MUTTON CURRY BRIYANI ROADTRIP ON A WEEKEND

19TH NOVEMBER 2021 ~ This was the trip that had been planned much earlier with the male colleagues [of SMK Dato' Jaafar] which was finally carried out on one sunny Friday morning. We had to gather at Petronas kiosk at 8:00 a.m. as participants came from different parts of the city to start the journey to Yong Peng for the first leg of the trip. As usual, there would be latecomers so a group photo at the beginning of the journey was not possible. 😁

We used to go for the regular gastronomic adventure within the city limit and this should be the furthest group outing we had so far - crossing the district border.

We arrived at "Restoran Kari Kambing 40 Hari" in about 45 minutes and there was already a huge crowd sitting in the dining area. Fortunately we managed to get a place, sitting on the wooden floor and was about to enjoy our food the traditional way.

And we travelled all the way from Johor Bahru just for this : Mutton Curry Briyani at the well known restaurant for breakfast at about 9:00 a.m.

Mr. Mohd. Salleh Sairan, an ex-Jaafarian, who is now back in his hometown in Batu Pahat, was also there to meet us, his old friends. Altogether there were 13 people conquering one spot of the restaurant, sitting cross-legged, sharing their Briyani in 4 huge trays.

The food was good but sharing the Briyani with friends, eating while chatting, had made it tasted much better.

There was still a long queue at the entrance point of the restaurant so we had to give way to other people. We were now ready to get to our second checkpoint but two members had to go back home earlier.

TO BE CONTINUED...

MY ROAD TRIP GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE - BREAKFAST AT KARI KAMBING 40 HARI

23rd AUGUST 2020 ~ The first pit stop for the road trip was Kari Kambing 40 Hari Restaurant [translate: 40 Days' Mutton Curry]. I was here twice before for its famous Briyani Rice but this time we wanted to get the Roti Canai [flat bread/paratha] eaten with the Mutton Briyani.

extra parking spaces up the hill

It was a Saturday morning on a school break weekend so we had anticipated for the crowd. We arrived right on time as the queue to get into the restaurant grew longer once we secured our seats inside. And it was only 8:30 a.m. 

the arrival of the food

The thick gravy of the Briyani Mutton and the Roti Canai were the perfect combination. However, I found the gravy was a bit too sweet, wonder if it was meant to be that way. 

glorious, glorious food

People came here just to enjoy the food and we had to cut the conversation short as there were still many waiting for empty seats outside.

You could already order the Briyani Rice in the morning as we saw people were eating that at this early hour of the day. Briyani Rice to me would be a meal too heavy for breakfast.

I will have to get back to this place just for breakfast one of these days.

OF MEETINGS AND 40-DAY MUTTON CURRY

Finally, I managed to set foot into this famous restaurant: Kari Kambing 40 Hari [translate: 40-day mutton curry]. It is located at Yong Peng, Batu Pahat and I was having a meeting at a school nearby. A few friends decided to skip lunch provided after the meeting and came here instead. Luckily there were not many people so we did not have to queue for seats.

Here, people could also choose the rice to be served in trays and they could even sit on the floor while enjoying the food - the traditional way.

MY VERDICT: The rice was super light and soft and the mutton was very tender and very delicious. But that mutton did not have any curry taste at all so that could not be mutton curry. It was "nasi arab" [translate: Arab Rice?] with mutton briyani,I think. Or perhaps I did not actually order the mutton curry but decided to have the same food my other friends were eating. However, the food was DELICIOUS and I would highly recommend this place. Do not come on weekends unless you want to wait in queue for your food.

Anyway, I find the reviews written by some people in Tripadvisor were not justified. I think those people were either too fussy or having very high expectation.

I must say everybody went back home with a happy tummy. I am already thinking of making a comeback for its "roti canai".

I sound more excited of the gastronomic discovery rather than the meeting, so here is the report in brief:

The meeting was held at SMK Dato Seth, Yong Peng, Batu Pahat. Believe it or not, this was our seventh meeting and we got tired of them already. People did not take many photos anymore. And there is one more coming on Thursday.

This time I met an old friend from 4th College UPM who used to be my senior, Mr. Kamaruzali Warman. He is now holding the post of the Senior Assistant of that school. Too bad we cannot sit too long to chit chat but I really hope to be able to meet him again some other time. I just cannot believe the fact that I am so much bigger than him now. *sigh*