Macha & Co Banana Leaf Restaurant is one of the emerging players in the highly popular banana leaf rice competition. I didn’t notice its presence, when it first opened in Kota Damansara. It was through a friend (whom I always hang out with at Kanna Curry House) who texts me, said that its business is so brisk that it’s frequently full. The rest of my story was …. we had a dinner gathering again, in Macha & Co Banana Leaf, of course.
Macha & Co is an air-conditioned space, very much separated from the wet kitchen, with an ambiance that rivals a cafe. We didn’t get the pesky cooking smell on us. This is huge for me, as I remember how much body mist I had to sprayed on, whenever we got back from lunch at other banana leaf restaurants.
Although, I hope they will just rip off those yellowish lights from the ceiling. It was super warm sitting under them, and it’s bad news for photography.
The Basic Banana Leaf Set Meal was priced at RM8.90, with the usual suspects – rice and three scoops of vegetables of our choice. For rice, choose either white rice and brown rice, at the same pricing. There was an option to choose only the rice/brown rice at RM2.00.
Among the vegetable choices, I will recommend the deep-fried bitter gourds. Instead of being crispy-dry through and through, they were crispy on the skin, while the rest were moist and chewy.
As someone who loves to eat tengiri fish, I found Macha & Co’s Deep Fried Tengiri Slice (RM8.50) fresh and not overly-fried, leaving the meat still succulent. It could still do with more marinade and spices, because I like a stronger taste for my food.
Chicken 65 was a cool name for fried chicken (RM6.50) chunks, that turned out not bad. My favorite meat/seafood for the day was Fried Calamari (RM11.00) – flavorsome, full of crisps and came in a decent portion.
When we looked at the menu earlier, I was surprised that the beverages were priced rather cheap. Under the recommendation of its staff, I ordered a hot Bru Coffee, which uses fresh milk. Our assumptions on the ‘cheap’ beverages were explained, when our drinks arrived in stainless steel cups, smaller than the usual glass mug.
Unfortunately, my Bru Coffee was a disappointment. It was too sweet, too much sugar that it defeated the purpose of using fresh milk in the first place. I might have been better off with normal coffee paired with sweetened condensed milk.
Overall, the food was good and less salty compared to some of the banana leaf rice. It certainly marked as a good place for a quick meal. We had a good gathering, and chattered over our impending trips, although I couldn’t help but guiltily glanced over the queue that was waiting for us to get off our seats.