Malaysian cottage cheese
Malaysian cottage cheese

This gastronomic experience at Courtyard by Marriott is a glimpse of why you should Visit Malaysia 2020

Expect a charming street food vibe, and favourites like Mee Goreng, Canai Roti and raw mango salad

Malindo Airways and Tourism Malaysia know us well. They know that the way to our hearts is definitely through our stomachs. In collaboration with the Courtyard by Marriott, they have come up with a food festival as part of their promotion for Visit Malaysia 2020. With the obvious culinary and cultural connect that Malaysia and India share, it is no surprise that we felt at home with the spices and the flavours that came forth during the tasting at their Paprika Café. What sets the menu apart is that they have specially flown down Chef Zainal Abidin B Yahya, from Kuala Lumpur to curate and design the festival offerings.

<em>Mee Goreng</em>
Mee Goreng

Gimme more, prawn-to!
Right at the onset, we find our favourite. The mutton soup. It regales us with gentle hints of lemongrass and ginger and a stock that is redolent with the flavour of the slow-cooked meat. Meanwhile, the salad cart is laden with variety, though we find the sweet and spice akin to kimchi in most, the fish salad is a surprise. Cubes of soya-drenched fish, nestle with eggplant and colourful peppers. The raw mango salad is diced, cheekily sour mangoes with the typical dash of sweet and heat.

Crunch factor
For starters, we swore by the Black Pepper Beef, where the meat was tender and juicy. However the curcurudang gave the tenderloin a run for its money — offering a strong sense of familiarity to our good ole onion pakora, the prawns were smothered with fried onions and beans sprouts, all delightfully crunchy.

<em>Chef Zainal Abidin B Yahya</em>
Chef Zainal Abidin B Yahya



Soon we had a heap of steaming Mee Goreng that knocked all the other flavours off our palate. Speckled with scrambled eggs and tossed with chicken pieces and peppers, the noodles were soft and plump, a poster-dish for Malaysian street food! Next was the Canai Roti, a paratha that was perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and layered in the inside — and when drenched in the chicken curry, it was the reason we barely had space for dessert!

<em>Black pepper tenderloin</em>
Black pepper tenderloin



Green rice crêpe?
However the bright and happy looking sweet finds us managing just fine — a typical Malay offering, it is a startling green rice crêpe with a sweet coconut-barfi-like filling. It is the black rice pudding that you will find yourself heading for the second helping though — as the creamy dish is mildly sweet with a rustic taste of the grain that is irresistible.

On till July 4, part of the regular buffet at Paprika Café, available only for dinner, at INR1,899 (all inclusive).
 

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