Wednesday 15 January 2020

Kakatoo, The Starling


Oh dear, three more restaurants closed at The Starling. All three I have visited.


The Embassy. A place with nice ambiance but sadly the food fell short.


Teppanyaki. The food was all right but not that great.



Kim Zen which I visited once and only once.



And then there was Kory which is now replaced with Kakatoo.



A place specializing in nonya and local cuisine.



The menu looks promising.



Oh by the way, the Chinese New Year decorations are up at The Starling.



Eh? Aren't those Christmas trees from the recent Christmas deco?



Indeed! heh..heh... the decorators decided to recycle the Christmas decorations. Behold Christmas trees adorned with Mandarin oranges! Quite clever I must say.



Even the bus got recycled.

Now back to Kakatoo.



I decided on the Nasi Kerabu Signature Combo which comes with Butterfly Pea Flower Tea and Gula Melaka Sago Pudding.



The place is still very new and the service staff were standing around awkwardly. They could do with a bit more finesse by placing themselves a little bit more discretely.



The Butterfly Pea Flower Tea (bunga telang) is so pretty but tasteless (and a little tart from the lemon), hence the packet of sugar provided. I took only a few sips. 


Look at that! The Nasi Kerabu Signature is so very loaded. There is the rice in the center surrounded by one whole fried chicken leg, acar, raw cabbage/long beans, toasted grated coconut, raw cucumber/carrots sticks, a samosa, half salted duck egg, beef rendang, two sticks of satay and keropok.

The rice is pale blue, a good sign that it was tinted with natural Butterfly Pea Flower. It was topped with sambal tumis. To me, the strength of a nasi kerabu lies with the sambal tumis and this one is not bad at all.

Of all the accompaniments, the most outstanding was the beef rendang. It was delicious. The satay lacked charring but it was nice in its own way and I shall not compare it with regular satay that we get at satay joints. As for the fried chicken, it was simply fried chicken.


I thought the samosa was out of place but it was nice, filled with mashed curried potatoes. If there is one thing I could add, it would be great if finely shredded herbs like daun kesum/kemangi were added to the raw vegetables for extra fragrance.

Portion wise, I give this nasi kerabu the thumbs up as it was massive and even a big eater like me struggled. The highlight of this meal was the Gula Melaka Sago Pudding.



The sago pearls were soft and the santan was fresh and thick, topped with an adequate amount of Gula Melaka. I loved it! If I were to return, I'd have this dessert again.

Service was lacking in warmth and staff could have been more attentive and alert. I waited for some time and had to signal that I was done and for my dessert to be served.

Would I come back? Of course. In fact I have been back to try the Nasi Lemak. It did not disappoint. I shall tell you about it next time.


21 comments:

  1. The nasi kerabu was packed with goodness and definitely i will like the gula melaka sago pudding dessert. I want to laugh at the christmas trees, how they try to turn it into a cny decor by placing mandarin oranges on it.

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    1. Ya hor. I also thought it was funny to have mandarin oranges on Christmas trees :)

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  2. wah,I must try this signature nasi kerabu but must share la. Thanks for sharing the photos of cny decor. so clever of them to reuse the xmas decor including the bus. lolx! well done!

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    1. You definitely need to share hah..hah..

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  3. Long tine didnt have nasi kerabu. Yours looked so good. Craving for it right now. Lol.

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    1. LOL! Hope you can get nasi kerabu in your area.

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  4. OMG!!! The nasi kerabu sure does not come cheap - I've had one the other day, post on it in my blog coming soon! Oh my!!! I love gula melaka sago pudding so so much! Yumssss!!!

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    1. At the mall, everything is pricey hah..hah...

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  5. maybe kakatoo could be a starling survivor! i visited their original outlet in plaza ativo (bandar sri damansara) once, back in 2014, so the brand itself has already lasted for at least six years! :)

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    1. I believe they will prevail as the food is relatively good and I see the crowds coming in.

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  6. Again, you're the champion-lah...a drink, a dessert & a nasi kerabu platter that looks built for two...wuahahahaha (but it's understandable since it came as a set)! :D The most attractive item (for me) on the plate was the glistening yolk of the salted egg...and I do love a good Sago Gula Melaka (one of my fav santan-based desserts). P/S: I know what you had next...I looked into my crystal ball (haha!)..Nasi Lemak Rendang Tok (which you kind of mentioned here already) & Durian Cendol...haha! ;D I didn't realise but I see you've started to post reviews on Google recently (hehe!). So I guess I'll be reading more of such in future.

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    1. heh..heh... champion indeed! But I found this portion size a little challenging even for me. The salted egg was of good quality, so thumbs up for that. Ah..you saw my reviews hee..hee.. paiseh..paiseh...

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  7. So befitting...kakatoo in starling mall

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  8. that's a sumptuous plate of kerabu rice...I must go to Kakatoo nearby my office to try out!

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  9. Wow! My fav's nasi kerabu and sagoo gula melaka! I must pop by soon :)

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    1. Please do, I am sure you will not be disappointed!

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  10. They have an outlet near my place but I think I only dined in there less than 5 times and I never have nasi kerabu. I tried their savoury crepe, not bad also...

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    1. Perhaps this type of food not your favorite hah..hah...

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  11. I think you are The Starling expert. You should put a little guide together of where to eat.

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