Nasi Padang Masarah, Hai Chiew, Masai, Johor ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reader masaiboy suggested that I pay a visit to Nasi Padang Masarah, the Masai town folk's long time favourite.

masaiboy 好介绍. 今天跑去 Masai 马西吃巴东咖喱饭. 口味刚刚好. 虽然菜色不算超级多, 今天所吃过的我们都觉得很好吃. 食物不会太重口味. 我觉得刚刚好. 香料味很香. 今天吃的特别喜欢他的炸鸡腿跟咖喱羊肉. 价格公道. 今天这餐21块. 喜欢吃咖喱饭的朋友不妨试试.



As I am a Nasi Padang fan, always on the lookout for good places to enjoy this Indonesian speciality, we dropped by at Nasi Padang Masarah at the first opportunity. Thank you, buddy masaiboy.




masaiboy said that Nasi Padang Masarah is directly opposite the Chinese temple along Jalan Besar. We pulled over once we saw the temple and walked along the row of old shop houses. Finding Nasi Padang Masarah was easy as we can smell the spice aroma from a few shop lots away. Oh, street side parking here is free of charge 😋



Nasi Padang Masarah is a little stall (the only stall) inside Hai Chiew kopitiam. Hai Chiew has been around since 1967. The walls are covered up to the ceiling with small glossy plain white tiles. The floor is laid with vintage emerald coloured mosaic. Ceiling fans whirl noisily above our heads. The coffee shop was lighted up with naked, unglamourous fluorescent poles. The coffee shop is simply furnished with foldable tables and stackable plastic chairs. Bare bones but it has a nice rustic, laid back feel and is quite clean and comfortable. The stall holders and staff were cheerful and friendly.




Ibu Masarah's father founded the stall in 1967 which had been with Hai Chiew koipitiam 海洲咖啡餐室 since the beginning. The stall was originally simply named Nasi Padang Masai and was renamed Nasi Padang Masarah after Ibu Masarah took over the stall.



Ibu Masarah runs the busy stall with her husband Pak Yusuf and their daughter. Here, Pak Yusof is preparing their famous Kambing Kurma.



There are many choices at Nasi Padang Masarah from fish, sotong (squid), chicken, beef, lamb to various vegetable dishes. We piled our plates with our favourites - kambing kurma, fried chicken, beef rendang and vegetables. We loved everything on our plates and all these food came to a grand total of RM21 (2016 price).

The beef rendang which I must have at every nasi padang stall was tender and juicy. Just mildly savoury spicy with subtle beefiness.



This fried chicken drumstick look pretty ordinary but we took it anyway because we just can't resist fried drumsticks 😆

But, hey this fried drumstick turned out to be among the best that we have tasted. It's fried quite dry but not overly so. The real winner was its marination which gave the chicken a mild spice taste and nice, pleasant aroma.



Oh, Nasi Padang Masarah's kambing kurma really lived up to its reputation. The tender and juicy lamb still had a slight mutton gaminess which I like. The gravy which is a blend of lamb juices with aromatic spices was a mild savoury sweet spicy blend with spice perfume. Tip: Splash your rice with lots of the kambing kurma gravy if you are a lamb lover.



The house made sambal chili was just mildly savoury spicy with a gentle sting that doesn't linger too long. It makes everything tastes better 😋

4-Star Nasi Padang Masarah has my favourite nasi padang dishes and they are done just right for my taste buds. The food is flavoursome with well balanced flavours. We are able to taste the ingredients' natural flavours as they are not overwhelmed by seasoning and spices or overcooking. The prices are reasonable too.



Restaurant name: Nasi Padang Masarah 
Address: Hai Chiew coffee shop, 9 Jalan Besar, Masai, Johor 
GPS: 1°29'11.6"N 103°52'60.0"E / 1.486562, 103.883321
Hours: 11:00am to 3:00pm (Friday off)  

Halal

 

Date: 30 Aug 2016


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