My favorite restaurant was hard to pick on my trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The food there draws from Indian, Chinese, Malaysian and African cuisines. Besides enjoying the many street food vendors, I have to say that Bijan was one of my favorite dine-in restaurant. Bijan offers authentic Persian Cuisine made from original recipes and Halal, as well as a variety of Mediterranean dishes such as Pizza, Pastas, Kabobs, Vegetarian Entrees, Salads, Stews, Poultry, Lamb, and Seafood and much more with modest Persian influence. There is inside and outside dining. We chose the outside that was surrounded by lush vegetation.

I wanted to make sure that I experienced the authentic KL dishes and our hosts were very helpful with my selections. As an appetizer, I chose curcur udang, prawn fritters served with a sweet and spicy chili sauce. The Malay version has turmeric, chives, shallots.  The fritters have a crispy golden brown crust on the outside and a soft texture on the inside, composed of the shrimp and the crunchy texture of the corn kernels and the spiciness of red peppers that I think were Sichuan peppers.  Our hosts were amazed that I ordered extra hot peppers on the side and that I never broke a sweat.

In keeping with my love of spicy foods, I selected the rendang, a spicy beef dish. This is a beef dish (usually a lean cut) slow-cooked in coconut milk. In addition it has many freshly ground spices including ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, chillis and an assortment of other spices.  That blend of spices is called pemasak. The dish was served with a rice cake called ketupat and cabbage. I loved the blend of spices and, again, ordered some hot peppers on the side. The meat was tender and succulent.

Despite my love of ice cream, of which they had a nice assortment, I opted for the sago gula melaka, a tapioca-like pearl pudding with coconut palm sugar. It consisted of sago pearls, which I had never heard of, coconut milk and palm sugar. Sago pearls or something like tapioca pearls. They are opaque in its raw form and become translucent when soaked and cooked. I was told by my hosts that this dessert was great especially after a spicy meal. It was kind of like a combination of creme brulee, jello and rice pudding.

Browse the menu for yourself. If you are ever in Kuala Lumpur, don’t miss it. http://www.bijanrestaurant.com/menu.html