Melaka: From Penang To Pinang Besar

Since Kimly had spent most of his days in the Chinese concentrated Penang island, I assumed that he had not been introduced to many specialities of other races. I thought that hot chilies in Malay food at eateries near my house might burn his French stomach. As I did not want to drive far, the only interesting option left was "Pinang Besar", a Muslim Indian restaurant at Cheng area.

I had only stepped into this 24-hour restaurant when my colleague Tony was working in Melaka. Once when we were coming back from shopping in town, he wanted to have his late dinner there. Before we were even seated, at least two waiters had approached our table wanting to take order immediately. That was my first impression on their customer service.

This time, there were still too many waiters in that restaurant which was rarely full. But at least none rushed to us, which allowed us to take time to read the items displayed on the menu board.

My knowledge of Indian food began with Dad who was in charge of our whole family's breakfast when I was small. He used to bring back roti canai (fried flat breads) which had turned cold and chewy with the travelling time. Nevertheless, I still enjoy eating this one of the Malaysians' favorite breakfasts in a take-away version, until I tasted it hot and crispy for the first time in a restaurant.

Much later with colleagues who invited me out for tea in Alor Gajah, I discovered the rice-flour based tosai and the atta (whole grain durum wheat)-flour based chapati.

In "Pinang Besar", two names attracted my attention: poori and roti boom. Out of curiousity, I ordered both of them to share with Kimly.

After frying deep in oil, the poori puffed up like a baloon, which was as almost as round as my face!

The roti boom looked like a smaller but thicker roti canai.

I loved all these Indian breads with various accompanying curry.

The nasi biryani (spicy rice) with chicken was to fill Kimly's stomach. I also took a small plate of squid to add more cholesterol to our bodies.

After eating, we spent almost two hours there chatting about his new environment in Penang and my trip to France. Kimly comfortably lifted one of his long legs with the foot on the edge of the chair and placed his hands on the knee.

That amused me to see a French guy in that sitting position.

"Hey, Kimly. Not only you look physically like a typical Chinese Malaysian guy, you also behave like one. People will never do this in a restaurant in Europe!"

Kimly also laughed,"I feel so relaxed here. It'll be impossible for me to behave like this when I go back to France."

I realized that our French guest had adapted himself very well to our Malaysian culture within five months.