Fancy a weekend dinner here? Make sure you’re either early before everyone else, or you come after everyone has left. Grub by Ahong & Friends has attracted a lot of attention recently, and rightfully so.

The place, located among the houses of Seksyen 17, Petaling Jaya is nothing fancy. A simple, open space kitchen with 2 floors and minimal interior design. Everything is self-service : from cutlery to water to payment. Don’t expect first class service here. Wooden tables, plastic IKEA chairs, grey walls, and a cashier counter that does’t look like a cashier counter, the place has stripped everything so that it can cut costs to save you money, and they’re not afraid to make it known.

Food wise, Grub (honestly, that name is far too long) serves food that is well done for its price. For RM 39, I got a nicely done rare flank steak (300 g). The Bf and brother got a rib eye each (RM 59, 300 g), nicely medium rare and the momsies got a nicely done medium rare new york strip (RM 39, 300g). All the meats were nicely seasoned and came with jambu ulam (salad) and a little what I’m guessing to be starfruit purée . The purée is there for a reason, as 300g of meat can make even steak fans feel “jelak”. The purée nicely cuts through that and gives a nice dose of acidity to the palate.

The fries however, are not the best. Some were rock hard I swear at that moment, I heard my tooth crack (ok fine, almost crack). The lemon tart (RM 11), is what it is.

All in all, if you’re looking for steak and only steak, this is the place to be. If you’re looking for the ambience of a fine dining bling bling eatery, you better take your money (a lot of it) somewhere else.