Venue: Ansal Plaza
Date: February 2017

We thought Delhi NCR’s food scene had it all. But apparently there was no Malaysian food restaurant till Jom Jom Malay opened in Ansal Plaza. This was a surprise since Malay food is an eclectic combination of Arabian, Persian, Chinese (Nonya) and Indian cuisine and sits very well on Indian palettes. They use similar herbs and spices like us. Hence, as soon as we got an invite from this place, we promptly went for dinner.

It is a calming interior with subtle prints on the wall and artifacts from Sarawak – Bali regions.  The food had a lot of fresh herbs and spices. Coconut milk, a common ingredient in Malay food was used liberally. This gave the dishes a light but creamy thickness.

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We had the full works – satay (grilled chicken/sea food with peanut sauce) , laksa (noodle soup), mee  goreng (noodles with seasoning), nasi goreng (fried rice) and nasi lemak (rice cooked with coconut and pandan leaves, served with boiled egg and fried chicken).  For desert we had coconut cheese cake, banoffee pie and the tarik (milk tea).

Given the liberal use of oil and spices and the deep frying of almost every kind of meat, Malay cuisine is not of the healthiest variety. We were therefore a little skeptical about the after effect. It is relieving that the chefs here have moderated the use of oil and spices. Moreover some form of fresh salad was served with almost every dish. This balanced the impact and aided digestion. They get big thumbs up from us for that.

All in all it was a lovely gastronomic journey at Jom Jom Malay. Must tries –

Kaya bao: Kaya is a coconut jam and is made of coconut milk, eggs and sugar. It is an enormously popular spread in South East Asia. Try baos (bread rolls) coated with kaya and minced meat. This dish is unique and yum.

Nasi lemak:  We missed the flavour of pandan leaves in this dish. Otherwise it is an authentic as it could get. Nasi lemak is popularly known as the national dish of Malaysia and sits very well on our taste buds. It’s a complete dish and worth a shot.

“Jom” in Malay language means “go”. Do go to Jom Jom Malay for a nice but off beat culinary experience.