Wondermama X @ Avenue K

Wondermama X @ Avenue K, which has been opened for less than a year, is a smaller branch of the one they have in Bangsar (their flagship outlet).  Enroute to our seats, I did notice a stretch of 'old school' stained window shutters that encased the kitchen...that I thought was pretty neat.

 

We were ushered to our seats which happened to be the last seat (towards the bar).  It was part sofa and part chair and the cushions smelled like they were overdue for laundry service.  It was also rather warm since it was situated just next to the entrance of the mall (near the entrance to The Library Coffee Bar).  I did make a comment (of hoping for some other type of seats) to the lady serving us but she didn't heed my request (or pretended not to hear)...ah well, not off to a great start, is it?

 

My order was the Nasi Lemak S @ RM22.90 with deep fried salmon cubes served with a prawn and "petai" (stink beans) sambal plus condiments of a hard-boiled egg, "ikan bilis" (fried anchovies), "kacang" (nuts), fried papadum and fried "kangkung" (water convolvulus or water spinach).  [#Note: The menu revealed quite a few different nasi lemak on offer such as Nasi Lemak 2.0 (with Japanese style fried chicken), Nasi Lemak 2.0 S (with deep fried soft shell crab), Nasi Lemak 3.0 (with deep fried mackerel fish) and Nasi Lemak 4.0 (with chicken rendang.)]

 

The rice was fragrant with a good dose of "santan" (coconut milk) aroma and taste.  The condiments of a hard-boiled egg, crispy papadums, ikan bilis and kacang and stir fried kangkung were as it should be and necessary for a 'complete' plate of nasi lemak.

 

The prawn and petai sambal was a bit of a letdown though as the prawns were really teensy-weensy (the kind I usually see used in hawker stall fried rice).  I would have preferred if they had used better-sized prawns and gave us just 3 or 4 of it, I'd be happy.  The sambal was alright (not among the best I've eaten).  I left the petai alone coz I don't eat petai....they're called stinky beans for a reason, you know :(

The 'hero' of the dish was definitely the fried salmon cubes which came freshly fried.  I was expecting the salmon to be dry but (to my astonishment) it was incredibly soft with a crisp on the outside.  This is not some poor quality salmon and it came lightly tossed in some tangy sauce which added a zing and heightened my enjoyment of it.  It was my favourite part of the whole dish!

 

Next, we had the Mama Kampong Style Fried Rice @ RM15.90 fried with chicken, ikan bilis, long beans, egg and served with beef bacon, shredded lettuce and cucumber.  The rice had a bit of "wok hei" (breath of the wok) and was rather flavourful.  [#Note: They also have a variety of other fried rice on their menu like Garlic Fried Rice, Salted Egg Fried Rice, Seafood Tomyam Fried Rice (with prawns, squid and scallop) and Black Spider Fried Rice (with soft shell crab, black ebiko and black pepper).]

 

We topped it up with an additional Soft Shell Crab @ RM12.  The soft shell crab was quite a huge pc, fresh and crispy as it should be, also lightly dressed in a tangy sauce.

 

I had initially wanted to order some fried squid (as a snack) for sharing and was glad I didn't coz the portions of those 2 rice dishes were quite substantial.  [#Tip: If you're a small eater, that one rice dish is sufficient for 2 people, I reckon.  I had a bit of trouble finishing it partly because of my drink too.]

 

You see, I had the Special Cham with Kopi Jelly @ RM8.50 which came in this 'big ass' metal mug (I love these 'olden day' mugs by the way) which I think 2 people can easily share as I couldn't finish it on my own.  "Cham" is a mixture of coffee and tea which we locals like to drink...and this drink was not sweet at all, in fact, it was very "kao" (thick)!

 

It came with cubes of "kopi" (coffee) jelly in it.  I ordered it coz I was intrigued by the combination and wondered what the jelly would taste like in the coffee.  I wished I hadn't....the combo tasted weird (to me) coz we're so used to jelly tasting sweet.  But this coffee jelly was bitter...as it should be coz it's made from black coffee (after all).  I think it would have benefitted from a little sugar in the jelly to sweeten it, although it wouldn't have made a difference as the combo of coffee and jelly is not the desired combo for me :'(

 

My Personal Opinion

 

If you're into simple comfort food with sizeable portions, this place serves crowd-pleasing carbs at wallet-pleasing prices (but not quite kopitiam or mamak-friendly prices, of course).

For me, the food was satisfactory yet simple street-styled food made more "atas" (high class) by ingredients like salmon and soft shell crab.....but I wasn't loving the ambience (as much) though!

 

Wondermama X

G-8C Ground Floor Avenue K

156 Jalan Ampang

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2161 2589