PETALING JAYA, Sept 22 — Cancel your trip to Penang for Nyonya food and re-route your Waze to PJ Section 13, where Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine has landed all the way from George Town.
Dragon Tan and his wife, Ivy Chan, are the faces behind this 18-year-old eatery that honours Tan’s family recipes which has earned them a place on the Michelin Bib Gourmand list for good quality and good value cooking.
Together with Heritage International School Chairman Tan Seng Kee, whom they befriended over a meal at their restaurant, the trio opened this outlet inside the school this August.
Also sharing the same compound is Petaling Jaya Evangelical Free Church (PJEFC).
It’s the perfect arrangement as the space is firstly a canteen for the students and the restaurant takes over on weekday nights, weekends and public holidays, when school is not in session,
The seating is a limited number of marble tables or for bigger groups, they can sit at the long tables.
Nyonya food is one of the trickiest to handle as it tends to be put under the microscope by many, as most often one hears the phrase, “it’s not like how we eat in my family”.
As each family has their own recipes that reflect their own culinary influences, an open mind (and stomach) is much needed to discover the variations, giving rise to dishes that don’t confine themselves to just one version.
Over two meals here, we sampled a large chunk of the menu, from à la carte choices to the special set meals, served family-style and sized accordingly to fit two people or more. The set meals start from RM90 for 2 persons and can be upsized up to 10 people for RM405.
The special set meal is curated to be enjoyed around the family table, where one gets to eat a group of dishes offering chicken, fish, soup, vegetables and ending with desserts.
Start off with a comforting bowl of Hoo Peow Thng or clear chicken soup with a hint of ginger, served with goodies like fish maw, fish ball, cabbage and handmade chicken meatballs.
As everything is to be paired with rice, the Gulai Tumis Assam, lends a spicy, slightly sour note to the deboned seabass fish, while Kapitan Curry Chicken is creamy with lemongrass, turmeric and galangal backing it up.
Joo Hoo Ban Kuang Cha is heavily associated with Nyonya food where yam bean and carrots are meticulously cut into thin strands, which was once the way to test the worthiness of any Nyonya bride marrying into the family.
On its own, the flavour of the mixed vegetables is mild but once wrapped in the lettuce leaf and dabbed with the unusual green coloured sambal belacan, you won’t know the difference as that sambal kicks up the heat better than Spanish footballer Lamine Yamal.
Rounding up the communal meal, there’s special dishes like Otak-Otak or Sambal Hae Bee, which takes up more work in the kitchen.
It will be hard to select just one of these dishes as each one is unique in its way.
No wonder the Otak-Otak (RM24) wrapped in a banana leaf parcel was lurking on almost every table as the orange “mousse” of coconut milk, spices and herbs with a piece of boneless fish was fluffy and moist, combining well with rice. .
Sambal Hae Bee (RM24) isn’t your typical Nyonya dish you find in every restaurant as it takes a lot of work over a hot wok, stir frying the mixture of chilli paste and finely ground dried prawns continuously until it’s fragrant and dry.
Here it’s served with rice but traditionally people love eating it with bread to make a sandwich. There’s also another version with petai.
To finish, there’s only two choices, Bee Koh Moi (Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Milk) or Ang Tau Thng (Red Bean Soup).
The consistency of the Beh Koh Moi was perfect with a velvety thickness but not gloopy and the soft, cooked grains mingling with the sweet longans.
A drizzle of thick coconut cream on top completed the trinity of sweet, salty and creamy.
Depending on your tastebuds, ask for more salt to sprinkle over the dessert if you prefer a more distinct saltiness on your tongue.
With the Red Bean Soup, it’s a homey version where red beans remain whole yet soft to the bite with more liquid.
Diving deeper into their repertoire of dishes, Hard Tail Mackerel Stuffed with Homemade Paste (RM22 per fish) will have you relishing every bit of the fish down to its fine bones with the chilli paste.
Lobak (RM20 for small) was superb — crispy edges and tender meat — flavoured with the distinct five-spice powder from Penang. More please!
I’m a lifetime member of Team Fried Chicken so whenever I see it on the menu I have to order it.
That’s how we ended up ordering Inche Kabin (RM38 for small) even though we already had another chicken dish and each piece was fried to a crunchy texture and the spices used aren’t overpowering.
A homey dish often left out of restaurant menus as it’s “too simple”, the Tau Eu Kay Bak or soy sauce chicken (RM33 for small) is reminiscent of the good old days with its dark coloured sauce drenching the rice and the pull-apart chicken pieces.
Penangites will be happy to find this version of Kangkung Sambal (RM24 for small portions) here, as the vegetables are cooked a la Penang, with a wetter sauce using belacan and chillies.
Sambal Udang (RM72 for small) is the type of dish that calls for extra rice to scoop up the semi-dry sambal made with chillies and dried shrimps, served with deshelled prawns.
Two dishes, namely the Nyonya Acar Fish (RM25 for small) and Telur Belanda (RM25 for five fried eggs) are cooked to the family’s heirloom recipes.
Typically, a lightly pickled fish in oil-vinegar flavoured with turmeric, ginger, garlic and chillies, this version of Nyonya Acar Fish (RM25 for small) is less pungent nor oily, resembling more like a turmeric sauce paired with the fish.
With the egg dish, typically it’s fried eggs served with tamarind sauce but here, it comes in a clear liquid that is mildly tangy and served with sliced onions and chillies.
Ivy’s Nyonya Cuisine Petaling Jaya
3, Jalan 13/6,
Section 13, Petaling Jaya
Tel: 018-2186308
Open: 11.30am to 3pm (Saturday, Sunday and public holidays) 5.30pm to 9.30pm (Tuesday to Sunday)
Closed on Monday
Facebook: @ivysnyonyapj
Instagram: @ivysnyonya.pj
* This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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