Restoran T.A.R.
(near Chow Kit Monorail Station)
Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman
50100 Kuala Lumpur
(Coordinates: E101° 41' 53.7" N3° 10' 0.9")
We’ve long been curious about this Indonesian dish called Bakso. Looking
it up, Wikipedia states that: “Bakso or baso is Indonesian
meatball or meat paste made from beef surimi and is similar in texture to the
Chinese beef ball, fish ball, or pork ball.[1] Bakso is commonly made from beef
with a small quantity of tapioca flour, however bakso can also be made from
other ingredients, such as chicken, fish, or shrimp. Bakso are usually served
in a bowl of beef broth, with yellow noodles, bihun (rice vermicelli), salted vegetables,
tofu, egg (wrapped within bakso), Chinese green cabbage, bean sprout, siomay or
steamed meat dumpling, and crisp wonton, sprinkled with fried shallots and
celery. Bakso can be found all across Indonesia; from the traveling cart street
vendors to restaurants.”
What really piqued our interest was the fact that: “The name Bakso originated from bak-so (肉酥,
Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bah-so·), the Hokkien pronunciation for "shredded meat"
(Rousong). This suggests that bakso has Indonesian Chinese cuisine origin.”
Well now, for all intent and purpose Bakso is an Indonesian version of our all
time favourite Beef Noodle Soup!
Coincidentally we had intended to run an errand today at Chow Kit Road,
and we heard that Restoran TAR served a mean bowl of Bakso. Looks like we’ll be killing two birds with one
stone then, eh?
 |
| tall 'thin' building of its own |
 |
| we're now curious to know what soto babat is as well... |
 |
| as you enter |
 |
| where the bakso is prepared |
 |
| the dishes are aplenty (if you're not here for bakso) |
 |
| Sido Mampir? |
Occupying its own tall and ‘thin’ three (or was it four?) storey building,
Restoran TAR is situated right at the staircase leading up to the Chow
Kit Monorail Station. This may prove convenient for those who despise driving
(and especially enduring the pain of looking for parking) at Chow Kit Road. Restoran
TAR serves the Bakso Solo; the name comes from the city it comes from, Solo in
Central Java. Interestingly enough this place is also known as Restoran Sido
Mampir on foursquare.
 |
| Brendan, Cat and I had... |
 |
| ... the exact same dish... |
 |
| ... bakso solo! |
 |
| our beverages |
 |
| thus begins our bakso experience |
 |
| selamat makan! |
The verdict? If we put our biases aside the Bakso Solo is actually a decent
dish all on its own, with its own taste and charm. However, if we were to make
an apples-to-apples comparison to the usual Beef Noodle shops we’ve been to
(like Soong Kee,
Beef King Noodles,
Shin Kee and the like) then it would fall short. Oh well, at least we’ve satisfied our
curiosity. On a positive note Cat was impressed with the fact that the beef
meatballs were not rancid (from a previous bad experience with Malay beef meatballs).
And the damage? At RM19.90 inclusive of beverages (the Bakso was
RM5.00 a bowl) Restoran TAR resides well within the realms of the everyday food
for the everyday person.
No comments:
Post a Comment