Malaysian Adventure : KL Bunga Raya : North Melbourne

This is my first of many Malaysian Restaurants l will be reviewing on the blog, which is part of my role as a Malaysia Kitchen Ambassador.

I dragged the family out last Friday night and the food and experience was enjoyed by all. I only had one requirement that had to “tick my box” before we went. Do you have a high chair? After trying several places we finally got a YES from the lovely folk down at KL Bunga Raya in North Melbourne. We had eaten a light lunch so we were pumped to get stuck into as many different Malaysian dishes as possible before the kids had had enough and wanted to go home. Luckily for me l was well prepared and packed loads of toys for Mr 2 along with his chopsticks and his Bubbaccino plastic cup.

When we dine out we usually stick to dishes we know, especially when the kids are with us, but we decided to live large and go for some different tastes.

First was the Gado-Gado (which to me is an Indonesian influence) which was a dish made up of freshly steamed vegies with homemade peanut sauce. (Lucky for us we have no allergies in the house!) Next we ordered the Spring Rolls for Mr 2, which are a real guaranteed winner when we take him out. We also tried the Lobak, which is pork wrapped in bean curd. I’m not a massive pork fan but Mr Man quickly devoured them on my behalf.

{Lobak}

{Nasi Goreng}

{Eggplants & Mince Pork Clay Pot}

{Ayam Bakar Padang}

For mains (Mr 2 had lost interest by this stage and was playing cars under the table while Mr 10 months played with my car keys) we ordered THREE dishes. Yes 3 – our eyes were bigger than our stomachs that’s for sure.

The three dishes were the Nasi Goreng (which every time l hear that name l think of that cute phone company ad) Ayam Bakar Padang and the Eggplant and Mince Pork Clay Pot.

I’ve never had Nasi Goreng before and l was pleasantly surprised. Basically it’s a rice dish with Malaysian chilli paste, chicken, prawns and fried shallots. The Ayam Bakar Padang (which is grilled chicken marinated with turmeric, lemon grass, onion, garlic and galangal) was my absolute favourite. It came with a light salad of cucumber and tomato and the chicken had a crispy skin. It was truly delicious. And finally the Eggplant and Pork hot pot which was also very tasty and came with a very thick black bean soy sauce and fried shallots. Mr Man enjoyed this the most – he is a die-hard pork fan.

All in all we really enjoyed the different flavours and textures in the variety of dishes we tried. But, most importantly the kids enjoyed the flavours too. I would highly recommend KL Bunga Raya for a casual early mid-week dinner with the family.

{Lucky Cat}