Sambal Hijau Restaurant
[Halal] Sambal Hijau Restaurant is a popular Malay restaurant serving a huge variety of traditional Malay dishes.
This nasi campur restaurant is especially popular during lunchtime due to its location in Kampung Sungai Penchala, which is just next to TTDI.
In fact, Ming used to visit this restaurant regularly when she worked nearby.
Sambal Hijau Restaurant serves traditional Malay dishes
“Sambal hijau sambal merah,
Dimasak dengan penuh sayang,
Jangan rimas bila bini marah,
Isikan perut – hati pun kenyang.”
– pantun ThokohMakan
If you looking for authentic Malay cuisine with a variety of dishes at affordable prices, you can’t go wrong with Sambal Hijau.
On any given day, you can find at least 80 authentic Malay and Minangkabau dishes served here.
Popular dishes here include the sup daging (beef soup), ulam (raw vegetables), ikan bakar (grilled fish), ikan pari asam pedas (sting ray cooked in tamarind), and sayur masak lemak (vegetables in coconut gravy).
Sambal Hijau is popular
The restaurant can get especially packed on weekends (and during Friday prayers as it is located next to a mosque) – so expect to wait your turn if you plan to dine in here.
Fortunately, the restaurant was open for lunch during Ramadhan (the fasting month for Muslims) – so we made our pilgrimage to Sambal Hijau for a very quiet lunch affair at 1 pm.
Despite it being a fasting month, the restaurant had at least 50 dishes to serve as it was preparing in advance for the buka puasa (breaking of fast) during sundown.
Hence, we were able to enjoy some of its popular dishes during our visit here.
Sup daging and tempoyak
One of the popular dishes here is the Sup Daging (RM13).
As you enter the restaurant, you can’t really miss the big pot of sup daging as it is placed next to the pot of Tempoyak Patin – a popular Pahang dish of catfish cooked in fermented durian.
As Ming hates durian – we didn’t order the tempoyak and just settled for the Sup Daging. The soup was just as tasty as we remembered – sufficiently flavoured with plenty of spices, and generously filled with tender beef meat.
Really delicious gulai ayam
Just like any typical nasi campur stalls, one needs to fill up the plate with white rice before topping up with dishes to your liking.
For Max’s plate, he decided to go with the Gulai Ayam (RM5), Ikan Keli Bakar (RM10), and Telur Goreng Kicap as his main protein.
A traditional Minang dish, a good Gulai Ayam should be robust in flavour as it is made with lots of bumbu basah (wet ingredients) to make the paste.
The gulai ayam here hit the spot as it was rich and complex in flavours, and not too spicy on the tongue. The drumstick was also very tender – but not overcooked until mushy.
Ikan Keli and Ikan Pari Bakar
Our friend highly recommend the ikan bakar dishes here – so we were elated when they brought out the goods as we were taking our dishes halfway.
And they did not disappoint. Both the ikan pari (sting ray) and ikan keli (catfish) were fresh and cooked well.
The meat was firm and not mushy, and the fish was perfectly cooked to yield the right amount of char and smokiness. The sambal was very savoury and not overly done with chilli padi.
Paku masak lemak is super spicy!
On the other hand, the Paku Masak Lemak (RM4) was unbearably spicy (at least for us)! We are used to sayur masak lemak that’s milder on the heat level – so we were really taken aback by how spicy this dish was.
Avoid if you have low (or medium) tolerance for heat.
Begedil was just average
We are less enthused about the Begedil (RM2) and Ayam Kurma (RM5) as we thought they were just average.
Sambal hijau has a good spicy kick
And yes – the restaurant is famous for its huge selection of sambal. So definitely don’t miss out on the sambal hijau, sambal kicap, and sambal tumbuk served here.
Summary
Honestly, you can’t go wrong with Sambal Hijau if you’re looking for authentic Malay food with a huge variety at affordable prices.
Given its huge selection, you’ll be hard-pressed to not find something you like here. But definitely get the ikan bakar if you visit this place.
Sambal Hijau Restaurant
Address: 2990, Jalan Sungai Penchala, Kampung Sungai Penchala, 60000 Kuala Lumpur
Hours: 10am-10.30pm Daily
Phone: 03-7731 2045
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