Thursday 29 April 2021

Nasi Kerabu @ Sambal Inc., The Starling

I have been wanting to visit Sambal Inc. @ A Foodie's Nest, The Starling but my brother told me that their nasi kerabu is not the nasi kerabu that meets the standards of we people from the east coast. Hah!


So that discouraged me. I trust my brother's judgement as we have similar tastes (except when it comes to cheese). That was last year or the year before.

For the past 2-3 weeks I have been having a nice time eating whatever I liked (mostly carbs heh..heh...). This is a strategy that some people use for metabolic reset (also known as "all in"). You free fall (and have to accept that you will gain substantial weight) and you come to a set point where your body tells you enough is enough. That's when you don't feel like eating as much and are satisfied with smaller portions.

Never mind that I have put on 7kgs post MCO. Who cares? I am not living up to anybody's standards. But....I do feel the strain of the extra weight and the bloated feeling after consuming too much food from outside. My pants are getting a bit too snug and I am experiencing those "stop! stop!" signals.

Next month I am cutting down on carbs and testing out an eating plan just to review its efficacy. No weird stuff or supplements, just natural wholesome foods (cooked at home  and with bone broth fasting) and I shall share my results.

So before I go on a temporary carbo restriction, I thought why not test for myself the nasi kerabu at Sambal Inc.


Although I was the only one at the cafe (can you spot my selipar Jepun?) I chose to seat at the single seater (in spite of the spotty table) so as not to deprive diners of two parties or more from a bigger table. Cleanliness of table tops could be improved.


Ordering is done and paid at the counter. The menu is simple, they have nasi kerabu and nasi lemak with variations of fried fish and chicken and also some side dishes.

I opted for nasi kerabu with ayam goreng berempah.

The sambal tumis is served separately and I instinctively almost poured the the sambal over the rice but I stopped myself. Taste first!

Upon tasting, I found it rather strange. It does not taste like the sort of sambal tumis that I expect in nasi kerabu. But when I ate it with the nasi kerabu, it tasted all right.


The rice was dry and hard. I could detect fragrant herbs including bunga kantan in the raw vegetables and the kerisik was fresh and crispy. Just mix everything up and add some of the sambal tumis (which was spicy hot).


Oh dear. The plate was chipped in two places. Why didn't they serve me with a good plate?

I came away agreeing with my brother. People who are not from the east coast and who have not eaten authentic Kelantan nasi kerabu might enjoy this judging from the high marks on Google review. Taste is subjective.

On the home front, my two children are getting along just fine. 


What you see in this photo is Belle Belle eating Ah Girl's food. 


Belle Belle is a marauder and finishes her food very fast. When she is done, she goes over to Ah Girl (who takes her own sweet time to eat) and steals her food. Ah Girl being the timid one, simply gives in to Belle Belle.

Every morning after makan, they will take turns chasing each other up and down the stairs. Haiz.....


And this is how they hang out every evening outside my room. I allow Belle Belle some freedom inside the house but she has to sleep inside her cage. 

20 comments:

  1. Oooooo...I miss nasi kerabu!!! My favourite stall is in that food court, the name in the list of places to avoid so often. Sighhhhh!!!!! The kampung here is also a high risk zone, so I am off all those favourites of mine for now.

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    1. What a pity.Guess it will be a long wait before you get to eat your favorite nasi kerabu.

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  2. AIYORRRRRRRR!!!! THAT IS SO SINFUL!!! The plate was chipped in two places!!! I would not want to set foot at that place ever again!!! You are from Terengganu so you should know what's good. what's authentic. Many people just eat and sibuk sibuk comment when they do not know anything!!!

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    1. Not going back there for sure hah..hah...

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  3. Oh dear. Presentation is nice but the chipped plate isn't. Now you make me craving for nasi kerabu.

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    1. I wish they would just throw out chipped crockery.

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  4. Congrats! You have successfully integrate your two kiddoes! Yay! πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘There is a link on how to do it by the famous cat guru jackson galaxy. but you did it your own way and it works! Aiyo this Belle, y so greedy. Later grow obese cannot move. Ah Girl is a good girl, letting Belle eat her food. Chasing each other is so fun and good exercise. I bought curry yellow noodles from this sambal inc before n the yellow noodles are hard, almost not cooked so that was the only time I abandoned my food and didn't bring it home. Then I ban the place, didn't even try their rice dishes.

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    1. Jackson Galaxy's method is too tedious hah..hah... Ah, you have tried Sambal Inc and also not impressed. Somehow they are still thriving.

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  5. The first thing I noticed on the plate was that failed salted egg...kekeke (you know how I love my bright orange, oily salted egg yolk)...lol! ;) Haha, I'll be sure to reserve my comments when it comes to this famous Kelantan dish since I'm not even a Terengganu girl...hehehe! No, not really...like you said, taste is subjective (+ no-one can claim to know everything about food). :P When you were eating it, you must have said to yourself...I should have trusted my brother.

    I'm feeding two stray cats at the moment and I give them each a separate bowl but one of them will insist of eating the other's food first even though her bowl is full...a bit like Belle Belle, I suppose. Glad to see the two of them getting along and chasing each other (although they could be chasing one another out of annoyance...hah..hah).

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    1. hah..hah... I just had to try it for myself and confirm lah, not up to mark. In the beginning when I first took Belle Belle in, she was like that, she will insist on eating from Girl's bowl even though she has her own. Quite a headache. At least no she will eat from her own bowl. I have to supervise and manage their makan time. Hah..hah.. they might find each other annoying, Girl especially feels it more!

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  6. nasi kerabu looks good but the table top cleanliness and the chipped plate put me off. Good to hear that ah Girl and Belle getting along well. Looking forward to more pictures of them!

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    1. I have snapped many photos of them together but no time to write up yet!

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  7. I haven't really taste the original Nasi Kerabu before so what I ate in Ipoh, they are all so-so to me. What I like is the Ayam Berempah, salted egg and a bit of of sambal will be good enough for me...

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    1. I hope that you get to taste the real thing and be blown away LOL!

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  8. I am missing nasi kerabu. The last time I ate was years ago. Nowadays, no idea where to get good tasty nasi kerabu. So nice to see Belle and Girl are friends now. Now you have 2 body guards outside your room.

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    1. Quite hard to find really good nasi kerabu. Most are just wannabes LOL!

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  9. That plate of Nasi Kerabu looked all good to me. :) But like what you said, taste is really subjective, one man's meat is another man's poison, we have to try ourselves to decide if we like the food.

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    1. It looked good to me too until I tasted it hah..hah...

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  10. I do love the pretty blue colour of nasi kerabu. I would not be able to just an authentic one though.

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