Ooh.. I love ikan bakar (grilled fish). And this is my favourite in Kuala Lumpur. I know.. I know... I have been to Ikan Bakar Tanglin, I have been to Ikan Bakar Bellamy. But Mak Engku offerred so much more. If you have tried their fresh fish, the beef soup, the vast variety of dishes to go along with the steamy white rice. And their drinks come in generous portion to douse the heat of all the sambals.
As the Board on top rightly said, this is "explosive grilled fish". It is not plainly grilled, but marinated in spices. I particularly appreciate their stingray or ikan pari in Malay. The ones they offerred here are white meat stingray, the texture is softer compared to the grey meat type (which I think is not so suitable for grilling). Not many ikan bakar stall offer the white meat type.
Anyway, there are so many choices of fish, you will definitely find something that you like.
We took a big piece of stingray. It comes with air asam (spicy tamarind sauce) separately.
I usually combine my grilled fish with ulam (fresh greens). My favourite is ulam raja (cosmos caudatus) - as seen at the top right of the picture. It has that distinct mango-like aroma that goes really well with the fish.
Special mention is this sup daging/tulang (beef bone soup). The soup is very warming because of the spices and beef. The meat is really tender.
Like I said, there are plenty of choices other than grilled fish. Chicken,veges, fried, stews, you name it, they got it.
This is the time I have to practice self-restrain. But when in hunger, 'everything also I want'.
Of course, this can't be left out. the variety of sambals (chili pastes). Sambal belacan, sambal budu, sambal kicap, sambal cencaru, etc. It is telling you, there are many ways to spice up your life.
And of course, with all these spicy stuff, you need extensive water supply. Their drinks will not disappoint you.
How about the price? Let's take the bottom meal for 2 as an example. Stingray, veges, quail eggs, rice and ice lemon tea for 2. Total RM27. Economical or costly, you decide on your own.
Oh yea... location, location, location..
