Kota Bharu (Morning - 2pm), 14 Oct 2012

Cock-a-doodle-doo!!! Rise and shine at 6.30am. Didn't sleep well entire night but excited as I'll be going for the best place to eat my breakfast. Came highly recommended & even locals frequent this place. So, aimed with the GPS, we headed to our destination. Alas, my GPS isn't updated, so we ended up 'nowhere'! So many one way streets in Kota Bharu (KB)!!!! Luckily, Rocker57's friend took us rounding the town pre & post dinner last night, so I had a pretty rough idea where to locate this place. And found it I did!!! Ta-daaaaa!!!

The old signage inside - Capital Cafe 

 

The new signage! Capital Restaurant.

On previous occasions when Rocker57 ate there, there wasn't any queue but I told him the bloggers said there will be a queue. True enough, there was a queue of about 5-6 people. We were there before 8am!!! After 15mins, we finally got our orders and my FIRST taste of nasi dagang (literally translated as trading rice!!. Below an excerpt from Wikipedia :



Nasi dagang (Jawi: ناسي داڬڠ) is a Malaysian and Southern Thai dish fish consisting of rice steamed in coconut milk, fish curry and extra ingredients such as fried shaved coconut, hard-boiled eggs and vegetable pickles. Nasi Dagang literally means "Trading Rice". It is a well-known breakfast food in the states on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, such as Terengganu and Kelantan and Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat in Southern Thailand. The most famous Nasi dagang of Terengganu comes from Kampung Ladang, an area within the Kuala Terengganu district.

Simple yet super delicious meal I have eaten for breakfast apart from the usual spread of dim sum/nasi lemak/american breakfast. Wikipedia missed out on the salted fish that complemented the dish to a perfect 10 (for me, that is.). Strangely, no plates, just brown wax paper for take-away as well as dine-in patrons.

Two good cups of coffee...notice how black & thick the coffee is? Superb!

Our breakfast....."salivating"

Rocker57's Nasi Dagang with chicken

My Nasi Dagang with chicken & beef rendang! Oh so delectable!!!

The rice was round, small & firm (ahem...like me...hahahaha). The rice was 'flooded' with gravy yet not overpowering nor too soaked in gravy, it gave the rice just the right flavour. The curry chicken was tender, soft and succulent. The beef rendang was cooked the way I love. Soft yet still chewable and the aroma of the dessicated fried coconut soaked in "santan" (coconut milk) cooked over slow fire together with chili & spices was so intoxicating!!!! I savoured each bite and was kinda disappointed it finished so fast. The serving is small but just right for breakfast. PERFECT start for a Sunday!!! The entire meal & drinks for two cost RM11.00. Cheap and oh so so delectable!

The stuff that makes this Nasi Dagang a score of TEN!

Name : Capital Restaurant
Address : 3282 Jalan Post Office Lama, Kota Bharu.
Operating hours : from 7am until finish (about noon)

We returned to our kampong resort chalet in Pasir Belanda for a rest (for more info on Pasir Belanda check out http://superbiker48.blogspot.com/2012/10/kota-bharu-kelantan-13-oct-2012.html) . Our next agenda only opens at noon, so we drove around town after we have checked out. Again, the GPS failed to locate the restaurant. Not one easily to give up, we managed to locate the venue on our own. "so clever, eh?". And what are we so anxious about? Well, none other than Yati's Ayam Percik. So, what is ayam percik?

Definition for ayam percik:

Web definitions:

grilled chicken with spicy sauce.. www.ask.com/wiki/Malay_cuisine

We ate in the air-cond room, the heat & BBQ smoke was too intense outside.

 I particularly chose this place because they also serve local desserts. Aside from the Ayam Percik, I also very much wanted to try the local pancake named "AKOK". A dessert made from coconut milk, palm sugar, water, flour, pandan leaf & salt.

Our quarter chicken each of Yati's Ayam Percik. Delicious!!

 

 

The Ayam Percik was grilled just right. Meat tender & succulent and the peanut gravy just apt to complement the entire meal. YUMMY!!! We also ate AKOK and other desserts and KB's version of Otak-otak (steamed fish paste with spices wrapped in banana leaf grilled until cooked)

Akok

Santan/coconut milk agar-agar

KB's version of otak-otak

I liked the Akok, its similar to 'apom' but only much thicker. Agar-agar was alright except that it was a tad to sweet for both Rocker57 and I but I presume it is okay for the locals. The Otak-otak was too coarse (ingredients all too chunky) , too large (too much "pulut " or glutinous rice) and the smell of otak-otak as a whole was just too strong for me. I only ate a piece out of 3 served in a skewer. Below, the array of desserts on sale to whet your appetite :

I've shared so much but its only 2pm!! Well...you will have to wait for my next blog to know what happened next....Before I leave Yati's Ayam Percik, here's how to locate them :

Venue : 847 Jalan Long Yunus, Kota Bharu (Head Office)
Operating hours : Scroll up to see picture. 

For Klang valley folks, do not despair. You don't have to travel allllll the way up east coast to savour this. Check out their branches! Errr....you'll have to enlarge the photo :)

       

So, hang in there while I gather my thoughts together....until I 'see' you in my next blog....

Live life full and stay happy & positive always......CHEEEEERS!!!!