Peranakan Place, 1 Utama

The Peranakans refer to the Baba & Nyonya of Chinese

descent who chose to settle in the Straits Settlement namely

Singapore, Malacca& Penang. Peranakan cuisine has a

unique blend of Chinese and Malay influence i.e combining

the Chinese wok technique and the spices usually found in

Malay dishes. As my paternal grandmother was a Nyonya I

do find myself craving for Peranakan food from time to time.

The search for Peranakan food this time around brought me

to……..oh yeah, a place simply called Peranakan Place. As it

was my first time there, I called up the restaurant in 1 Utama

asking for a landmark in order to expedite my search for the

outlet. I was told it was a floor directly above KFC. I

searched frantically for the place…..as I thought it was

directly above the former KFC location. Little did I know that

KFC had moved! Anyway, my craving for Peranakan food

was so strong that I soldiered on. Now that I’ve been there…

I’ll give you a better landmark. If you are coming from the

old wing, look for Watsons and walk on towards the new

wing. You’ll find the outlet easily – it’s located opposite

Mynews Café.

As I approached the restaurant I noticed there were many

tables placed outside, but most of them were occupied by

mothers with strollers….thanks, but no thanks. I opted to be

seated inside and requested for a ROUND table for 10, and to

my horror, was told that they did not have any round tables

which could accommodate 10…just can’t imagine that!! What

a way to start my encounter with this restaurant. We finally

settled for a ‘long table’ which was 3 small tables placed

together. (I for one, do not fancy long tables except when it

comes to Western food!)

I had a look at their ‘Set Promotion’ which was quite

reasonably priced, but decided to go ala carte instead. We

ordered 8 dishes with just warm water for all and the bill

came close to RM300….not too bad considering the portion

was alright. Here are the photos of what we walloped

(partly due to hunger & partly due to all the walking we did

to find the place):-

The ginger & onion beef (RM32 for L size) was well cooked. I

would give this a rating of 8/10 as the beef slices were tender

and well marinated.

The chicken pong the definitely lacked ‘Ommph’ and was

such a let down. The pieces of potatoes were way too soft and

I believe the chicken must have just been taken out of the

freezer when they were sent for cooking and I could see 

traces of blood. This dish costs RM28.00 for an ‘L’ size.

This is the ikan cili garam served with sambal and 4-angled

beans. The fish was a tad too dry for my liking. At RM29.50

for such a tiny fish, I would say it was a rip off. The saving

grace for this dish, however, was the sambal. It tasted just

perfect and when you spread this over the fish, the entire

dish somehow became more palatable.

Kerabu ladies finger (RM16 – again for L size)- a simple dish

of ladies fingers cut into two & boiled, and thereafter served

with sambal. I noticed that the sambal for this kerabu differs

from the earlier one which accompanied the ikan cili garam.

Albeit simple, this dish was certainly the star of the meal.

Next was the brased nyonya bean curd which was a total

disappointment –the only dish which we did not finish. The

gravy was too starchy and the tofu tasted very blend. Thank

God we only ordered a small portion for RM13.

We also had otak-otak (RM10.90). What we were served was

slightly burnt and was therefore not what was expected –too

dry for me!

Gerang assam fillet (RM49 for L portion) was another dish

which I thoroughly enjoyed. If I ever come here again, I

would order this dish for sure. The assam was not too sour

and the aroma was very good

Sambal prawn with petai (RM36 for L size) was a little too

hot for me. It was served with some cucumber slices and I

must say that the prawns were big and fresh.

Address : F221C First Floor

1 Utama

Bandar Utama

Reservations : +603-7728 8728

Mastercard & Visa accepted