45: Village Park Restaurant

Village Park Restaurant: Quality Local Fare

I’ve been coming here for quite some time now, but who knew this restaurant was open 5 years ago? What started as a hobby became a business, as I was told by the owner, Mohd. Shamil.
To add to its hat, I was told that Village Park has appeared in magazines in Singapore and Hong Kong, voted “Best Nasi Lemak” by The Star newspaper. Did I mention that the man gets up at about 4 every morning to oversee all preparation to beat the breakfast crowd? Kudos to that.

Speaking of the breakfast crowd, Village Park Restaurant is perpetually packed until lunchtime, a good sign for business. Their main clientele are office workers from all around the area, looking for a bite to eat before work and also the families, looking for a hearty breakfast. Be sure to come here early as parking is an issue.

Village Park Restaurant serves tantalizing halal local cuisine, emphasizing the best quality foodstuff and service over everything else. Their food is kept in a glass display with warmers, so freshness is assured.

This eatery sports a blend of modern and classic design, with ceiling fans and woody pillars, but
in the midst of all that, there’s also a touch of modern white ceiling lamps.
Village Park’s menu boasts a wide variety of local cuisine, from nasi lemak to nasi dagang, from soto to mee rebus and lontong. Let’s not forget the drinks! They have your usual coffee and tea, also, white coffee, bandung, buah kedongdong juice and the one drink that seems to be gaining popularity everywhere; Milo Dinosaur.

From that wide array of food and drink, some worth mentioning (which also happen to be the best sellers) are the nasi lemak (with your choice of chicken rendang, squid and beef, just to name a few), nasi dagang (authentic east coast specialty), white coffee and Milo Dinosaur.

On to the food! First up was the Nasi Dagang. This dish is made up of glutinous rice, ikan tonggol
(which is long tail tuna) and a side of acar.

I would say something, but my mouth is full of that lovely glutinous rice. Just kidding. On a more serious note, the texture in the glutinous rice is excellent, because it has a little bite to it. The curry is also well spiced (really authentic and comparable to the ones on the east coast, I must add) and goes well with the rice. The portion of the tuna is also humongous (you find smaller fish in the east coast) and firm, which is also good. The side of acar is also fresh and crunchy, which really whets the appetite. About now you must be wondering why I keep comparing the nasi dagang with the east coast. My reason being, the east coast is famous for its nasi dagang. If the nasi dagang here passes with flying colour, you definitely know it’s good.

Next up is the nasi lemak. This one is served with squid, a handful of peanuts and fried anchovies, sambal, half an egg and lots of cucumbers.

The dish itself is a pretty good portion. The squid (a lot of squid, I must add) has a nice texture to it (not over cooked or undercooked). The sambal is actually a little sweetish (which is Kelantanese style). This provides a nice balance between sweet and spicy. And did you notice that the colour of the sambal is in a deep red? This means that it has been well cooked (to perfection, eh?).

For drinks, we had an iced coffee and a Milo Dinosaur. If until this point, you’re still wondering what kind prehistoric monster is a “Milo” Dinosaur and why scientists have kept it a secret; it’s actually a big mug (or in some places, a tall glass) of Milo (that chocolaty drink with vitamins) topped with Milo powder.

As the name implies, the Milo Dinosaur is huge and filling; truly aimed at the hardcore Milo enthusiast. A little on the sweet side, but if the ice is allowed to melt for awhile, it should mellow down a little. The iced coffee on the other hand had an amazing merit. During breakfast, the glass of coffee was actually left alone, allowing a fair amount ice to dissolve. Normal coffees should be totally watered down at this point, but not the coffee at Village Park! It was still strong. Wow.

To sum up the review here is some information regarding Village Park Restaurant.

Village Park Restaurant
5, Jalan SS21/37, Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03 – 7710 7860
Opening Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Daily) & 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Sundays and Holidays)
Pork-Free

Village Park Restaurant has quality food that’ll keep me coming back time and time again. With an fair value for money (look at the portions, people) this place deserves a 4 out of 5.