Buka Puasa (Iftar) at Aunty Aini’s Garden Cafe – Nilai!

Posted by azuan on Sep 23, 2008 in :: All Posts ::, Featured Articles, FOOD, REVIEWS | 10 comments

The fasting month in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is closing to an end. It is always great to be able to experience the excitement and satisfaction of fasting. I hope to be able to meet Ramadan again next year, insyaAllah.

One of the most exciting feelings (even when you’re a grown up adult) is the moment of breaking fast or termed in Arabic as Iftar. It is a time of happiness after experiencing a whole day of hunger and thirst. It has been said that Iftar, as one of the two happiness for people who fast besides the other one which will be ‘happiness’ in the after-life.

It has becoming a common trend in Malaysia for people to eat out and enjoy the luxurious and ridiculously expensive buffet in restaurants and hotels. My take on this is simple, I’ll only go for these 100+ dishes buffet if and only if it is affordable (below RM50) or some companies are paying for it. Also, they need to be providing a place for prayers as well.

So last week when my friends voiced out the idea of braking fast together, the thoughts of going to a hotel came to mind. However since we were on a craving for ‘real food; and a good place to chit-chat, we started to look around for a non-hotel place. I suggested this cool place “Aunty Aini’s Kampung Café� right in the town of Nilai!

Who on earth willing to drive past 3 states (Selangor, KL, Negeri sembilan) to eat? ME!

This is the review of my ‘buka puasa’ kampong style in Aunty Aini’s Garden Café.

This place is located in Nilai which is 20 minutes drive from KLIA toll in ELITE Highway. You can’t call it a Garden Café serving Kampung food if it’s right in the smack of the city right?

Parking is simply by the road side which made some of us ‘a bit worried’. See how close my 1880 “ol-betsy� altis to the passing by car? Hehe

Kampung feel ambience..

The menu is comprehensive. I personally love the Kampung Style meals; in particular the signature dishes of Asam Pedas and Lemak Cili Padi Tempoyak. There’s also western food which is not that bad really.

Since I’ve been craving for Malay Kampung cuisine, we opted for the normal malay food. As always I let the photos do the talking. WARNING: SUPERB-LICIOUS FOOD BELOW!

To cool the body down, fresh coconuts with no sugar added

To quench the whole day thirst…Mango and Orange Drinks

Pembuka selera

Signature dish: Lemak Cili Padi Tempoyak Udang Galah!

Burung Puyuh

Sambal Tumis Sotong with Petai

Lemak Cili Padi Daging Salai

Ulam and Sambal Belacan

Ayam Kampung and the rest of the meals

With all the good food in front of us, waiting is a killing game!

Why put to waste the beautiful surrounding? It makes great photo background. So we started to snap photos while waiting for the prayer call.

Then it was time to break fast, camera aside, 30 minutes later all the food on our table were gone. 11 plates of rice, believe it or not

And a great way to close off the great meal is with Tapai and Ice Cream.

For all the food, drinks and dessert, it cost us approximately RM30-40 per person. Way cheaper than those expensive buffets with food that are 10 times more delicious. There’s also a Surau nearby for prayers. Unfortunately they are closing down early for Eid Celebration to do some renovation works. Business will be back after Raya I believe.

Interestingly this café was also featured in one of the travel and food shows with Anthony Bourdain visiting the place. I say, screw Anthony Bourdain, I visited this place and it’s highly recommended by me!