Pakeeza Restaurant@Greentown, Ipoh

Demona: My colleague and I decided to have dinner in Pakeeza, an Indian restaurant because we were craving for something hot, spicy, currylicious on a stormy night. As we entered, we were greeted by friendly waiters, who had constant smiles, as if they were permanently carved on their faces. Nevertheless, a warm welcome did made us feel comfortable for a dinner here.



Demona: 3 gigantic papadams (a well known spicy, salty and peppery indian snack) were given to us as a form of an appetizer. We ngarm, ngarm, ngarm-ed them down!



Demona: We ordered a tandoori roti (RM 2.00). Its portion was fairly big, sliced into 4 quarters. The roti was pretty nice, with a fragrant burnt aroma from the tandoori locked into it.



Demona: Michelle is a big fan of carrot milk juice (RM 3.80). I stole a little sip from her drink, and found it so so only. It was a bit too sweet for my liking. She agreed as well.



Demona: A bowl of curry gravy was given to us, as a dipping complement to the tandoori roti and chapati that we ordered. The gravy was spicy alright, but a little too diluted and oily for my liking. You could see the glistening bright orange coloured lipids floating on the gravy surface layer.



Demona: Although I was extremely disappointed with Chat Masala's eggplant dish, my tastebuds never stopped craving for more eggplant dishes. We gave Pakeeza's Brinjal Pajeri a try (RM 4.50). If you've noticed, YOU COULD SEE THE EGGPLANT STRIPS WITH YOUR EYES! Yippeeee. The strips were properly grilled before mixing them with thickened, spicy curry gravy, garnished with some chopped spring onions. Pakeeza did well for this dish. Definitely ten times better than CM's brinjal dish. Imagine the price difference! RM 4.50 vs SGD 8.80.



Demona: The chapati was a major let down. (RM 1.50). It was cold, and hard. I felt like a prisoner eating it. Every chew was a challenge.



Demona: We ordered a quarter tandoori chicken portion, which came with 4 very chunky, pieces of meat. (RM 7.00) The meat was... oooooh, macho macho meat! Dense and packed. You could tell that the marination process was thorough from the burnt little strips and spots on the outer layer of the chicken. The meat was spicy! And the best part of all, oil content was minimal.



Demona: We ordered a bowl of beef curry too (RM 6.00) The gravy was thick, spicy, sweet and it blended really well with the tandoori roti. The beef slices were thinly cut and cooked until they were very, very tender. You needn't feel annoyed chewing and chewing the meat down, because they melt in your mouth! Although the portion was small for this dish, it was enough for the slightly smaller tummies of these two young ladies.



Demona: Check out the macho, macho meat! Dogma, next trip there? Promise you'll get to chew those bones!



Verdict: After addition of service and government tax (GROANS), the bill came up to RM 27.87. This meal was by far much more worthwhile than Chat Masala's SGD 27 meal. Bigger portion, better taste, more variety. However, I do know that Ipoh, is a MUCHHHH smaller town compared to the hustle and bustle metropolitan KL city. I doubt I can find a decent RM 27 meal in an indian restaurant in KL for this portion. I guess to be fair, it isn't a head to head comparison.

:( Our currency's tiny.