UMAC House, PJ - Banana Leaf Rice

A couple of weekends ago, we visited UMAC House - which stands for University of Malaya Academic Club - for some banana leaf rice with our friend, PT. Diners can choose to dine in their al fresco dining area or air-conditioned rooms in this old colonial bungalow. We opted for the former, since there was an awning, lots of fans and tall, lush green trees to shade us from the sun and keep us cool.

As soon as we were seated, three banana leaves were swiftly placed before us. The banana leaf rice costs RM6 per person here, and comes with 4 types of vegetables, your choice of curry, rasam, rice (parboiled/white rice), and papadoms. I was disappointed when I saw that they didn't have cabbage during our visit as this was one of the reasons which tempted me to visit:( Nevertheless, the vegetable dishes served to us were decent. We all had the parboiled rice, and I chose mutton and crab curry to go over the rice, which tasted nice and flavourful. The papadums were crisp and the rasam (though a bit watery) was tangy and did its job.

We also ordered some side dishes to try. We were excited to see deep fried brinjal in batter (RM3), but they turned out to be disappointing and soggy. The deep fried bittergourd (RM3) fared a little better as it was crispier. We arrived at the restaurant shortly after they opened, so surely these should taste freshest now?

We also had the mutton varuval (RM7), which was tasty enough but portion was small and quite boney. PT came a couple of months back and she said the portion back then was much bigger. We also had the baby squid (sotong) (RM8) cooked in a sambal sauce, which was good.

Verdict: Prices here are fair, works out to be around RM16 per person. Food is OK, could be better. Nice ambiance and ample parking space. 



Opening times: 11.00am to 3.30pm daily.

Price: Total bill RM47 for 3 pax, inclusive drinks.

Location: University of Malaya Academic Club (UMAC House), 1, Jalan 12/5, 46200 Petaling Jaya.

Tel: Tel:012-952 1822

Website: https://www.facebook.com/UMAC-House-1640890466195256

GPS Coordinates: 3.117171, 101.648838 (Waze: UMAC House)

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