Can anyone get good food from a food court situated in a shopping centre?

Let's be honest, most hawker food in shopping centre are not as delicious compared to those situated in coffee shops (also known as kopitiam) or along the road side.

Somehow, the ambience is not there and many of these hawker food sold in food courts within shopping centres lack the "wow" factor.

What's the point of this post then, you may ask. There is hope yet, ladies and gentlemen.

Located in a shopping centre cum condominium right smack in the Kuala Lumpur city centre, let me introduce you to Sri Bundo Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice). I have been a loyal customer of Sri Bundo for the last 5 years.

Sri Bundo Nasi Goreng is located in the food court of Plaza City One (top left photo). Most KLites do not now where in Kuala Lumpur is this plaza located. Well, it is located at the end of Jalan Masjid India and is next to the more popular Semua House (top right photo).


Both Plaza City One and Semua House have plenty of stores selling textiles as well as ready made sarees and kurtas. Whereas Semua House has just completed a refurbishment exercise to its external facade, Plaza City One remains looking a bit run down.

As you take the escalator to the 2nd floor of Plaza City One, you will see the food court on your left hand side. Sri Bundo Nasi Goreng occupies a corner lot. Previously, Sri Bundo was located in a pre-war building along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman near Sogo but that building was sold and Sri Bundo had to be relocated.

You cannot imagine how lost I was when for a period of 6 months or so, I did not know where Sri Bundo had relocated until a lawyer friend informed us he discovered Sri Bundo again!

When I took these photos of the stall, I was there early and the crowd has not swelled up. It is not uncommon to have 10 people in queue waiting for their orders to be ready. Sri Bundo serves all types of popular malay nasi goreng such as Nasi Goreng Pattaya, Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis (anchovies), Nasi Goreng Kampung, Nasi Goreng Tomato and Nasi Goreng Cina (well, this is not exactly malay fried rice). There are also all sorts of noodle / beehoon / kuey teow dishes available as well as the "killer tom yam". Click on the photo of the stall above and you will be able to see clearly the menu available.

What I like about Sri Bundo is the freshness of the food. Each order is cooked ala carte and you can let your imagination run wild on the various types of food available. How about Nasi Goreng Tomato with a bowl of tom yam chicken? Or perhaps, Nasi Goreng Pattaya with a plate of paprik ayam? You can also have Nasi Ayam (chicken rice) served using specially cooked yellow rice.

Apart from the fact that the food here is superlicious (hence my loyal following and many others), the portions are generous. Each nasi goreng order is given a 1/6 portion of a roasted chicken. If you order Nasi Goreng Pattaya, for example, Sri Bundo will include 1/6 roast chicken into the rice before wrapping it up in egg omelette. Similarly, an order of nasi puteh ayam paprik (white rice with ayam paprik) will give you a whole mountainful plate of white rice and a plate of ayam paprik (1/6 portion of a roasted chicken) complete with long beans, cauliflowers, baby corn, grey mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. Most other hawkers only give you bits and pieces of chicken but not as much as what Sri Bundo offers.

Does it cost much considering that this is a hawker stall in a food court? Hardly. See the picture of the Nasi Goreng Tomato with Tom Yam Ayam above? That's RM3.50. Less that USD$1.00. If it is just Nasi Ayam, that will be RM3.30. I have seen many times where the customers have to tell the Sri Bundo stall assistant (a nice malay lady who never ceases to smile) to reduce the rice portion.

If you are hungry, you will be full by the time you finish the last spoonful. If you are not, Sri Bundo's food will make you crave for more the next time around.

So, tom yam anyone?