Restoran Kapitan’s Famous Naan and Tandoori @ Lebuh Chulia

Seems like quite many people were interested in the Chicken Tandoori photo I put up in my last update. So, I am gonna blog about it first ahead of the rest. Well, to be honest I myself can’t wait to write this post because it is the nicest food I had in my entire Chinese New Year holidays. Kapitan’s [tag]Restaurant[/tag] located at [tag]Chulia Street[/tag] (Lebuh Chulia) is said to serve the best Naan bread and Biryani in town, recommended to me by an Indian friend.

The restaurant is usually full when near to dinner time from 5 to 6 pm onwards. If you’re dining during the peak hours, you may have to wait up to an hour for your food to arrive. The menu is quite extensive offering conventional Indian foods like roti canai, [tag]naan[/tag], biryani, curries, nasi kandar and some Western fares like chicken chop as well. I ordered a teh ais @ RM1.20, which was quite different because of the tea leaves used – nice, aromatic and most importantly not too sweet.

I went for my friend’s recommendation straight and ordered a Cheese naan and Chicken Tandoori set @ RM8.

The lovely, brilliant red color of the Chicken Tandoori indicated it was freshly roasted from the clay oven. Taste wise it was great, definitely one of the best I’ve had so far. Those sold in normal mamak stalls or franchised nasi kandar shops simply couldn’t compare to this, for Kapitan’s Chicken [tag]Tandoori[/tag] is totally in a different league. One thing I noticed distinctively different on the Cheese Naan is the shape. It looked more like an oval than round. I don’t know about you but most naans I had are round-shaped lol.
Cheese Naan was heavenly especially on the thin, crispy parts where the cheese are located. The oily surface of the naan also gave an appetizing shine, I wonder if you could see it. So imagine eating crispy cheese bread, only ten times more satisfying lol. So tasty you can even eat it on its own.

Some sliced shallots are given as a side dish (listed as salad in the menu) with two types of dipping sauces – dhaal and mint sauce. If you noticed, the mint sauce served here is quite special. It is not that refined and some brownish sweet sauce is added to it. According to my Indian friend, the mint sauce is prepared according to traditional Indian recipe and even locals from India enjoyed it a lot. I myself preferred to dip my naan and Tandoori sandwich into the dhaal.

I haven’t tried the nasi kandar yet but looking at the prices on the menu, it seems rather reasonable. The most expensive item is curry mutton @ RM3.50, pretty standard pricing for nasi kandar if you ask me.

The restaurant has just undergone a minor renovation with the old purple-blueish signboard replaced with a catchy red maroon color. The superb naan and Tandoori alone are enough reasons for you to visit Kapitan’s restaurant. And I believe a lot of people and even many Penangites haven’t given this restaurant a try yet. Why wait? Personally, it has set a new benchmark for me on naan and Tandoori. From now on, all comparisons on naan and Tandoori are going to based on Kapitan’s standards.

Restoran Kapitan’s
93, Lebuh Chulia, Penang

With Masjid Kapitan Keling on your left along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, there’s a traffic light in front of you. There, you would also see Eu Yan Sang diagonally opposite you. Take a right turn and slow down. You will see Restoran Kapitan’s on your right located at the corner lot of shops. Refer Wikimapia for better illustration. If you feel traveling to town is too far, there’s two other branches at Gurney Tower and Queensbay (opposite Queensbay Mall, good for you Bayan Lepas working chaps!)