Teh Tarik Place

Teh Tarik Place is a small chain restaurant that serves some basic Malaysian dishes, including the namesake national drink, teh tarik. I suppose this would be a good place to suggest trying teh tarik if you've never had it! The menu is fairly simple as are the interior decorations (mostly wood and stone).

The typical range of fried rice and noodle dishes (RM6-9) are on hand, as well as laksa (RM7), nasi lemak (RM4-8), a range of roti dishes (RM 2-7), and a small nasi campur bar. They also have set lunch combos (RM7-9) and serve breakfast (RM2-3) too. Some popular snacky foods that I could eat daily if given the opportunity, like curry puffs, ABC, and cucur udang. The drinks are also the standard ones that you would find at a local mamak stall. Prices are pretty good for restaurant, and it is a cleaner option than the typical mamak for those who value hygiene and cleanliness at restaurants.

At the time of writing, there were six stores open in malls around the greater KL area, including the Curve, 1 Utama, IOI Mall, Sunway Pyramid, Empire Shopping Gallery, and Sooka Sentral. None of these are really central except for the one at Sooka Sentral (right next to KL Sentral Station). But it is worth a trip to one of its locations to give it a try. I don't go often, but I would if I had one closer to my house (hint, hint).

My rating: 4 stars

Teh Tarik Place
Empire Shopping Gallery
Lot LG21, Ground Floor
Subang Jaya, Selangor

Sooka Sentral
Lot GC2, Ground Floor
Jalan Stesen Sentral 5
50470 Kuala Lumpur

The Curve
Ground Floor
Mutiara Damansara
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

1 Utama
Lower Ground Floor, Rainforest
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

IOI Mall
3rd Floor, New Extension
Bandar Puchong Jaya
Puchong, Selangor

Sunway Pyramid
Lot OB3 LG1.1 & G9
Oasis Boulevard Three
Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Web site: http://www.tehtarikplace.my/
Open from 10am until 10pm

Akasa Taj

The Akasa Taj is a mamak style restaurant on the corner of Jalan P. Ramlee and Jalan Perak underneath the Rohas Perkasa Building. It sits right across the street from the Milkshake Factory, Coffee Bean, and Gaucho Steakhouse.

Akasa Taj is open 24 hours a day like most mamak restaurants. But it is located in a premium-pricing region, just a short walk away from KLCC and surrounded by Jalan P. Ramlee's popular bars and several offices and serviced apartments. Because of that, it is a bit pricier than most mamak.

To its advantage, though, it is quite clean and spacious. There are ample places to sit outdoors around the fountain or inside under the modern lighting. The help-yourself mixed rice bar looked great when I was there. I was one of their first customers just before the Friday lunch rush started so everything was nicely displayed.

The usual fare was on offer, ranging from fried chicken to fish curries. I jumped all over the tempeh, potato, and ikan bilis cooked in spicy sambal. Yum. The lady fingers cooked in oyster sauce was also nice. And a side of green sambal topped it off.

The standard mamak drinks were available. I kept it simple and ordered an iced milk tea. On such a hot day, it was refreshing. But it was a bit watery. Still, it worked.

The service was a bit slow though. There weren't many people in the restaurant when I was there. But it still took a while for someone to come over and take my drink order and calculate the price for the mixed rice. But this is a popular (and busy) place. I even noticed several of the expats working in the area stopped in and got a takeaway box.

For me, the teh ais cost RM2.50 and the mixed rice (3 veggie side dishes) cost RM7.00. Overall, I'd have to say that it was a nice place with pretty good food...but higher priced compared to the same quality in other locations.

My rating: 3 stars

Akasa Taj
8 Jalan Perak
50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Open 24 hours a day