KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — On a quick return trip to KL to sort out some personal stuff, my ex-colleague and a friend thought it would be a cool idea to visit Auntie Aini’s place in Nilai.

I have seen an episode on British TV about how this lady dissed Gordon Ramsay so it sounded like an offer too good to pass up. As I know only Malay food in KL, we rounded up a Malay friend who’s also an accomplished cook and we all set off southwards in Mr Chew’s car.

The trip from Sentral took about 45 minutes, whizzing down a highway before wandering through some kampung roads. Finally, a somewhat discordant and rather bright fluorescent sign was sighted with the name of the restaurant, proclaiming to serve both Malay and Western cuisines.

Undeterred, we parked and marched in, itching to taste the rendang dish that had prickled the interests of both Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain. Along the way, we were explained that Malay food in Negri Sembilan has different characteristics from the usual KL Malay food — and that also spurred our curiosity.

The menu had both Malay and Western sections, but we paid attention only to the former. From the menu, we ordered half a dozen dishes, which were supposed to be a good representation of Negri Sembilan Malay food.

First on the list was the renowned beef rendang, sambal tumis petai udang (prawn and petai curry), gulai lemak cili padi telur itik (duck egg curry), asam pedas ikan jenahak (sea snapper sour curry), gulai lemak cili padi daging salai (smoked beef jerky in coconut milk curry) and sup ekor (oxtail soup).

The rustic kampung house-style restaurant makes you think what you are about to eat has to be the real deal (left). The biggest disappointment was the rendang.... it did not wow us (right).

We had also ordered a kerabu with pucuk paku (salad made with a local wild hillside fern), but that dish never turned up.

After a wait, the dishes duly arrived and we tucked into the curries, which were complemented by plates of simple white rice. Having had quite a few decent Malay meals, I can recognise the components of good curries and pretty soon, I think I can safely say that we all came around to much the same conclusion.

Although the herbs and spices tasted fresh and clean at Auntie Aini’s, most of the dishes lacked the depth and zing that we were so fervently expecting.

For one, there was very little turmeric in the curries, which is what we were told to expect from curries from this region. The curries were also a little runny — they still tasted good but lack a little density of flavour apart from the clean sourness of tamarind, the bite of the birds’ eye chillies and the regular creaminess of coconut milk.

The best dish for me was probably the simplest — the duck egg in coconut curry. An eggy texture and flavour contrasted against the coconut and chilly curry quite well.

The daging salai is a smoked and dried Malay version of beef jerky, and it was really interesting in a coconut curry but it took me a little while to appreciate this dish — so it is something I will have to try again another time.

The ambience at Auntie Aini's is quite charming... especially the alfresco dining.

The sea snapper was, if I am honest, nothing too spectacular but still pretty well cooked. The prawns themselves were pretty good though the young petai (stink beans) accompaniment was a little discordant as they were very green and bitter with an unusual crunchiness like roasted peanuts — perhaps the flavours conflicted a little too much, or maybe I need to have another go at this dish too as I am more familiar with petai that is softer.

The ox tail soup was reasonably delicious — herbal and simple, with the fat and meat falling off the bones.

The slight misadventure of the evening for me was the somewhat dry-tasting beef rendang. I cannot believe that this is the same version served to Ramsay and Bourdain.

I have had rendang in several other places, which would quite easily surpass the dish served, in terms of flavour, texture, aroma and spiciness. However, it is feasible that this was an off night so I will not harp on about this.

The atmosphere of the place is of a tropical forest garden. There is an alfresco section though some of the tables are arranged in secluded sections with group privacy in mind — and there are water features and plants everywhere, which exude the green calm of a lovely tropical evening.

Service was tolerable, especially as it seemed to be quite a busy evening. Oddly, many of the Malay diners eating around us seem to be enjoying the Western menu — perhaps they are so familiar with the local food that they want a change.

The dating salai curry was not a game changer.

One of my friends mentioned — I thought rather aptly — that the food tasted like dishes cooked by someone’s auntie rather than a restaurant that had allegedly wow-ed a couple of the world’s top chefs.

I cannot explain the chasmal dichotomy so I will try to come again another evening and see if it was an off night. As it stands, our dinner merely hinted at the great dishes that should have been — instead, on the night, much of the dinner seemed a touch too generic and expedient.

However, if one is new to Malaysia and Malay food in particular, then this rustic, unusual place is really worth a visit for an introduction and also for the genuine and rather pleasant tropical ambience.

Aunty Aini’s Garden Cafe Batu 16, Jalan Sepang, Kampung Chelet, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Tel: (06) 799 1276

GPS: N 02” 97. 853’ E 101” 46. 322’

Business Hours: Mondays – Saturdays: 11.30am – 3.30pm; 5.30pm – 11.30pm. Closed on Sundays.