When all else fails....

I was back in Kuala Lumpur last week. Although I went back to visit my kids especially the youngest, who was recently diagnosed as having a growth in his brain and had to undergo surgery, I also had some errands to run. So I spent almost an entire week darting from one end of KL to another, making brief sojourns into Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya, while trying to ensure that everything I had to do was done. And as always when you runaround trying to complete all your errands, you will forget one or two (no need to go into details of that).

Going back to KL is always fun. There’s always so much to do, many places to go and a lot of friends to catch up with. Special thanks to Ida, Selva, Arni, Salwani, Nasir, Fadhli, Jaf, Hakim, Nazam, Alfie and Shasha for putting up with my last minute calls to hangout. I’ll try to give you guys more notice next time I’m back.

Chawan Kopitiam in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

The biggest problem I always have when trying to meet up with friends in KL is to find a decent location to hangout. With friends coming from all over the Klang Valley, it’s always a challenge to find a place which is central enough so that everyone has to go through the hassle of KL traffic just to meet up (we have to be fair to everyone). About the only place I can think of which is both convenient for everyone to meet, and can give you migraines to get to is Bangsar.

The unwrapped "Nasi Lemak Bungkus"

So, while I was in KL, I spent quite a lot of time hanging out at Chawan, the one which is located in the Jalan Telawi area of Bangsar (99% of my friends have to go through some form of traffic jam just to get to Bangsar). This is the location of the original Chawan kopitiam. It has opened a branch in Citta Mall, Kelana Jaya but being in a very central location, this remains the preferred venue to meet up with friends and hangout.

Just to clarify my position, I don’t LOVE Chawan. In my opinion, as a Kopitiam, it’s pretty decent. The food there is good without being outstanding, the atmosphere is friendly, although on hot days, try to find a seat in front of one of their industrial sized fans, and the prices are quite reasonable. Even though it’s not my favorite place to hangout, it IS a place I go to whenever I can’t think of any other place in a central location to meet with friends. So in my book, Chawan is a “when all else fails” kind of place.

Although it falls into that category, they do serve a very nice nasi lemak. If you look at the menu, you will find 2 different versions of nasi lemak. The first is the “Nasi Lemak Bungkus” which is the meal that I always order whenever I’m at Chawan and looking for something a bit heavier to eat. Then there is the “Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang”, which is your standard kopitiam nasi lemak.

Unwrapping the "Nasi Lemak Bungkus"reveals a delicious meal

The “Nasi Lemak Bungkus”, is just your basic nasi lemak which is essentially made up of rice, sambal, cucumbers and boiled egg.  At Chawan, the portion of the nasi lemak bungkus is much bigger than what you will find elsewhere. The rice although a bit lacking in terms of richness, is nicely cooked and is quite flavorful. The sambal has the right balance of sweetness, sour and salty, with a twinge of hot to give it a bit of zing. The cucumber and boiled egg is just that, you won’t get any kind of variety anywhere else.

The "Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang", equally as good

I find myself ordering the “Nasi Lemak Bungkus”at Chawan on almost every visit. It’s a simple meal but delicious nonetheless. It’s been creeping up my “list of top places for nasi lemak” for quite some time now. Not bad for a place which falls into my “when all else fails”category.