Chawan, Bangsar

One fine Sunday night, I and my friends were searching for food at Bangsar area. We are all Penang people and do not familiar with the area. The area was rather quiet. Our mind is all about Chinese-style kopitiam, but somehow I couldn’t find any at Bangsar area. I parked the car at Bangsar Village Mall and decided to go tour around the place to look for cheap and good food. Unfortunately, none, and lastly we went to another Old Town-style restaurant, the Chawan.

One thing, do you know that the word “Chawan” actually means tea bowl? It’s a kind of bowl use for preparing and drinking Japanese tea. In Malaysia, Chawan means cup, but the spelling is Cawan.

Looking through the menu, the first impression wasn’t very pleasing because the menu was not in a good condition. Like I said, it’s another Old Town-style, so don’t be surprise to see the food choice similar. HOWEVER, Chawan is more centered on Malay cuisine, with a quite a number of Nasi Briyani, Nasi Lemak and more.

I read on Foursquare that the Kopi Frappe is a must order. So what it’s actually about is the mix of two different coffee. Like Ipoh White Coffee mix with Hainan Coffee. There’s many kind of coffee for you to choose on the menu.

I order Nasi Tomato Beef Rendang Tok RM10.90. I know you are now wondering what Tok is all about, beef rendang is curry beef cook in rendang style but what about beef rendang Tok? I also don’t know, it’s just appear that the beef is in dark brown color and doesn’t taste any spicy which is just not an good experience for my mouth. I was expecting something spicy with good spices. This disappoint me, and one thing, it tasted like a rock. It’s so hard to chew with my strong teeth.

On the other hand, Nasi Tomato Beef Rendang (RM10.90), without the word Tok tasted good. The spices fill my mouth and the spicyness exploded right in my mouth, gusting down towards my stomach and I felt awesome. It’s not super spicy, yet it brought me an all new experience after eating the beef rendang tok.

The Nasi Lemak Ayam Rendang (RM10.90) was up to my expectation. The lemak rice, sambal, curry chicken rendang, ikan billis, half boiled egg, cucumber slice and a little bit of kang kung, serves on a piece of banana leaf which made the presentation beautiful. In my opinion, it’s so much better than Old Town’s. The curry sauce was actually same as the beef rendang, but using chicken instead. What’s best about this is the sambal gravy which makes the dish perfect. First taste of it tasted normal, 2nd taste of it makes you eat more, 3rd taste makes you feel hot, and yes it’s spicy and good.

Lastly, a glass of sky juice completed my meal and I find it awesome because it’s the cheapest drinks among the menu at only RM0.50. =D

Chawan

69-G Jalan Telawi,
3 Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur

Telephone: +60322875507