On our 3rd day, we decided to have lunch at Madam Bee's Kitchen. This little restaurant prides itself with serving Truly Terengganu Specialties. And mind you, it comes recommended by Tripadvisor.
My mum and dad have passed by this restaurant for years but somehow they have never tried the food here. So it was a first for the whole family.
The entrance to the restaurant is flanked by these two panels...
....showcasing the dishes served here.
The interior is rather small and seats five small tables (if I remember correctly). The food comes served on a tray lined with waxed paper. I guess this makes cleaning up much easier for the kitchen staff.
Let's take a look at what is served at Madam Bee's Kitchen.
The menu is kept simple with limited variety. Items marked with red stickers are not available. I spotted Laksa Penang on the menu and I sure wasn't going to have Penang Laksa when I am in Terengganu.
I settled for the Nasi Kerabu, something I have been wanting to eat for a long, long time and Madam Bee's Kitchen did not disappoint.
The blue tinged rice came with an assortment of thinly sliced fresh herbs, kerisik (toasted grated coconut), a delicious chicken curry and a small serving of condiment which my dad said is budu (local fermented fish sauce).
When the server brought this dish to me, she told me to "campur semua sekali" (mix everything together). Without much ado, I poured the sauce onto the rice and mixed everything up. It was so good! I can eat two servings hah..hah...
My parents and my brother chose Laksa Terengganu. It seemed strange for laksa to be served like this and it looked funny.
But what matters is the taste. The feedback I got was positive. However, we noted that the usual herbs that go with this laksa i.e. mint, daun kesum and daun kemangi were missing. We reckon that maybe some customers do not like these aromatic herbs and they may find it too overpowering.
The serving size here is quite small (for big eaters like us) and we had a side order of Rojak Ceranang. One each for my mum, my brother and me. No sharing hah..hah...
This is a salad consisting of beansprouts, sengkuang, carrots, kangkung and steamed keropok lekor doused with a sweet, salty and sour dressing and crushed peanuts.
It is served with a packet of keropok. We enjoyed this rojak very much.
My only complaint is that the keropok lekor was very starchy with very little fish content. I guess it can't be helped as fish is expensive.
We also ordered another side dish of steamed keropok lekor. This time for sharing.
I prefer fried keropok lekor, so this was just alright for me.
On the walls, you can see many photographs.
And here is the illustrious Madam Bee.
This is the opening hours. I was glad I checked this because we were planning for a second visit on Wednesday.
We did come back on Thursday to "tapau" the Rojak Ceranang (4 packets hee..hee..) and Laksa Terenganu for my dad. I have earmarked Madam Bee's Kitchen for another visit in the future.
Yesterday I received a WhatsApp message from my mum telling me that in conjunction with the Terengganu Peranakan Festival 2015 (05-06-2015 to 10-06-2015), Martin Yan was at Madam Bee's cooking some Nonya dishes with Madam Bee as his assistant! Too bad I missed that hah..hah...
Yesterday I received a WhatsApp message from my mum telling me that in conjunction with the Terengganu Peranakan Festival 2015 (05-06-2015 to 10-06-2015), Martin Yan was at Madam Bee's cooking some Nonya dishes with Madam Bee as his assistant! Too bad I missed that hah..hah...
woot woot, it's the third day and the feasting frenzy went on!! haha, but I guess it's not uncommon, as we all sure need to eat, right?? and if we are eating and since we are in a holiday mood, then why not?? I can feel how a happy you are with those food back in your own hometown, hehe~~ :p
ReplyDeleteYou are so early! Yes, when I go back to my hometown, I must savor the local food to my heart's delight! Or else tak puas, betul tak?
Deletewow, featured on TripAdvisor leh, must be a very famous ones among the foreign tourists, and the food must be those that suits the tourist taste.. as for locals, I wonder why haven't your parents went in to try before?? and good to find out that this trip to the restaurant was a good experience and you went there again!! so it's a good place for both tourists and locals, if you know what I mean.. like many places are recommended to tourists but not the places locals will go..
ReplyDeleteI am thinking maybe foreign tourists from Asian region like Singapore, Thailand or Indonesia whose tasetbuds are quite close to ours? I can't imagine angmoh liking Nasi Kerabu or keropok lekor. But then if we can appreciate pizza and cheese, they should be able to appreciate our food since there are many Asian restaurants now in western countries.
Deletesimple menu often mean the eateries are confident with their food, they don't need many varieties to impress the patrons but those few are what people keep coming back for and yet will not feel bored with, in fact needless to think, it will be that few dishes as the default orders.. that's what the menu tells me.. :)
ReplyDeleteYup, those popular ones would be the Nasi Kerabu, Laksa Terengganu and Lor Mee. Keeping the menu small makes it easier to manage and also better for quality control.
Deletein fact all are new to me, I have not had these food before, like ever!! okay, probably excluding the lekor which we can get it in KL but I wonder how much nicer the authentic ones taste in its land of origin.. the nasi has got too much spring onions I can see, I'll have to korek first before I campur, haha!! the laksa that omits all those daun-daun you mentioned would be a great one for me, muahahaha, I love that really!! the rojak, does it taste something like the rojak passembor?? wow, getting hungry reading your post lah.. :D
ReplyDeleteOi, mana ada spring onions? Those are thinly sliced long beans lah. You can get nasi kerabu over here but I don't know about laksa Terengganu. Maybe got, but I don't know the place for it. Or you can try nasi dagang which is quite easily found. Ramadan is coming and perhaps you can find Terengganu or Kelantan food at the bazaars.
DeleteThe curry chicken tempted me, hehe...
ReplyDeleteThe curry chicken was quite good. Very lemak.
DeleteUikks, steamed lekor? I always have the fried ones, soft ones and crunchy crispy ones, all deep fried.. I think can try the steamed ones, healthier, no guilty if eat 50 pieces! haha.. All the food so hoiwai la, but don't get angry ahh, I don't fancy nasi kerabu, I see got so much veggies leh, hehe..
ReplyDeleteLouiz, I prefer the fried ones. Steamed not so nice. Nasi kerabu has quite a bit of herbs and veggies so you better don't eat this hah..hah...
DeleteI am surprised leh... I was preparing to read about disappointment. Usually those restaurants/cafes with those TripAdvisor or whatever other angmoh website stickers are those that appeal to tourists only, and not necessarily great for locals. Seems like this Madam Bee's is different...
ReplyDeleteTripadvisor only angmoh give review meh? I'm guessing maybe tourists from Asian region or those angmoh who are familiar with Asian food may have given the thumbs up. The nasi kerabu was pretty good and my dad had a second round of the laksa. I hope to try the laksa and other dishes on my next visit.
DeleteWhen I read....seats five small tables...it sounds like authentic home cooking to me. Smallish places like these is more about authenticity than making money...and Madam Bee would want to treat her guests like family.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time I've seen Rojak Ceranang. Love nasi kerabu.....only thing missing (for me) are some fried fish crackers and half a salted egg...kekeke! :D I'm not a fan of keropok lekor (let alone steamed ones), they're very fishy in taste.
The place was really small and I was quite surprised how tiny it was. Service was quite fast and all tables occupied when we were there. When we were leaving, we saw a small crowd patiently waiting for a table.
DeleteRojak Ceranang is peculiar to Terengganu and it is also known as "Chee Sek Rojak", named after the person who used to sell this rojak. Oh, yes I do remember that nasi kerabu usually comes with salted egg and salted fish too.
Ahhhh!!!! Nasi kerabu! I have that in my blogpost today...and I do think mine looks much nicer. Muahahahaha!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the baju kebaya, so beautiful, so elegant, so classy - my mum and aunties used to wear that, too bad none of the ladies in my immediate family would want to go through the trouble (and according to them, the discomfort). :(
Yes, saw your nasi kerabu photo with the nice fried chicken :)
DeleteBaju kebaya is beautiful and my grandma used to wear them. She has a big collection but too bad I can't fit into any of it :(
When I make my first trip to Terengganu someday, I will drop by this place to eat their Nasi Kerabu which is also my favourite. I wonder if this is originated from Terengganu? In Thailand, they have this similar dish called "Khao Yum" which does not serve the blue rice but all other vegies look similar.
ReplyDeleteTM, if I am not mistaken, Nasi Kerabu is a Kelantan dish. I won't be surprised if there is lots of Thai influence in Kelantanese cooking. I love Thai food a lot too!
DeleteHi Phong Hong, I see that you are also enjoying lots of good food back in Trengganu. It's a long time, I last visited this state. Must plan to go some time.
ReplyDeleteHi Kimmy! Yes, one day you and your hubby should visit. Terengganu has changed a lot and you would probably be surprised by the rapid development.
DeleteNow I know where to go and eat when I visit KT. Must eat the rojak, nasi kerabu and laksa T but don't know when I will get to visit there.
ReplyDeleteMun, hope you get the chance to visit KT!
DeleteThe servings are very much different from what i normally see Never been to Trengganu..hope will have a chance to go cuti cuti Malaysia soon.
ReplyDeleteHi Agnes! Hope you make it to Kuala Terengganu someday :)
DeleteI am hungry and the curry chicken "smells" nice and must taste nice too
ReplyDeleteLibby, the curry chicken was very good. So lemak and so tasty.
DeleteHi Phong Hong,
ReplyDeleteI see you had enjoyed the good food very much ^-^!
Oh, Madam Bee's Kitchen operates for lunch, no dinner as it opens till 5pm. The rojak looks good !
Karen, you are so observant! I did not even realise that they don't open for dinner hah..hah...
Deletewah...now they have it annually liao ya the festival
ReplyDeleteIs it? I wished that I could go to see the festival but not enough time.
DeleteHi Phong Hong, we are glad that you enjoy our food at Madam Bee's Kitchen! Madam Bee (my mom) wakes up early in the morning everyday to make sure everything is freshly prepared and up to quality for her customers =) You may also try our local desserts such as Pengat Pisang or Pengat Jagung (both cooked with coconut milk so it's yums!) on your next visit. Do drop by the next Terengganu Peranakan Festival as Madam Bee will be selling some other local specialties which are not available in the restaurant, such as Akok and Ayam Pachok. Hope to see you again! =)
ReplyDeleteOh wow! A comment from Madam Bee's daughter! I am so honored :) Yes, me and my family had a good experience at Madam Bee's and we will definitely be back for more. I would love to have a go at all the items on the menu over a few visits. I will try to come back during the next TG Peranakan Festival and join in the fun!
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