McCurry Boleh!

An Indian eatery in Kuala Lumpur city called McCurry Restaurant has gained international fame after McDonald’s (which claimed the name of the restaurant breached it’s trademark) sued McCurry and lost the eight-year legal battle after Malaysia’s highest court, the Federal Court, ruled on 8th September 2009, in favour of McCurry, that McDonald's cannot claim an exclusive right to the 'Mc' prefix in the country.

Internet news from Al Jazeera, BBC to CNN and newspapers across the globe carried with headlines “McCurry wins row with McDonald's” and “Malaysia’s McCurry beat McDonald's in trademark fight" and I knew I just had to try it and decided to check out the place.

The restaurant is situated at the first mile Jalan Ipoh near Jalan Raja Laut, Chow Kit area in Kuala Lumpur. Its ideal location in the business district of Jalan Ipoh makes the place popular with everyone looking for affordable meal from office workers, tourists staying at nearby hotels and to families on weekends.

The restaurant serves a variety of spicy Malaysian Indian curries, including chicken curry, mutton curry, fish head curry, nasi briyani and favourite cuisine like roti canai, thosai, chapatti, murtabak and tandoori naan.

Overall the food is of acceptable quality but can definitely be improved. The price is reasonable without burning a hole in your pocket. The teh tarik drink is kinda cheap here at RM1 a glass. The place is crowded during lunch hour and also on weekends and public holidays.

Business is brisk here, but McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah and his staff are always very friendly.

For Suppiah, 55, a Bachelor of Commerce graduate from New Zealand, his phone had not stopped ringing since winning the case. He has become an instant celebrity of sort and had been receiving lots of local and international calls daily from strangers, people he does not know, who called to congratulate and wish him well. Many others walked into his restaurant to congratulate him personally and to take photos with him. On top of that, he received many inquiries from enterprising people from as far as China about franchising his business restaurant and he has appointed a franchising consultant for advice.

“A 67 years old man called from Ireland after seeing the news from BBC and he said this to me: I thank you so much for pointing out to the world that the prefix “Mc” belongs to the Irish and Scottish people and not exclusive to any single corporation”, said Suppiah who has a friend by the name of Bruce McCurry.

“I also received a call from a Dato’ Yunus Rais from London who said he was a Malaysian and had been staying in London for 30 years. He saw the news on BBC and CNN and had this to say to me: This is the best news I heard from Malaysia this year. You have made Malaysians proud," said Suppiah.

Yes I am proud that a small Indian restaurant can fight with a fast-food giant and win the battle. McCurry Boleh! Malaysia Boleh!

See also related post: McCurry a truly 1 Malaysia eatery

McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah stands proudly outside his restaurant pointing out that the use of the prefix "Mc" in the business signage is a short form for Malaysian chicken. He said the food that they serve is very different from McDonald's and have no similarities with them at all.

McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah (fifth from right, in white shirt and tie) and his staff pointing at the McCurry signage.


Tourists James and Bev pointing at the McCurry signage to acknowledge their support.


Tourists James (1st from right) and Bev posing with McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah (in white shirt) after their hearty meal of Malaysian chicken curry.


Here’s the awesome McCurry – short for Malaysian chicken curry that goes great with plain boiled rice.


McCurry restaurant serves a variety of chicken curry. They also serve vegetarian curry and dishes catering to vegetarians. The dishes are replenished every six hours to ensure freshness. The restaurant operates 24 hours round the clock and employs 18 staff working in two shifts.


Customers can choose from a variery of Indian curry food, including chicken curry and mutton curry.


Customers Param (left) and James Chong give the thumbs up for McCurry.


Its the thumbs up for McCurry from customers Ben (sitting right), his wife Mariya and their two children. McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah (standing left) is happy posing with his satisfied customers.


A family dining at McCurry Restaurant give the thumbs up for McCurry.


McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah (standing) posing with satisfied customers who give the thumbs up.


McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah (middle, in white shirt) and his team of dedicated staff.


McCurry Restaurant owner A.M.S.P. Suppiah received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from a well wisher congratulating McCurry for the success.


McCurry wins McDonald, says this congratulatory message.


Param, a regular customer at McCurry, signed on the guestbook which had been placed at the cashier's counter for customers and well wishers to acknowledge their support for McCurry.


"David won the battle against Goliath".... a page taken from the guestbook.


For desserts, there are a variety of ice blended snow shakes to choose from.


Customers pay at the cashier counter after their meal.


A section of the air-conditioned dining area. Customers can watch the TV shows while dining.


Round tables and chairs are also placed outside the restaurant for smoking customers and those who prefer open environment away from the air-conditioned room.


The washroom area for customers to clean up before and after their meals.


An elegant decor to liven up the place at McCurry Restaurant.
x
x

Best goreng pisang in SEA Park, Petaling Jaya

If you have a heavy lunch and like to snack on some fried foods or goreng stuffs like goreng pisang (banana fritter) or kari pap (curry puff) or tauhu goreng (fried bean curd) or other fried stuff, then make your way to Gerai Makanan Goreng located at the row of food stalls along busy Jalan 21/19 in Section 21, SEA Park, Petaling Jaya.

The stall sells crunchy fried snack foods, fresh from the wok, that make an ideal snack. I have tried all of them, tauhu sumbat (stuffed bean curd) being one of my favourites, and they are the best in SEA Park.

Delicious and mouth-watering crunchy fried foods that make an ideal snack.

The two enterprising sisters, Adeline Liew (left) and Liew Fong Yong manage the stall business by themselves.

The two sisters are always busy attending to a steady stream of customers.


Customers are spoilt for choice on various types of fried snack foods available at the stall.


Customers do not need to wait too long as the sisters keep frying the snack foods in a big wok at the back of the stall.


A large wok is used for frying snack food quickly in boiling hot oil at the back of the stall.


The crunchy fried snack foods that are fresh from the wok.


"It's 60 cents a piece, sir".

Pisang Raja a popular kind of banana used for goreng pisang. A favourite bananas for those with good taste.


Adeline Liew prepares the food including the batter for freshness.


The Nin Ko or sweet sticky cake is sandwiched between a piece each of yam and sweet potato and covered with batter before frying.


The Gerai Makanan Goreng is located at Stall No.4, Jalan 21/19, SEA Park in Petaling Jaya. Parking is easy with lots of parking space near the stall.

The row of 20 food stalls at Jalan 21/19 in SEA Park, Petaling Jaya where the Goreng Pisang stall is located.

At Gerai Makanan Goreng, customers are spoilt for choice on nine types of fried snack foods such as :

Goreng Pisang Raja (fried king banana)
Goreng Pisang Abu (fried ash banana)
Goreng Keladi (fried yam)
Goreng Keledek (fried sweet potato)
Goreng Popia (fried spring roll or popiah)
Goreng Tauhu (fried bean curd)
Tauhu Sumbat (stuffed bean curd – turnip and prawn fritter)
Kari Pap (curry puff)
Kuih Bakul (Nin Ko – a sweet sticky cake)

All the fried snack foods are priced at 60 cents a piece except for Goreng Pisang Raja which are priced at 60 cents a piece (small size), 70 cents (medium size) and 80 cents (large size).

The Gerai Makanan Goreng stall started business at the present site since 1972 and is managed by two successful enterprising sisters Adeline Liew and Liew Fong Yong. According to the sisters, business is good and thriving because of satisfied and loyal customers who spread the word.

For over 36 years they have built a reputation on the fried snack foods business which has become a name synonymous with good taste and quality for people of all ages.

I was at the stall for a short while and I could see that business was really good as there was a continuous stream of customers patronizing the stall and the sisters were kept busy attending to customers.

Business Hour :
10.00 am to 5.00 pm daily
Seven days a week including sundays and public holidays.

Accept Bulk Order :Contact 012-6056963 (Adeline Liew)
Contact 012-2886963 (Liew Fong Yong)

Small order - call 1 day in advance
Large order - call 3 days in advance


Disclaimer: I have expressed my opinion here strictly on my own initiative and interest; and have not received any gains, monetary or otherwise from anybody for writing this article. My only purpose is to share the information by making known to everyone.

Teluk Intan famous original "chee cheong fun"

Teluk Intan is famous for it’s chee cheong fun.When you visit Teluk Intan next time, I strongly recommend that you should try the famous original chee cheong fun or rice noodle roll served fresh and hot straight from the hot oven only at Liew Kee Chee Cheong Fun wooden house-turn-shop located in No. 725, Jalan Hill, Teluk Intan, Perak.

It is an authentic local food and thus a popular breakfast food for the locals in Teluk Intan.


The freshly steamed chee cheong fun is served takeaway (ta-pao) only due to lack of space in the wooden house-turned shop. The soft and slippery steamed rice noodle roll is cut into small pieces and packed with old Chinese newspaper wrapping.


The main ingredients for the chee cheong fun are rice flour, fried dried shrimps (hea bee) and turnip (sengkuang), salt and water; and is eaten with pickled green chillies. The current price is RM3.00 per packet (for two pieces of the rice noodle rolls). During Chinese New Year period, like all unscrupulous traders taking advantage of the festvie season, the owner has increased to RM4.00 per packet!


Be prepared for long queue from the doorstep up till the roadside to get your delicious and mouth-watering chee cheong fun but it's worth the long wait for the great taste! There are chairs provided for those whose legs are tired.


No jump queue please! The notice prominently displayed for all to see.


The Liew Kee (Ah Lek) Chee Cheong Fun shop is located at No. 725, Jalan Hill, 3600 Teluk Intan, Perak. If you can't find the shop, ask any residents who are proud to guide you to the shop which opens for business only in the evening till next morning! Business Hours : Tuesday to Friday 7.00 pm - 7.00 am, Saturday to Sunday 6.30 pm - 7.00 am. Sunday night & Monday closed. Phone order accepted, call Tel No. 05-6216884, but you have to give your car registration number for identification purpose.

Mr Sow Ah Lek, 55, (left, in blue shirt and short pants) operates the business together with his wife Khor Seu Eng, 52, and two Indonesian workers.


Madame Khor Seu Eng scooping the white watery mixture of rice flour and salt from the container into aluminuim trays.


Madame Khor Seu Eng then add turnip (sengkuang)and fried dried shrimps (hea bee) to the white watery mixture in the tray.


Madame Khor Seu Eng checks to ensure that the turnip (sengkuang) and fried dried shrimps (hea bee) bii) are evenly spread out on the white watery mixture tray before placing it into a huge custom-made machine that steams and turn into tray of chee cheong fun.


According to Mr Sow Ah Lek, his late grandfather Sow Liew who came from China more than 70 years ago started the first chee cheong fun stall in the 1930s on the riverbank in Teluk Intan. Later the family moved to the present premises in the 1970s and has since been operating for more than 30 years till today.


The famous Teluk Intan chee cheong fun is also available at many food stalls in the mornings at the hawker centre in Jalan Maharani.


Ah Lek’s chee cheong fun is also sold at one of the chee cheong fun stalls in the mornings at the hawker centre in Jalan Maharani.

Famous Jalan 223 nasi lemak

It was 10.30 pm tonight and the big crowd at the Selera Jaya 223 food court at Jalan 223, Petaling Jaya was considered normal. It is open 24 hours and packed most of the time as the place serves as a food court for factory workers working at the surrounding factories.

Although there were 60 stalls selling different types of food, not all of them open at the same time. Some stalls open only in the daytime and others at night. in fact, the main attraction at this food court is the nasi lemak.
So me and my friends were lucky enough to find a place to seat. A stall helper quickly placed on our table a plate filled with nasi lemak packed in banana leaf.

It was hot nasi lemak fresh from the cooking pot! The rice was soft and easy to digest. The taste was real good. The big crowd who came for the nasi lemak is a testimony to it.

There was only the rice, spicy sambal (chilli) and a half hard boiled egg. No cucumber slices, no small dried ikan bilis and no roasted peanuts. Well, what do you expect for RM1.20 a packet, just up from original RM1.00 due to recent petrol price hike. 

There were also two other nasi lemak stalls open but Stall No.6 known as Gerai Yati No.6 seems to be the favourite of the patrons there.

If you are for tasty nasi lemak panas (hot) with no fuss and no frill at low cost, this is the right place.

Note:Nasi lemak is a Malay word that means 'rice in cream'. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in rich coconut cream and then the mixture steamed. Traditionally, this comes as a platter with cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, hard boiled egg and hot spicy sauce (sambal). It is often sold packed in brown paper or banana leaf.

The Gerai Yati stall No.6 is the favourite of patrons at the food court.

Yati (foreground) and her two workers packing the nasi lemak hot from the cooking pot.

The Selera Jaya 223 food court is always packed with people.

The nasi lemak packed in banana leaf.