KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Ever since my favourite Malay restaurant Baiti’s in Taman Tun Dr Ismail closed, I’ve been craving for some good Malay food. I’m so glad to have found one nearby, in Kampung Sungai Penchala. Go before 12pm for lunch, was the tip from a good food friend. We did and the place was already bustling with people though there were still a couple of empty tables.

The first thing we spotted was the ikan bakar, and my eyes lit up when I saw the ikan terubok. I haven’t had this fish in yonks and I love it. “Banyak tulang ya,” said the man at the grill. No matter. The more bony the fish, the sweeter the taste.

On the grill too was ikan kembong and ikan keli (catfish). We took the terubok (my friends hadn’t eaten it before), and the kembong. I thought they would be afraid of the bones, but it turned out they really liked this fish!

Both fish were served with a bowl of kicap manis with shallots and cili padi, and another of sambal with the shallots and cili padi. The fish before grilling has already been marinated with turmeric, serai and chilli, and just needs a light touch of any of these dips.

Your eyes really get bigger than your stomach in Sambal Hijau. On one side are rows of stainless steel containers with crab curry, chicken curry, beef rendang, masak lemak sotong, masak lemak ikan, sambal kerang, gulai urat lembu (beef tendon curry), prawn sambal, fried chicken and fried fish in sambal, kerabu pucuk paku, and many more. I couldn’t snap fast enough with my camera without someone being impatient behind me... waiting to get to the food.

The choice was simply mind-boggling. Every available space on the shelves and tables was piled with huge plates and dishes of food.

I was so happy to chance upon the beef tendon curry and an amused and generous customer let me take a picture of the gelatinous mass that looks like jellyfish on his plate. This is simply out of this world. The yellow lemak curry is scented with turmeric leaves and lengkuas and the tendon soaks in all these delicious flavours. A friend eating with us declined to try this, though I told her she would never need to see an orthopaedic surgeon if she had this regularly!

On our table, besides the two fish and beef tendon curry, were prawn sambal, two large pieces of fried chicken, kerabu paku, eggplant and bittergourd fried with ikan bilis and sambal, and beef rendang. The prawns in the slightly sweet sambal with lots of onions were of a decent size and fresh.

I enjoyed the well-seasoned fried chicken which had fine, crispy rice flour threads clinging to them. One bite of the beef rendang and you know that all the requisite aromatic herbs have been used in the slow cooking of the meat.

The pucuk paku and beansprouts tossed in coconut milk, grated coconut and sambal tasted so good. The grilled eggplant and bittergourd were an unusual combination, with fried ikan bilis and sambal with them. I liked it that the bittergourd was still crunchy, not overcooked, and the eggplant was so creamy and smooth.

In our excitement, we forgot the famous sambal hijau made with green chillies, minang style (it is also the name of the restaurant). But we will be back to try more of the other dishes.

 What we had was ample for the three of us. And the bill, plus drinks, came to only RM43! The terubok and the kembong cost us just RM8 each.

Sambal Hijau has been around for six years and is obviously a popular restaurant. To my surprise, it’s open from 6.30am right up to 2am daily. In the morning you can have a breakfast of roti canai and nasi lemak there.

The restaurant is in Kampung Sungai Penchala. If you are coming down Jalan Datuk Sulaiman in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, go straight across the traffic light at the last junction, and take an immediate left on seeing the yellow mosque. Sambal Hijau is just next to it.