Image via Masala Wheels
Petaling Jaya no doubt lies one of the best and flavourful Indian restaurants ever. I’m a foodie at heart especially when it comes to banana leaf and briyani cuisines so trying out the dishes they have at Masala Wheels was what you can say is my forte. My summary review after eating there is it’s one my favourite place to dine in. Here are the details on why I say so;
Outlook
Situated 3 minutes away from SK (2) Petaling Jaya school, this place is easy to find as you can Waze from your destination, however, parking may be a little stretch. Always advisable to park where it’s not bothering the house owners located just right opposite the restaurant to ensure an uninterrupted meal time. If it’s still difficult for you to find the place, there’s a big orange truck parked right beside the restaurant with the restaurant’s name on it and customer eating outdoors too.
The food!
Sri Lankan Banana Leaf Meal (vegetarian), RM 8
The fact that this dish was colourful on its own was already a picture worthy type of food. The recipe originates from a Sri Lankan family, who till today blends their own spices for cooking purposes and to promote an organic way of handling their food and not using the commercial products. There are about nine side dishes placed on the banana leaf to tantalizes your taste buds from sweet to a dose of spiciness. Be sure to “banjir” the rice with the chicken/mutton curry to perfect the flavour even more.
We ordered the “crab rasam” as well (A South Indian soup, traditionally prepared using tamarind juice as a base, with the addition of tomato, chilli pepper, pepper, cumin and other spices as seasonings) for an aftertaste effect and I highly recommend everyone to try this. You have a pop of spice together with the crab broth that makes it an out of this world dish.
Chatti Briyani, Chatti Briyani Day
🍗Chicken + Egg : RM10 (eat) / RM13 (takeaway)
🍲Lamb + Egg : RM13 (eat) / RM15 (takeaway)
Only available every Sundays from 12 pm to 3.30 pm, so make sure you grab yours because Masala Wheels serves one of the best chatti briyani in Petaling Jaya. The word “chatti” direct translation to English means a pot.
Takes less than 10 minutes until our food arrives to console our hungry tummies. Once it arrived, we were served with fragrant and fluffy briyani rice together with raita ( an Indian side dish of yoghurt containing mixed-up vegetables). The trick is you got to remove all the briyani rice from the pot to the banana leaf which is readily served for you. Really scrape and mix every last part of it and that’s where the real flavour really lies on.
Image via Masala Wheels Facebook. You have the option to top up Chicken sides one plate RM 6
Mutton sides one plate RM 8
To be honest, normally when I eat briyani, I always have the need to eat it with curry but in Masala Wheels, you don’t need to worry if there is curry or not with your dish. The briyani rice itself has tons of flavours bursting out as it is a homemade briyani that are made with more than 10 spices in. The rice really stands out as you have the taste from the choice of chicken or lamb you chose plus with somehow a Hainan chicken rice would taste. You mix those two favourite Malaysian flavours and you just create magic. There are absolutely no words to describe how this feels but all I know is I felt like I was mind-blown by the flavours. When it comes to the chicken/lamb, oh how tender and juicy this is as well as a generous amount. I’m going to go out on a limb and declare that by far this is the best briyani I’ve tasted.
Nasi Lemak Banana Leaf + Ayam Goreng Berempah, RM 6.50
Though it may seem like an all-time simple dish but be mesmerized by their flavours, once again. With its coconut milk rice that is fluffy surely makes the whole dish the star of the show. Comes with a choice of spicy or non-spicy sambal, fried crispy anchovies, toasted peanuts, cucumber and one whole egg, served on a banana leaf for a price of just RM 3.50. We topped up with an Ayam Goreng Berempah (spicy fried chicken) for a more complete meal. Fried chicken gives the fun kick to the nasi lemak and suggests everyone try it too.
Masala Wheels started as a food truck business to being a social enterprise for the poor people to now setting a crowded and well-known restaurant in the heart of PJ Old Town.
Business Hours: 12 pm – 3 pm; 6.30 pm – 10 pm
Address: Masala Wheels, Jalan 1/3A, Seksyen 1, Petaling Jaya
Contact Number: 03- 74964991
Facebook: Masala Wheels , Instagram: masalawheels