Chennai Curry House 

141-143 Jalan Lagenda 5, Lagenda Heights, Sungai Petani, Kedah

 

Foodelicious

If you are in Sungai Petani and craving Indian food, Chennai Curry House will probably come to mind. I usually come here for lunch. It’s less crowded so the staff tend to be more attentive. 

See, even the cooks have time to grab a bite. Haha, actually, we were having a late lunch. He was probably slaving away in the kitchen till now, when the crowd has thinned out. 

When you have lived in a town for awhile, it may seem like you know everyone. Our neighbor's brother apparently owns the restaurant and his wife happens to be my mother's former student. Small world right?  

This restaurant is clean. The layout makes it seem spacious. We sat in the so-called ‘open air’ area. Malaysia is muggy like every day but you don’t feel like you have sweat pouring down your back while sampling the hot curry here. It’s actually comfortable. I think the ceiling fans and wide open entrance store front helps. Very welcoming too.   

The restaurant has a separate air-conditioned space, probably same seating capacity. I have never eaten in there. It is considered the fine dining section so the décor and furnishing are much more refine.

Dad decided on the banana leaf rice. For those not familiar, they give you a big piece of banana leaf, acting as the vessel for the delicious goodness that will be piled on soon enough. 

Then, one of the servers stops by with this very practical trio of steel containers, each containing a different vegetarian dish. I think I’ve only seen these at banana leaf restaurants, sometimes they have four containers but more shallow.

 

You get one big scoop of each. Here we have spinach with potatoes, scrambled eggs with melons, and a vegetarian sambal dish. The only one I tried was the egg dish and I really liked it. 

Next comes the papadum – a big one. Then, the curry on top of the rice. They start with one big scoop of curry. If you want more, they will oblige. If this was mine, it would be drenched in curry. 

Don’t this look so delicious? I almost wished I was eating this instead of waiting for the dishes we ordered.

So what did we order? First, the Spicy Bindi. Okra or bendi is one of my favorite vegetables so if it’s on the menu, it will usually land on my table. And spicy okra is just heavenly. This one is super spicy and I loved it. I think I ate two-third of the dish or was it three-quarter? 

Sotong or squid/calamari is a seafood I can’t seem to get enough of when I’m home in Malaysia. I hardly cook it in Hawaii. The prep time of having to clean it – removing the outer skin, eliminating the ink sac, gutting the insides – takes too long, not to mention cumbersome. So of course I ordered the Sotong Sambal. It had good flavor but I wished they didn’t cut the sotong into such small pieces.

Last dish – the chicken. Sorry, forgot which one we ordered. I think it was the Chicken Korma. I let my mum pick so was not paying attention. It was also my least favorite dish. I thought the curry was a little watered down – flavor not as bold as the bendi or sotong. 

We had a satisfying meal. I know my dad sure did – look at his ‘plate’. 

I would come back here over and over again. If I had a big enough stomach, I would order the banana leaf rice and a medley of dishes. A word of caution, the prices can add up pretty quickly here depending on what you order so if you are on a budget, the banana leaf rice may be the safest, tastiest bet.

Oops, almost forgot the Teh Tarik. It hit a spot. That’s all I got to say.

Food                            4.5

Customer Service     4.0

Ambiance                   3.5

Décor/Details            2.5
Parking                       3.0