After serving nasi kandar in Penang for more than a century, the legendary Hameediyah has finally set foot in Klang Valley.
As expected, there’s a long queue and waiting in the line felt like a century as well. Seeing that the line does not move, the uncle in front of me eventually gave up after waiting for 10 minutes.
The problem is not with the number of customers but the pace of the staff. Compared to a seasoned staff who will get your plate of nasi kandar up and ready in seconds, it takes minutes here. Not to mention the delay in getting your order jotted down on the paper. Service wise, it’s just not up to par currently.
Although the restaurant opens at 11am, half of the dishes were not ready even at 1pm. I was expecting the counter to be filled with a variety dishes but the selection was only limited to a couple of curries, cabbage and fried chicken.
Ayam Madu? Don’t have. Prawn Curry? Another 10 minutes. Even the quintessential ‘telur dadar’ was not available and all they had was ‘telur masin’. Talk about disappointment.
Luckily for me, the sotong curry came out of the kitchen fresh and hot when it was my turn. So I made the best out of it and picked their highly recommended Kambing Mysore, fish curry (bawal), sotong curry and cabbage. In total, my plate of nasi kandar cost RM33.50. No service charge and no GST yet.
Fish Curry @ RM6.50.
Sotong Curry @ RM9.50 (3pcs).
Local beverages are expensive so my suggestion is to stick with soft drinks, lassi (also not available!!!) or juices. The mango juice is RM5 a glass – thick and satisfying.
Total damage.
Conclusion: service is quite bad, food selection is limited even after being open for 2 hours and drinks are generally overpriced. So it’s obvious they are not ready to be fully operational.
Food quality wise, I think it’s alright, quite authentic albeit tasting slightly diluted. Ultimately, something is missing in the flavor when seafood curry and ayam madu’s gravy are missing in the rice.
Based on my visit, I’d say give them a couple of weeks to settle down before coming. Else, your experience will be pretty much similar to mine – OK but far from great. If you need a real nasi kandar fix without the queue, head to Mohd Yaseen instead.
Hameediyah Nasi Kandar
Unit A-GF-01, Sunway Nexis
Jalan PJU 5/8, Kota Damansara
Tel: 03-6151 7766
Business hours: Mon (10am – 10pm), Tue – Sun (11am – 10pm)
