Brickfields Indian Food Hunting At Vishal Food & Catering

“I want to eat (good) Indian food,” said bf, who was in town last weekend. Yes master sir,  your wish is my command, which led us to our Indian food expedition at “Little India” Brickfields. Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the best-est of them all? Vishal Food & Catering is one of the restaurants that popped up on the search engine; that’s where we went last Sunday afternoon. Walking into Vishal Food & Catering at 1pm, the restaurant was still empty. But more and more people walk in for a hearty banana leaf meal; the restaurant was packed around 1ish.

Vishal Food & Catering specialises in Chettinad and North Indian food. Chettinad is a region in the southern Tamil Nadu state, India. This means you get a mix of both Southern and Indian region food at Vishal. They claim that they employ the original Chettinad Chefs who have worked as cooks for many years in Chettiars’ homes in India; you get the original Chettinad taste and quality in their dishes.

What is the difference between North Indian food and South Indian food? In all honesty, I am not sure too. A friend once told me that the North Indian food use more of onion and coriander, and dairy products; resulting in soupier curries. On the other hand, South Indian cooking use more of coconut; thicker rich curries. Northern eat curries with flatbread, versus Southern with rice. Northern roast their spices, and Southern ground their spices. And a long list of differences .. but to me, it doesn’t matter.

My banana leaf rice went with white rice, and bf chose briyani rice. I go with white rice every time, the best to soak up all the curries. Bf commented that the briyani rice is just so-so, and nothing beats the (best-est) briyani rice he had in India.

Call me jakun (unsophisticated hillbilly), but I was delighted seeing tray of goodies being delivered table-to-table for selection – it wasn’t like this at some other Indian restaurants that I have been to. Everything looks yummy! How to choose lah? Bf chose curry fish and I went with chicken masala.

Hot chai masala complemented our hearty meal well.

Bf’s verdict? His heart is still with Sri Nirwana Maju at Jalan Telawi, Bangsar. As for me, I like this place – I like it that I was dining among (many) local Indians. I find that Sri Nirwana Maju caters (more) to multi-racial group – perhaps because of their location at Bangsar.

Perhaps because the restaurant is located in the vicinity of few Hindu temples, and there was also a festival on that day. But, there is that something special about Vishal, and I want to come back!

Update Nov 2017:

What a satisfying second visit!

We had two sets of vegetarian meal @ RM 5.80 each, one plate of chicken curry RM 6.00, fried tenggiri RM 6.00, fried ikan bulus RM 7.00 for 2 pieces, 1 glass of teh tarik RM 1.60 and 1 glass of tea masala RM 2.00. Total bill: RM 36.50 including 6% GST.

Vishal Food & Catering
No. 22, Jalan Scott
, Off Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2274 0995/2274 1995
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vishal.food/
Business Hours: Mon-Sun 07:30-22:45 (7.30-11.30am Breakfast, 11.45am-3.30pm Lunch, 3.45-10.45pm Tea/Dinner)