Gerai Seri Menanti, Jalan Bellamy, Behind Istana Negara, Kuala Lumpur

2 Saturdays ago, on a whim, we went looking for ikan bakar for lunch. The only places we know (so far) that specialise in ikan bakar are the row of restaurants at Jalan Bellamy, behind Istana Negara. We usually go to the 1st restaurant in that row, Gerai Seri Menanti.

Here it is, the corner shop. It can get pretty crowded during lunch time, so it's a good idea to go early.

We arrived early, they had just started cooking. Their ikan bakar is wrapped in banana leaf and cooked on a hot plate, as opposed to grilled over a barbecue pit. It was more like pan fried fish, as such, and less like its actual moniker.

Fiery red marinated squid was also being cooked, lovely colour, this!

I love their sauce, a mixture of tamarind, sugar, grounded belacan, onions, red chillies and birds eye chillies. I had needed refills, as I was practically drenching my fish with the super spicy sauce.

The other variety of sauce, made of kicap manis, sugar and cut chillies. Didn't fancy this quite as much.

Our platter of stingray costs RM7.00 each, kinda pricey considering the piece was not that large. We ordered 2. Hubby complained that it tasted a bit dry and cold, we think it was prepared earlier and left to cool. They should have reheated it before serving. For me, the tamarind sauce eclipsed everything else, I was enjoying the sauce so much that any fish would have been welcomed.

The restaurant also serves nasi campur (mixed rice) with an array of traditional Malay dishes.

The fish head curry was really fragrant.

I was attracted to the huge prawns (as usual).

The price list for the grilled seafood.

Opening hours.

Gerai Seri Menanti,

Gerai #1, Jalan Bellamy,

Off Jalan Istana,

50460 Kuala Lumpur.

Mobile: 017-8811105 (Haji Jaafar Kalam)

Mobile: 013-2315749 (Azila Jaafar)

Gerai Seri Menanti is opposite the mosque in Jalan Bellamy (behind Istana Negara). It's down the road from, and on the same side of the road as Alice Smith International School.

Our rating system for overall satisfaction with what we eat and where we eat....
1-bam = don't even bother
2-bam = good enough to fill the tummy
3-bam = a very good restaurant in its category
4-bam = excellent cooking, worth a detour
5-bam = exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

We would give this restaurant a 3-bam rating.