A STAR IS BORN

You most probably would have heard that Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of more than 2,765 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California. The stars are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry, bearing the names of a mix of actors, directors, producers, musicians, theatrical/musical groups, fictional characters, and others.

Jeannie, the Batik Influencer, who also happens to be my wife; and I, admittedly; were so excited when we walked along Hollywood Boulevard, many years back. We were so like tourists, which we were; as we walked along the street staring at the ground, almost literally, identifying and recognizing the movie stars’ names. The excitement soon wore off – we did not recognize the names of many of the stars. And how much longer did we have to stare at the sidewalk (They are known as pavements in Malaysia), lined with 5-pointed terrazzo-and brass stars?

You probably would have heard of Bollywood stars. Most likely you would as they have a huge following here, in Malaysia; as well as in many other countries.

Then, there are the Cantonpop stars popular with Hong Kong popular music. You may also be in the know or have heard of the traffic stars. The label surfaced in 2015 when the media and fans bestowed the title on stars Li Yifeng, Yang Yang, Kris Wu, and Lu Han, who had huge fan bases.

What about another star? Have you heard of Star Bharvan? Jeannie on one of her usual Saturday morning breakfasts with her parents, one day, came home and told me about this new restaurant in SS18, Subang Jaya. (1) She said the food that they ordered, was good.

After that, the name “Star Bharvan” came up several times in conversations with people whenever the topic of choice of restaurants and food in Subang Jaya was talked about.

Early Saturday morning at 8.16am; our neighbours down the road (known as “street” in the U.S.), Nara and his wife, Saras; came to pick Jeannie and I up from our house for breakfast.

Choice of restaurant? You guessed it – Star Bharvan. Jeannie suggested we go there for breakfast. Nara and Saras liked the idea as they too, had been to this restaurant on several occasions and liked the place. Which meant that I was the only one who had not experienced the food there, yet.

The restaurant was close by. The traffic was good. We got to the restaurant in a few minutes.

The restaurant looked spanking new, clean, brightly lit and air con-d. (2) The “-d” part is to amplify the fact that the restaurant would be cool, definitely welcomed by its customers, especially in the current, exceptionally hot weather conditions we are facing. It certainly was a very pleasant and comfortable place to be at that morning.

Clockwise: Nara, Saras, Jeannie the Batik Influencer; and me, Alan; sporting my tartan flat cap.

Our food orders of ghee dosai, upuma and ponggal were served within a few minutes. I had methu vadai and parapu vadai. For drinks, the unusual one was the halliya O (ginger water) which Saras and Jeannie had. Nara and I had Nescafe coffee. Mine was O which came with sugar. I should have ordered my Nescafe as Nescafe “O” kosong, though I would have thought the “o” meant black coffee – no milk, no sugar.

Naras and Saras with their food order of “ghee dosai”. It sure looked delicious.
Ginger water – Saras’ and Jeannie’s drink.

We had a wonderful time chatting and bringing each other up to speed about our families, hobbies and possible collaborations in upcoming projects that we may get ourselves involved in. We also talked about Nara’s younger brother who was my ex-schoolmate.

Before long, we had to head home as Jeannie and I had a coffee appointment in P.J. (3) with a friend. We look forward to more meet-ups with Nara and Saras in the near future, if and when -time permits.

For those wanting to visit Star Bharvan, the address is: 97, SS 14/1, Subang Jaya.

NOTES:
1. Subang Jaya is a dynamic city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.
2. Air-con or air con-d are terms very commonly used in Malaysia to described air conditioner.
3. Petaling Jaya, more commonly know as “P. J.”, is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

CHUTNEY’S SNACK BAR

Piped in music.. sort of.  Hindi of course. Sounds romantic, though I don’t understand the language. But it is so soothing. The ambience is quite quaint. A little shop or restaurant that is called a “snack bar”. “CHUTNEYS SNACK BAR”, Artisanal Indian Café.

It all started when Jeannie smartphone-d (telephoned) me last evening, asking me if I wanted “puttu mayam” (not sure if I got the spelling correct) for dinner. She was at the Empire Gallery Shopping centre and had just bought me 1, yes 1 vadai; not the usual 3 that she buys; if and when she buys vadai for me.  She said the vadai was bigger than the usual size we would get at the “ordinary” Indian restaurants that can be easily spotted in most  towns. And it cost much more, too.

So, she bought a packet of putting mayam.

I was hungry by the time she got back. I went for the vadai first. It was about 1 and a half times the size of a regular vadai. The taste was somewhat different from the regular ones. I think the ingredients in it were maybe a bit different, fresh.

The vadai is deep fried in very hot oil. But this was not burnt as most others are. Maybe, the oil was fresh, not over-used. I have grown accustomed and even like eating the deep fried, dark-brown vadai. But this… this was certainly amongst the best I’ve eaten, that’s for sure.

Then, I started eating the puttu mayam.

The packet came with 5 pieces of these string hoppers, with a more than ample serving of coconut and actual gula melaka, not brown sugar. The gula melaka makes this puttu mayam so authentic. It brings back fond memories like how this was usually served years ago. The whole meal was delicious. I was so hungry that I didn’t think of taking photos of the meal and vadai. This means only one thing – we have to buy this again for sure, for me to do a full write-up and take pictures, too.

The experience I had with the vadai and puttu mayam, and the way Jeannie described this little restaurant and how the owner was pleasant and gracious, made me want to come to this restaurant and see for myself if all that Jeannie had described is as it is.

After picking Jeannie up from work, then heading home to Subang Jaya; the usual question – one that is extremely more difficult than it sounds, “What shall we have for dinner?” Usually, I would, say, “I don’t know. I leave it to you”. Jeannie then comes up with a whole list of suggestions – all of which my response is “no” (so much for leaving it to Jeannie to decide) until something I like, clicks.

But today, I knew I wanted to try out this Indian cuisine. I was curious to find out how a little Indian restaurant would “click” with the crowds of people visiting Empire Gallery, daily. When Jeannie mentioned this place for dinner, I did not say anything. I just drove – destination: Empire Gallery.

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Back to us being at Chutneys Snack Bar today. We chose to sit at a corner of the room to get a panoramic view of the whole place and watch it go through its motions.

Our drinks were served soon after.

Jeannie had the saffron chai tea, and I; the mango lassi (a cool drink).

The owner was very gracious and had great rapport with his customers…existing and new. While waiting for the food to come, he served us a plate of what looked delicious..pakkora. It didn’t just look delicious, it tasted delicious, too! Jeannie found it very spicy. It was spicy, yes.

Pakkora
Already begun putting this article together. What a way to do it…while munching on a serving of pakkora.

My onion tosai

Jeannie order an onion tosai for me. It had an egg fried in it. The three chutneys (Now we know why “Chutneys Snack Bar”) that came with it were really good. The orange-y coloured chutney was very spicy, the coconut chutney which is white in colour was less spicy and the third side dish which was dal, was non-spicy.

Jeannie order – “Uthappam” – stunning presentation.

Jeannie’s Uthappam meal came with the same three side dishes.

While waiting for our dinner to be served, I saw a genuine pleasure, not only from the owner and his wife, but also from their employees. There were several employees who busied themselves by preparing and carefully serving the meals.

We tried a little bit of each other’s meal. We came to the same conclusion: yah bhojan bahut achchha tha (excellent!).

When we finished our meal and were leaving; we spoke with the owner, Isaac and his wife, Sarita; about what we saw in our short experience in Chutneys. The inviting, yet very simple decor of this restaurant, with a nice sort of chandelier, the soothing music and their genuine care to reach out to their customers, is an invitation to come back again, and again and again. Isaac said it is their passion that is infused in them that genuinely want to serve their customers.

I would recommend that when you are in the area of Empire Gallery Shopping Centre in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; dine at Chutneys Snack Bar, an Indian Artisanal Café.