We were at the famous Jalan Bellamy ikan bakar hawker centre yesterday. Two of our colleagues had recently being promoted to Manager position. So as it has always been, a tradition of sort, the newly appointed Managers had to buy the whole office lunch. The spread was good-the fish ranged from ikan pari, ikan keli, ikan terubuk and ikan jacket. The dippings (and this include sambal belacan) i must say, were the raison d'etre for the whole ikan bakar affair. Same goes to Tangling and several other ikan bakar joints that i used to patronised, it was the dippings that matter.
A course mate of mine-a Pakistani- several months back asked me as to why is it difficult to find a good Malay restaurant offering authentic Malay kampong food in K.L particularly in Bukit Bintang area. I don't know what to reply. The question still lingers in my mind up to this day and is still valid. My observation on Malay restaurants in and outside K.L has always been that these joints are barren, short-lived and not as colorful and bright as mamaks.
More often than not, it is those Malay hawkers selling their fares under the Ketapang trees and besides mouse-infested drains who survived and thrived. No offence though and mind my shallow observations but this is what i see and notice. And almost half of these hawkers are not Malaysian. They are either Southern-Thais or Indonesian.
A food for thought indeed.
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