Beratur and that previous edition of Line Clear (and currently, Deen Maju) blew me away, and I knew nothing in KL would ever be able to match up to those imperious heights. And I was right, for the most part. Until Nasi Lemak Ong came to Pavilion (Elite). First of all, yes - it's called Nasi Lemak Ong but it's actually a pork-free nasi kandar from Alor Star with no coconut milk in the curries. Sounds a bit suspect, sure, but at the time of tasting, it's also easily the best nasi kandar in KL and can stand up against a lot of joints in Penang soooooo

Get a mixed sambal/curry over the rice. It packs a real spicy punch for a mall outlet though, so ask for that to be toned down if you prefer a less fiery plate. As for everything else...pretty much everything we tried ranged from good to great. The black beef curry was thick and heavy without being too sweet, the petai and bamboo shoots were fresh and crisp, the mutton curry was glorious (but the mutton itself was a bit tough), and the giant prawn was a delight. Tender, sweet and plump. Honey chicken? Good too. Perfectly juicy chicken inside, coated with a honey jacket that wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. Rich, spicy and bright sambal at the side too.

There were a couple of mediocre picks too though, namely the duck curry (tough duck), not-giant prawn (the curry wasn't great and the prawn was middling), and the squid curry (meh squid). But then again there was the fish head curry: layered, heavy and heady. And we sopped it up with some fantastic black roti canai: crispy outside, resistive and pillowy inside.

Those of you who work around the Pavilion area are pretty lucky. Nasi Lemak Ong offers up some great lunch set deals (RM15!). And yeah, best nasi kandar in KL so far, and we can only hope that they consistently keep that quality at the same level because goddamn it was good. Nasi kandar for dinner, and hokkien mee this morning for breakfast, it's almost like I'm back in Penang and not headed in to the office for another endless headless-drone day

#nasilemakong #burpplekl #burpple #nasikandar