Nasi Ambang Mak Ana is a makeshift road side stall with canvas roofing and flappy walls, operating off the back of a mini van. The neat and well kept stall has only limited seating and most of Mak Ana's clientele are take-away customers.
A simple sign at Mak Ana's warung (road side stall) carried a clear warning "Berapi Punya" (hot like a volcano). This is a hot volcano people run to, not away from. Hurry because Mak Ana's busy stall opens less than 3 hours a day before her nasi ambang is sold out.
The friendly and cheerful Mak Ana is personally at the stall.
The food are all in large aluminium pots or kept warm in large plastic cooler boxes and tubs. This is the pot of fiery curry chicken. They don't last long - everything at Mak Ana is usually sold out by 1:30pm.
Mak Ana's nasi ambang is very popular with residents, office and factory workers around the Bandar Baru Uda area (in Johor Bahru).
Many would take away the nasi ambeng wrapped with banana leaf and brown paper in a traditional cone shaped bundle. Each standard pack costs RM5.
I had a standard set at RM5.
There was a large mound of white steamed rice topped with spicy fried noodles (mee goreng), a curry chicken drumstick, deep fried beef liver, curry beef, tofu cubes, some long beans, a couple of small salt fish, a potato cutlet, a clump of
Everything in the packet came together in a perfect jumble.
Many textures from tender yet nutty rice, tender noodles, soft chicken, soft potato cutlet, crunchy long beans, and slightly leathery salted fish.
There were lots of flavours including sweetness from the potato and chicken, savouriness from the fried beef liver, saltiness from the salt fished and layers of spicy hot from the sambal and curry gravy.
The sambal chili was made with different types of chili peppers and chili padi giving the spiciness interesting layers of hotness. It was hot like a volcano as advertised but not overpowering or overwhelming (for me). It left a nice spicy sting on the tongue that lingers briefly. Just long enough for me to reach for another delicious mouthful as soon as I swallowed the previous one.
Mak Ana is very generous with her delicious curry gravy with a nice fresh coconut milk flavour. I went over to ask for more curry and the boss cheerfully gave me two more scoops, all the while asking if it was enough.
The curry gravy and the sambal chili are definitely the main selling points of Mak Ana's nasi ambang. The generous portion of well prepared components from the steamed rice to the spicy fried noodles and everything else in the package, made this humble warung an excellent place to stop over, eat like a local, and experience a street side warung.
This is one of the best nasi ambang there is in Johor Bahru.
Mak Ana's warung is located just beside the Petronas petrol station along Jalan Padi Ria. Parking is easy around the stall and the seating, though limited is quite comfortable.
->> This nasi ambang is spicy and shiok!
(Note: The nicer pictures in this post were shot by Kumes, shared here with thanks :-D )
Restaurant name: Nasi Ambang Mak Ana (street side stall)
Address: Along Jalan Padi Ria (beside the Petronas station), Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Map: http://bit.ly/MakAnaNasi
Hours: 11:30am to sold out (usually by 1:30pm) Closed on Saturday
Halal
Date visited: 5 Feb 2015
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I believed the shredded coconut you mentioned in your article is not kerisi but it is called serunding :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Nur for pointing out. I have amended the post. Appreciate it.
Deleteawesome! I just moved to JB some 8 months ago so I have been exploring a lot of good makan place! hahaa thanks for this, dude!
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome Danial. Glad that you find this blog helpful. You are welcome to share with us your finds too :-D
DeleteI'm salivating! What a wonderful mess!
ReplyDeletehahahaha
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