I get super excited whenever I find anything new and recently I discovered the joys of ikan bakar at the Tanglin food court. I originally visited the place for the famous Nasi Lemak which was also extremely good and will be in a seperate post. A friend mentioned that the Ikan Bakar there was also nice hence we gave it a try. I'm glad we did as it turned out to be the best I have tasted so far. Yes, even better than the famous Ikan Bakar stalls in Jalan Bellamy.
Sorry for the not great looking pictures as they had added the sauce on top of the Ikan Bakar but believe me it tastes yummy. Pak Din who runs the stall with his wife is the one manning the ikan bakar at the back. The difference between his version and Jalan Bellamy's ikan bakar is his is grilled over a charcoal fire using those racks we use in barbequeing. This reduces the oil used as it drips in the fire unlike the Jalan Bellamy's ikan bakar stalls who use a hot plate to grill their fish and the oil is retained within. Moreover with Pak Din's ikan bakar, you get the aroma from the charcoal fire.
Besides all the health benefits, their sauce is the winner and like I told Pak Din, it's kawwww! (The Malay terminology for thick and yummy) It's thicker than the normal sauce and you definitely can taste the asam jawa (tamarind in English) in it. Filled with lots of chopped onions and chilli padi, it was delicious to the last drop.
They serve lauk with the ikan bakar but I am totally happy with just plain white rice with the ikan bakar and lots of sauce. The stall also does great cucur udang from 2.30 pm onwards - I haven't tried them yet but my friend said it's nice and fresh but the prawn is quite small.
When you are there, try also stall no. 1's tea with milk served in old fashioned cups which is great. Sadly because Ramadan is just round the corner, they will be closed but they are opening a Ramadan stall in Bandar Tasik Puteri near Country Homes in Rawang as Pak Din's family has a house there.
Ikan Bakar Asli Pak Din
Stall No. 5
Tanglin Food Court
Jalan Cendarasi
Kuala Lumpur
(Ikan Bakar is available from 10.30 am and until it runs out. The fish is priced around RM3 to RM4 depending on what you order. For the map to the place, refer to the Sun's write up on Nasi Lemak Tanglin.)
*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from the restaurant for writing this review.
