One thing about Malaysia is the abundance and the variety of food. KL, to me would seem to be a melting pot of foods from around the world. There are also cross breeding of cuisine from different continents , that it creates new fusion food. One would need to be open minded when tasting a new kind of food here .Unless, of course, you are looking for the food that you expect to eat and are used to everyday.
I had the chance, recently, to taste food originated form the middle east. It was Syrian. The restaurant is called Tidjane, and it is situated near by Tarbush, another Arab outlet. Both are situated in Bukit Bintang. Must I say that Tarbush in KL and Penang is different from the "AM Tarbush" in Kota Bharu. The name almost sounded similar. Some middle eastern colleagues here, menttioned that the AM Tarbush is basically serving Malaysianised Arab food. It didn't fully taste like the one found in their own country. Probably because of the differences in its spice, ingredient and cooking style. Of course, we have to respect their opinion. It is like a betrayal in the real and authentic taste of food that they are used to since young, when suddenly they have to stop as they need to come over here to further their studies. And since, they are forced to get adjusted to the Nasi Dagang, nasi kerabu, singge, murtabak, nasi ulam and all. I love them all!
The five foot way was littered with peddlers selling imitations, from Rolex watches to iPhone. There were a few foreign peddlers too. I was just wondering if they were students in local private universities. They looked pretty young.
An usher is stationed in front of the eatery, answering any queries that one may have on the foreigned name food, which was quite a tongue twister. I can remember bakalava at the moment, as a friend who graduated from Turkey introduced me the sweet confection before.
The ambience was nice, so to say. It was dimmed, warmth, and relaxing. A soft arabic tune played in the background, adding to the middle eastern atmosphere.
There was a special calling gadget on each table. Press a button, either "water", 'bill" or "call" and it would summon the in-charge to come over to attend to you. Pretty convenient for us, the customers as we do not have to be on the look out to catch a glimpse of the waiter to call out to him.
Food choices were varied. We were spoiled for choices and in the end settled for spiced roasted chicken with shoe string, mutton with couscous (sorry, can't remember the name) and some sour salad as the appetizer. The latter was very sour to taste, that we added sugar to neutralise the sourness, to make it edible. Probably, the middle easterners were used to eating sour appetizers. That was the first time I tasted olive, which, in the medical literature often describe its cardiovascular protective goodness.
The choice of beverages here would be more than enough to cure those with sweet tooth. As sweetness has always been featured in Malaysian drinks, that it has been blamed to the uprising number of obesed adults recently, we decided for arabic tea. This I like, and it was different from the usual tea that I am used to everyday. It has a subtle taste of cinnamon and some spice added in it, without loosing the main tannin taste of tea itself. I have added cinnamon grains into my cup of nescafe, but the tea tasted lighter. It was like having After Eight after dinner, minus the mint.
Overall, the experience was great. These quiet moments are cherished very much. I would like to end by posting a song "Pizza in his pocket" by Zain Bikha with the lyrics displayed on the video. I am grateful for the abundance of nutritious food choices here. Alhamdullillah.
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