2 Birds With 1 Stone

Last Saturday I headed over to Magnificent Fish & Chip Shop for some fish and chips. My sister has been 5 times in two weeks. Safe to say, she loves it. I like the look and masculine feel of the restaurant. There is something quite lovely about it and it stands out on the street. I love the black and white chequered floor, the dark blue walls with the wooden bar and benches. They’ve also retained a wooden partition from the Chinese antique shop that was there before. And have incorporated some kopi tiam tables and chairs to complete the look.

The menu is written out on black board and it starts with the basic dory ($20++) to black cod ($42++). I ordered the parrot fish ($32++) and my friends had dory. The dory is pretty good but the parrot fish is definitely better because it’s meatier and falls off in flakes. The tartare sauce that they serve with the fish is superb. Just as well because the malt vinegar that they have there is not pungent enough. The chips are super soggy but they are not proper chips. I think they've been pre-boiled and then fried very quickly. It doesn't have that nice crisp coat that chips are suppose to have. If you don’t want to have battered fish, there are also grilled options. The mushy peas are buttery but not enough peas for my liking. We also shared some battered chicken sausages ($18). I must say that they were pretty good considering they were chicken. Who woulda thunk? We didn’t realise they came with chips though so we had a whole plate of wasted chips. They don’t have any desserts right now so if you order any, they will come from Relish.

Right next door to Magnificent is Baan 26. It is a starck contrast with its soft and feminine shades of pistachio green and purple. Homos and I had dinner there last Friday. I was late so they had ordered without me. I was hoping for some serious, no-nonsense homecooked Thai food but alas, it was not meant to be. The menu comprised mainly of popular Thai dishes (think green curry, tom yum, basil chicken) with various dishes from South East Asia sticking out like sore thumbs. Cantonese noodles, Medan fried rice, Nyonya asam prawn and freaking kangkung belacan. I was willing the give it the benefit of the doubt. Eventhough the signboard outside and the name clearly suggests Thai food. Its ok, I'll go with the flow.

Don’t be fooled by the cheap prices because the portions are dismal. The stir-fried baby kalian with oyster sauce was all of 4 sprigs, I kid you not. I enjoyed the fried homemade bean curd. It was nice and crispy on the outside and smooth and wobbly on the inside. We also had deep fried buttered squid. That was very tasty but you can hardly go wrong with deep fried AND buttered can you? The basil leaf spicy chicken is cheap at $12.90++ but then there were only 6 tiny slivers of chicken in there.

To give you an indication on how cheap the food is here, the most expensive item are prawns which costs a mere $22.90++. Thats not cheap you say? It bloody well is on Changkat Bukit Bintang. There is no wow factor but if you want a cheap meal around this street, this is where you want to be. Alternatively, walk up the road towards Jalan Alor and you'll find a cheap and cheerful, perhaps slightly dodgy depending on the hour of your arrival, Thai coffee shop.