From The Tally Book - 10 Ringgit Challenge

So here's the deal... I feel my choice in dining establishments has potentially been misrepresented... that with the 'hawker food' tag comes the mystery that you aren't really sure whether the 'beef' is actually beef or that stray dog from down the road that you don't see around anymore.

I want to change that image. Welcome to the 10RM challenge. The rules are simply - I leave the office with a 10 ringgit note in the pocket and see exactly what culinary delights I can get for my lunch.

Now to put in perspective 10RM is equal to about $3 Aussie and change. Really not a lot. In Perth that might get you the following:

• A really bad coffee
• A cheese burger
• Three Ikea hotdogs (6 on Saturdays - nearly unbeatable value)
• A vegemite scroll for the baked section in Woolies
• A discounted servo pie that has been sitting in the warmer for the better part of a 12hr shift

You get the drift.

Compare this to what I found

Day 1

Location: NZ Cafe

This is what is available 2 minutes walk from the desk. One of the cleaner 'hawker' spots you will find. Comes with all the perks. A roof, a concrete floors, void of stray cats AND the water mist style fan to keep you cool. What more could you ask for!

 

It is wonderful to get away from the towers - you can become a bit 'mallified'. So I went for some fresh air and exercise. It is a  bustling place (ok so this describes most local lunch spots in asia) with either a menu selection or buffet. I went with something off the menu option - a safer bet at the start of the week, a tried and tested (all be it not here) Tandoori chicken and with a side of naan. As a surprise bonus you get a side of season vegetables, dahl, and a green dipping sauce for the chicken.

 This was simply delightful!

Total spend - 9.50RM (~$2.95AUD)

Day 2

Location: Restoran Zhing Kong.

I had to do it. I was in Chinatown. 

On a trip to the post office I was heading back to the towers when from my vantage point that was the elevated train platform i saw this corner store... 

There was one thought - I only live once.

Besides food would have to be cheap and Chinese places like these hard to find around the towers.

I will confessed - there was doubt. Places which house a family of rats in the alley next to the kitchen are a little risky, particularly so early in the week!

Choices range from beef noodle (soup), chicken rice, various curry's and of course dim sum. Now at this point I will add that for a whitey in a place like this ordering a meal is a little confusing. Although it looks like a singular 'restaurant', in reality it is a collection of street vendors with their own carts, tills and menus... I clicked on to this fact after sitting at a table for the better part of 5 minutes waiting for the non-existent waiter with the laminated piece of A4 paper which I can't actually read or understand anyway.

I went the noodle. Sounded good. Tasted ok. Broth - fantastic! However I chose to avoid the testicle looking balls which they came with (lesson from Thailand)

Also had a pork dim sum. I rate them. Used to be a brekky regular when I had access to the hotel buffet. Plus I am in a Muslim state so I figure get pork where and when I can.

All up - soup: 5.50 and dim sum: 1.50 for a grand total of 7RM (~$2.15AUD)

Day 3

Location: Little Wok

Not all cheap food locations are in 'exotic, off the beaten track' locations in an open air environment made complete by their very own set of pet cats.

No you can find cheap and cheerful right in the heart of one of KL's main attractions - the mall.

Most likely here to feed the people working in the stores rather then the people visiting them (and spending a fortune).

These places seem much cleaner, are air conditioned BUT I must warn you - they are certainly NOT for the faint hearted! This place gets crazy at lunch. So busy you end up sharing a small 4 seat table with 3 other randoms. Its about as awkward as it sounds. Particularly if you are white, don't speak any of the local dialect and gatecrash what was likely a couple on their first date.

I have learnt my lesson and now eat at 2pm, reducing the random count to 1.

Food - Exceptional. I generally only eat at Little Wok. Simply cause the menu is massive, portions more then substantial and I haven't picked a bad dish yet.

My buy - Szechuan fried rice

Total spend - 6.90RM (~$2.15AUD)

Ps you will note my choice of two chili add-ins. Delicious but a mistake. Recommend keeping it to 1.

Day 4

Location: The Office

Ok so I will confess. I took a little side step in my challenge… BUT I didn’t break the only rule.

Now for those who know me at all I find it very hard to give up a free meal. So when a few plates of sandwiches, croissants, muffins and token fruit gets dropped literally outside my office door I am hardly going to say no…. for the sake of the challenge I was tempted. 

But free is certainly less then 10RM… PLUS it gave me the opportunity to highlight one of the many facets of my new job that I love. A free lunch is never far away. Be it vendors, bosses, a lunch time meeting... food gets piled on. It is actually getting a little out of hand. 

It started off with egg and 'bacon' (turkey not pig - Muslim country) croissants with donuts on a Wednesday mid-morning. Then egg and sausage muffins where added in on Thursdays. Those muffins were quickly upgraded to more baked delights and starbucks. Now my boss and I are scheming to see if we can get each of our vendors to bring in something to cover every day of the week. Haven't got there yet but last Friday (on the same desk as the food above) there suddenly appeared chocolate, chips, and about four containers with various varieties of nut mixes. 

So now I have a new hobby to keep me entertained... watching the waning self-control self-control of the 50+yo plus engineers.

Total spend - 0RM (~$0AUD)

Day 5 

Location: Side of the road.

My failure to eat anything Malaysian was the primary driver behind today's choice. 

I will confess, i tend to steer clear of Malaysia cuisine for a couple of reasons: the seemingly high popularity of fish and the fact that local hawker places don't really cater well for an ignorant whitey as there is a distinct lack of English on the menu. 

It's a combination that has the potential to go terribly wrong. 

The secondary driver was that I had yet to go street side... Literally...

You know the whole "fold out table with make shift shade and home made goods in open plastic containers which are at just the right temperature that you can also see the bacteria having their daily bath" thing...

I knew this meal was going to be something special.

Selections included:

• Something in a snail type shell
• Wilted (aka stirred fried) vegetables
• What appeared to be chicken (or at least some undefinable section of it) in various coloured sauces,
• And of course whole fish, head to tail with sections of the middle missing

So I got rice (figured I couldn't go wrong there). Chicken rendang (have tried before), spicy chicken (the extent of explanation given to me) and a potato paddy with who knows what else in... (Didn't have a choice with the last one - it was the last one in its container and it was thrust upon my rice... probably an end of day special).

 

Verdict - it was good. Chicken was a little tough and if you can get your mind past the flies going from dish to dish it was a tasty meal.

Next time I might just try the fish.... pending how I fair tomorrow!

Total spend - 7RM (~$2.15AUD) and i am fairly sure that I got stung with a considerable  a white man tax!

ok thats it.... see you-lah