Spicy treat on a banana leaf

RESTAURANT Two Two Six in Pulau Tikus (opposite Wisma Perkeso) in Penang is a good choice for banana leaf rice, with its bold and robust dishes.

Tantalising: Tuck into the vegetarian banana leaf rice.

The serving counter offers some 30 selections a day. Customers can state their preference and go with the rice of the day which can be either briyani, tomato, coconut, pudina (mint) or white rice.

The best way to enjoy banana leaf rice is to eat it using your hands as the Indians believe this is the way to really appreciate the full flavours of the dishes.

Among the specialities are pepper chicken, chilli squids, mutton rendang, pineapple chicken and fish curry.

A personal favourite is the pepper chicken which is deliciously imbued with spices.

Cooked with homemade sambal, the squid is ultra spicy while the mutton is slathered with masala gravy.

The pineapple chicken has a strong pineapple taste to it and the fish curry is the Indian interpretation of the assam pedas dish.

A must-have is the rassam, a refreshing and titillating blend of pepper, assam and tomato soup. Believed to aid digestion, it is served with every meal, to be taken after you’ve finished the rest of the food.

Other popular selections here are the vegetarian set, briyani sets, mutton or chicken murtabak, home-made curry puffs and nasi lemak.

Daily specials like chicken kurma, prawn briyani and bulgari briyani are also served.

Dinner is a more toned-down affair with the a la carte menu offering limited but popular choices including chicken or mutton masala, chilli chicken, mutton rendang and mutton mahsuri.

Don’t forget perennial delights such as chapati, tosai, roti canai, mee goreng, fried koay teow Chinese style, kottu poratha (fried roti canai), appom with coconut milk and roti jala with chicken sama. All are available throughout the day.

For light bites, consider popiah or vadai (a fried delicacy with onion and green chilli).

Kesiri (Indian sweet), pulut kacau, pulut indi kampung style, doughnuts and kueh are available for dessert.

Options on the drinks menu include Milo, tea and ginger with cow’s milk as well as the usual mango lassi, butter milk and sweet lassi.

Also providing catering services for all kinds of functions, Restaurant Two Two Six is open from 6.30am to 9pm daily except Sundays.

For more information, contact 016-4160091.

Source : The Star