodies perched high on top of his head. Don't forget the chutneys and the all important curry to drown your rice with. My favourite is the chicken varuval here, pieces of chicken coated in a not overly spicy paste that is bursting with flavour.

Go wash your hands at the sink and dig in slowly to the mound of rice, flooded with curry and dhal to start your meal. Once the purple-shirt fellas have served you and the others, you find them relaxing and even asking you if they can look at the back of the Sunday papers to check the 4D scores. While he takes down the numbers, Splashie Boy is so amused he had to ask him, "ada kena tak?" (did you strike?).

Sri Paandi

Jalan Dato Mahmud 11/4

Off Jalan Universiti

Petaling Jaya

(Halal. Open from 8am to 11pm. Banana leaf rice is for lunch and dinnertime. GPS N3 06.664 E101 38.961. Google map is here.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

Tagged with: Banana Leaf Rice + Malaysian Food