4am legendary nasi lemak attracts snaking queues & sells out by 6am

“You’re going to queue at 4am for nasi lemak?” responded my group of pals in unison after I nonchalantly knowledgeable them of my breakfast plans to Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri. I shrugged whereas I watched them shake their heads in disbelief. 

For these of you who’ve by no means heard of Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri, this legendary nasi lemak stall in Cheras has been round for greater than 25 years, doling out fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk with numerous aspect dishes. 

Helmed by 57-year-old Rahmah Bujai, her nasi lemak is so common that the stall solely operates for 2 hours day by day, opening at 4am and promoting out by 6am. Or typically as early as 5.30am. Is this the hottest-selling nasi lemak on the town? And was it value sacrificing my sleep for? I used to be about to seek out out. 

What I attempted at Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri

Nothing may have ready me for the unusual sight at Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri. At 3am on a Friday, there have been about 30 hungry clients sitting (then standing) on the pavements alongside the 7-Eleven subsequent door. But there was no nasi lemak stall in sight. 

“The stall only opens at 4am. But people queue as early as midnight. Have a seat meanwhile,” smiled a buyer sitting towards the wall, taking a look at my quizzical face. He was certainly an everyday buyer.

I smiled in response and took my seat subsequent to him, realizing full properly that my again wouldn’t take kindly to the chilly, arduous wall. By 4am, the queue had amassed over a 100 hungry clients. I couldn’t imagine my eyes— simply how good is that this nasi lemak?  

A pink Wira drives by and everybody rapidly jumps up— this could solely imply one factor: the nasi lemak proprietors are right here. Within minutes, the odor of freshly-cooked sambal fills the air.

There’s a smorgasbord of mouth-watering aspect dishes to go along with your nasi lemak: Sambal Sotong, Ayam Masak Merah, Chicken Rendang, Beef Rendang, Sambal Kerang, Fried Egg, Fried Chicken, Paru Goreng and Bee Hoon (if you happen to don’t really feel like inhaling rice at 4am). 

My go-to nasi lemak order is at all times with a aspect of fried hen and sambal kerang however I couldn’t resist switching it up for the hen rendang which seemed heavenly. To that, I added the paru goreng (lots of the clients had advisable it) and the sambal kerang as a result of I completely love cockles. 

Firstly, I used to be impressed by the portion of rice and dimension of the hen thigh— the auntie positively doesn’t stinge on substances. So I used to be actually surprised when the value totalled to simply RM12, which for KL requirements is absolutely inexpensive. I rapidly understood why this little nasi lemak stall had such an enormous loyal following. 

There isn’t any eating in at Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri so I received into my automotive and sped dwelling, my abdomen growling. I wasted no time and unwrapped the valuable contents and truthfully, there’s nothing higher than the odor of nasi lemak at 5am. The rice was fluffy and wealthy with aromatics like pandan, lemongrass and ginger. 

I used to be happy that the sambal was extra savoury than candy. However, I’d have beloved for the sambal to have been spicier. Now for the hen rendang— it was extremely tender and flavourful. The gravy was wealthy with coconut milk and there was a definite style of lemongrass. 

Next was the sambal kerang (cockles) which I’m unhappy to say had left me barely disenchanted. However, I imagine this was as a result of dimension of the cockles which have been moderately tiny so it didn’t have that ordinary scrumptious earthy chunk. 

But then once more for RM12, how can I argue about such minor particulars, proper. I didn’t benefit from the paru (lungs), which I discovered to be moderately powerful and chewy. 

That apart, the fluffy rice doused in fragrant spicy sambal and crunchy anchovies and hen rendang was merely irresistible. 

Final ideas

Heed the following tips if you’d like a profitable nasi lemak journey:

1. Always double and triple verify Nasi Lemak Beratur Maluri’s Facebook web page for updates on their opening/closing days. I learnt this the arduous approach after visiting the stall, solely to find that it was shut. 
2. The optimum time to reach is round 3am. Sure, you’ll have to look forward to an hour however you’ll get aspect dishes of your selection with out concern of them operating out. 
3. Each buyer is just allowed a most of three packets of nasi lemak. This is to make sure that these queuing will get a style of the nasi lemak. 

Now, for crucial query: Was it value queuing for at 3am? For the enjoyable of it, sure. Bring a few pals and it’s a real Malaysian foodie expertise. It wasn’t tremendous superb however one factor’s for certain, you’ll get your cash’s value. 

Expected harm: RM5 – RM15 per pax 

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