Tamu by Santai @ KL Gateway Mall
Looking for places to chill and relax after work? Tamu by Santai offers authentic local Malay food with hints of Thai influences. The interior of the restaurant certainly gives off a warm and a relaxing vibe as you enter the establishment.
Iffah, who is the restaurant manager, greeted us with a huge smile on her face, welcoming us into her home. She runs this outlet with her family and it looked like everything was in cruise control.
We started off with these refreshing coolers. From left, Lemongrass Lychee, Tamu Madness and Fizzy Bandung (RM12.90 each)
And now, down to some of the bites.
Here's a good bowl of Laksa Johor (RM14.90). This was one of our favourite dishes and all the ingredients were fresh accompanied with a punchy homemade sambal on the side.
We moved on to the first rice dish of the night, Nasi Ambeng (RM19.90) The chicken is prepared with a soy sauce base accompanied by salted fish, serunding, with a side vegetables consisted of tempeh, tofu and long beans. This fragrant rice dish was stunning, keeping to the original flavours of each ingredient.
The Nasi Tomato (RM18.90) also known as tomato rice came with ayam masak merah, a side of fresh pineapples, cucumbers and dhal on the side. This dhal which was made out of lentils was simmered down with eggplant and long beans. In fact, it is not your usual dhal you get at Indian restaurants as it has a soup like consistency that had us going back for more. The flavours were certainly intriguing.
Moving on to a classic thai dish. The Chicken Mango (RM16.90 standard, RM 23.90 large) was very punchy and the spicy flavours of the dish was present. However, we have tried a better rendition of this chicken mango.
Then, we tried the Daging daun lima (RM18.90 standard, RM25.90 large). The beef was unfortunately overcooked and quite hard to chew. The sauce however was amazing. Hopefully, the kitchen would improve on this in the future.
Last but not least, we devoured the Prawn Buttermilk (RM20.90 standard, RM 25.90 large). The prawns were very fresh and we could taste condensed sweetened milk as part of the core ingredient. I thought this was too much on the sweet side for my liking.
Growing up on authentic malay cooking, the rice dishes was the highlight of our night. The balance of flavours were present here at Tamu by Santai, but this new establishment will need to pay more attention to the Thai aspect of the menu.
Overall, I think that it's a great place best if you want to catch up with workmates and family over some good home cooked food.
Tamu by Santai
KL Gateway Mall,
Lot LG 1.09, Piazza Area,
No 2 Jalan Kerinchi,
Gerbang Kerinchi Lestari,
Kampung Kerinchi,
59200 Kuala Lumpur.
Opening Hours:
Daily 10am- 9:45pm