food review: al-andalus

allow me to be frank here: no matter how much i try, i have never quite managed to get used to arab food (and middle-eastern food at large).   

this probably has something to do with the fact that mid-eastern food and i have had an ugly history together. granted, there have been some pretty good moments in my relationship with arab fare. i credit ezanee with introducing me to the unlikely wonders of hummus. (really, who would’ve thought chickpea gunk could taste so good?) the somali chaps at ali café used to make some luscious and very fattening arab rice, and the various gravies and stews that came with the rice was absolutely ravishing. (all that rich food was a major factor in how i gained my potbelly.) when you were breaking fast during ramazan you could appease your hunger just by downing a bowl of their deliciously simple barley porridge with a wedge of lime. and their basboussa ranks very high on my list of the best desserts ever created.   

yes, there have been highlights. but my history with arab food has overwhelmingly been one of guilt, shame, and unpleasant after-dinner incidents. like the time when i ordered arab-style spaghetti at this place in bukit bintang. in my naïveté i expected some tomato or cream sauce, but what i got was a clump of snake pasta drizzled with olive oil and bits of coriander. that was it. nothing else. (i don’t remember if i finished the whole plate.)   

and so it was with a feeling of slight apprehension that i tailed farah to this restaurant in the jalan ampang area called al-andalus. she had been waxing lyrical about the wonders of their shisha all week, so in the end i just went along.   

so what did we order then? well, we had this for our starter:    

not bad, but they could use a little more spice.

 

they tasted pretty ok, and by ok i mean “inoffensive”. not drab or bland or flavourless, just..not bad, with lotsa room for improvement. i don’t remember what these are called, but if you want to give them a try, there’s a picture of them on the menu, so just point that out to your friendly immigrant waiter.   

for the main course farah had the lamb kebap, served with flat bread and a side-order of veggies. she liked it (since she didn’t need much help from me, hehe), but i must say i’ve had some better kebaps in my time, not least the one at sinbad in ss15 – another cool arab restaurant she introduced to me.   

as for my main course..lamb tajine with prunes and almonds. tajine is north africa’s answer to the western casserole dish. at first things looked promising..my food arrived sizzling on a clay plate covered with a pretty lid that looked like a tudung saji. but again, i will spare you all pretense and declare straight up that i did not enjoy it. not one bit.     

here is the monstrosity for you to ogle over. it’s the half-finished earthenware plate on the left:    

somebody get a doggie bag. and i don't mean for takeaway.

 

and so i bit into it. i wish i hadn’t.    

it was sal-tey! in fact it was so full of sodium i almost gagged at the first bite. i wish i could say the lamb was a redeeming factor (you could break it up with your fork alone, that’s how tender it was), but alas, this dish was beyond redemption. the softest cuts of baby lamb in the world wouldn’t be able to salvage your dining experience if you drowned them in a vile, bubbling brown sludge which probably contains more salt in it than the entire Dead Sea. not even the tart sweetness of the prunes could balance out the saltiness. i normally make it a point to at least try to clean up everything on my plate, but i gave up on this one the moment i felt my cells shrivelling up from hypertonic dehydration.so much for the food.   

to be fair, the place does have its perks: it occupies a quaint old house in the middle of ampang, with terrace dining available in the garden. the shisha (we ordered bubble-gum and mint) gets your buzz going, and the drinks which accompanied our meal (the traditional arab mint tea + an orange-peach mix for me) were pretty ok.  

well, that’s that. now comes the inevitable grading.  

food: 3/10. you already have the idea.   

ambience: 6/10. it’s humid and unbearably sticky both inside and outside the restaurant, despite the presence of air-conditioning. but you’ll probably forget about the heat once you’re high on their shisha smoke. that’s some potent sht right there.  

service: 4/10. there ought to be a law that makes it compulsory for foreign waiters to learn basic malay/english. “eat finish first, come back.” huh?    

final verdict: 4/10.  

all said, it’s a good place to shisha and chat with friends over a cup of good mint tea after work. just skip the lamb tajine.  

but if you really want to give it a go anyway, for gosh sakes tell the waiter: “easy on the salt, ya akhī!” 

al-andalus,

jalan damai, off jalan ampang,

kuala lumpur. 

 

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~ by zuhairy fauzy on March 7, 2010.