Travel like a local

Veloo Villas

INDIAN RESTAURANT

This is my favourite place for banana leaf rice in Penang. Make sure you get the extras when they come around. Amongst other things, I've had: chilli chicken (9/10), mutton curry (7.5/10), fried chicken (9.5/10), chicken 65 (9/10). I recommend getting it with fried bitter gourd or the fried cauliflower - possibly both, especially if there are a few of you.

Lunch

If you arrive at lunch time, there's no need to order; just sit down and they will put a banana leaf down in front of you as your plate. You get rice, 3 small side curries, some curry sauce (your choice of chicken, fish or vegetable/daal) poured over the rice and some popadom. These are the basics of banana leaf curry (RM5.83) and you can ask for more of them for no extra charge.

Then they should come around with trays of optional extras which put the price up but are definitely worth it. If the extras don't show up, you may have to prod the staff as they can be a little slow sometimes. It's a perfect place to go in a group and it means you can share all the side dishes and try everything.

From what I can tell, the perfect time to go is about 1pm - 2pm. If you go too early or too late, they won't have all of the extra dishes or they won't be freshly cooked.

Vegetarian banana leaf rice

I recommend the sambal egg (RM1.59), either the fried cauliflower (RM2.65) or the fried bitter gourd (RM2.12) and possibly the tofu curry (RM2.12) to go with your vegetable banana leaf set.

Summary

Banana leaf rice is something you should definitely have in Malaysia and this is a great place to have it. It's delicious, especially if you pick the right things and go at the right time. Highly recommended.


Note: Later in the day they make dosas which are tasty but the real reason to come here is the banana leaf.

Tip: Make sure the fried chicken is hot and fresh (out the kitchen). It's worth asking first and waiting for the next batch if they've gone cold as it makes a huge difference.


Overall rating... 9/10