Malay Fine Dining Experience @ Songket

Sometimes when my tourist friends came to Malaysia, I normally recommended few commercialized places such as Jalan Alor, Batu Caves, etc. Now, I can proudly introduce them to Songket, a place for fine dining Malay cuisine. Songket is a Malay term referring to a type of fabric made from hand-woven silk or cotton, intricately embroidered with gold or silver threads. These metallic threads create a contrast from the delicate background, resulting in a luxurious piece of fabric. Therefore, it goes without saying that in the olden days, Songket was only worn by the Malay royalties during special occasions. Given the rich tradition associated with this piece of exquisite fabric, Songket Restaurant aims to present outstanding authentic Malay cuisine with a modern twist, in the hopes of achieving the effect that songket fabric has on people – intricate and stylish.

Above: Exquisite songket costumes on display

Our dinner started with the Aneka Pembuka Selera, which is translated to Assorted Appetizers. There was a platter with cucur udang (prawn fritters), popiah goreng (friend spring rolls) , chicken wings and tauhu sumbat (stuffed bean curd).

Above: White Hibiscus cocktail

The chicken wings to be well-marinated and nicely fried with a slight crunch on the skin. From this plate, you can see that's the only thing you should focus on.

Above: Aneka Pembuka Selera (RM30)

Satay is a must here, of course you want to introduce this meat skewers dish to your fellow tourist friends right?  The plate came with eight sticks of skewered chicken and beef fillet marinated in spiced honey and apparently, grilled over a charcoal fire. Thumbs up !

Above: Satay (RM18) - Recommended if your budget allows

Now, the one of the star of the night  was the Ikan Siakap Asam Pedas or Spicy and Sour Seabass. The tangy chili and tamarind gravy was simmered long enough to exude a very fragrant aroma. The fish was decently fresh but what I was more attracted to was the spicy and sour gravy.

Above: Ikan Siakap Asam Pedas (RM60) - Recommended

Next was another item from Songket - Rusuk Panggang or Chargrilled Short Ribs, served with potato wedges. These pieces of meat may look black and uninteresting to you, and to me even, but one cut into the meat revealed how tender and well grilled they were. The outer layer was heavily marinated with spicy sweet soya sauce and sambal belacan but the insides were still juicy and tender.

Above: Rusuk Panggang (RM60) - Highly Recommended

The Pucuk Paku Goreng or Wild Fern Shoots were fried with shallots, chilli and garlic, topped with several succulent prawns. It was served with the combination of garlic, shallots and chilli fried to perfection had created a dish that no one could resist.

Above: Pucuk Paku Goreng (RM15) - Recommended

The Ayam Lemak Asam Gelugur was a dish of chicken pieces simmered in rich coconut milk, chillies, turmeric, and kafir lime, resulting in a thick and creamy curry gravy that was redolent with spices.

Above: Ayam Lemak Asam Gelugur (RM23) - Recommended

We sampled three types of desserts that night: Pandan Pudding – pandan infused cream pudding topped with palm sugar syrup, Mango Cheesecake – cheesecake of mascarpone, cream cheese and mango, and Durian Tiramisu – traditional tiramisu flavoured with durian. My taste buds went with the pandan pudding, it just melted in my mouth.

Above: Pandan Pudding (RM10) - Recommended

The Mango cheesecake was nothing out of the ordinary and could do with more mangoes within.

Above: Mango Cheesecake (RM15)

Above: Durian Tiramisu (RM15)

In the midst of us enjoying the meal, there was a group of dancers entertaining us with various cultural dances from around Malaysia. Watching the show made me feel like I was a tourist myself. It was rather entertaining and amusing.

Above: 1Malaysia dance

Above: Sumazau dance
And if you’re sporting enough, you’re welcome to dance together with them at the end of the show. Otherwise, a picture would do just fine.

Above: Picture with the dancers

Above: Alfresco dining area of Songket

Address:

Songket Restaurant
No. 29, Jalan Yap Kwan Seng,
50450 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Tel No.: +603-2161 3331 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +603-2161 3331 end_of_the_skype_highlighting / +6012-366 0111 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +6012-366 0111 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri (12pm – 3pm & 6pm – 11pm), Sat, Sun & Public Holiday (5pm – 11pm)
Website: www.songketrestaurant.com
GPS Coordinates: 3.162866,101.714482