The first in my Metro Malaysian restaurant 2 for 1 offer adventures!
The Puji Puji website looks great. Could do with a more extensive menu online, but apparently it’s seasonal so it would be a pain to keep updating a Flash site.
The restaurant had a cosy, warm decor with some nice touches like an original ice kacang grater I’ve never seen before – even the loo was given a spa look with the pebbles on the floor… don’t see that that often in London. The very friendly lady proprietor, with the help of a waiter, ran the whole show – it was a weekday night but it was very busy. But because it was busy, the cosiness turned into being cramped on occasion as people rushed and brushed past us to and fro.
Anyway, onto the food! The stuffed sea-bass (Ikan Sumbat with something) was inspired – it smelled of Otak Otak, and it was two pieces of beautifully grilled, juicy fillet held together with two pandan leaf ribbons. It was interestingly presented, unlike the usual slap-on style of nasi campur or just a fish on a dish. Each ‘element’ of the meal had it’s own place on the squared dish – fish parcel in one corner, rice in the other, with the sambal and veggie accompaniment in two matching square saucers. Judging from how orderly it looked, I tentatively picked at it with a knife and fork, but upon discovering many little bones I attacked it with my bare hands instead.
We also had the Ayam Percik – it looked scrumptious and tasted nice and juicy. Now THIS is ayam percik, not the sorry excuse for one at Jom Makan Trafalgar Square many moons ago! Behind the bar, our dynamic proprietor continuously fans the grill, serving up varieties of satay, and am pretty sure this chicken was on there for a bit too. Yummy. Would love to try out the venison satay one day.
The portions could be bigger, for a someone who loves big portions like me (Tuk Tuk, anyone?), but sufficient enough not to need dessert. I still think Tuk Din was better value for money though, for the space and the food – just hope they haven’t increased the price since I was last there!
Musings of a millenial 