Fiery Hot at Madame Kwan's

Upon landing at Kuala Lumpur and heading straight to our hotel to check in, Paul and I decided to grab an early lunch at the Pavillion Mall which was located right beside Novotel KL.

Following the map, we made our way down to the basement where there was a huge Food Republic and a row of interesting looking restaurants. One immediately caught my eye -- Madame Kwan's. I remember this being recommended by a reader here and I told Paul we have to try this.

I love the cozy green and white interiors and the service was great too. We were immediately led to our table and soon we were busy scanning the menu. Since first tasting the Nasi Lemak served at the Swissotel's breakfast buffet spread and I've been hooked ever since! I love the aroma of the coconut rice mixed with salty peanuts and anchovies! Since this is a Malaysian dish, of course it is a must to try Nasi Lemak right in Kuala Lumpur and this was one of the dish that we got here at Madame Kwan's. Knowing the the meat can be pretty spicy, I specifically requested our server to hold on to the chili for us.

Feeling a bit tired from our travel, we wanted something warm thus Paul chose the Laksa as we both love laksas served here in Manila. This is again another spicy dish which we requested that it be prepared mild.

Our dishes arrived shortly. I immediately dig into the Nasi Lemak (RM15.30) and realized that I should have proceeded with caution. In Malaysia, the locals really do have a higher tolerance for spicy dishes and thus what we thought was a mild Nasi Lemak was still to spicy for our taste. I think I must have drank 3 glasses of ice cold water in just a span of 2 minutes. I love the rice and the salty mix but the spicy meat I couldn't stand. I took a few more bites and gave up.

Next came the Laksa (RM13.50), after our Nasi Lemak, we were both bracing ourselves for the spicy level of the laksa. This time, it was Paul who took a sip and I watch as his face turned from calm to a panicked look as he immediately reached for his glass of water. He commented that the Laksa was delicious but I'd better think twice before digging in.

Madame Kwan's actually has a wide range of dishes to choose from. They have the local favorites which we got and some international items too. We agreed that the taste was good but it was just too spicy for us to enjoy. Paul, the brave soul, finished off our dinner because he just hate seeing good food go to waste. I guess next time we should stick to the non-spicy items in the menu.

Madame Kwan's has a number of branches around Kuala Lumpur. The one that we visited is located at the basement of the Pavillion Mall, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.