A restaurant specializing in Sri Lankan food called “Umac House” is located in the heart of Petaling Jaya. It is a very crowded restaurant even on weekdays when students and lecturers, professors studying at University Malaysia(UM) nearby come for lunch. Banana leaf meal is an Indian concept food that is usually eaten at lunch, and is available from 11 am to 2 pm.
Outside of lunchtime, when you can eat banana leaf, this place serves Sri Lankan food, Western style food, typical Malay food, draft beer, canned beer and bottled beer. The cheap banana leaf food I’m talking about here is RM6(US$1.5) per person. The price may have gone up now, but considering it’s location in Petaling Jaya, it’s ridiculously cheap.
Although the price is very affordable, the most attractive thing about this restaurant is that it is a converted bungalow surrounded by lush tropical vegetation, so you can enjoy the pleasure that makes you feel as if you are enjoying a meal in the lush forest. Not to mention that you can hear the birds chirping. So it makes you forget you are in the city while you dine.
Of course, blood battles with some mosquitoes should be taken into account. It is because if there are many trees, flowers, grass, etc., it is rather obvious that there are mosquito families naturally. So, in my opinion, it’s just a bit of a hassle to have a delicious Indian meal while enjoying the nature provided by the very large garden of the bungalow at Uma House.
Banana leaf is offered as a vegetarian food because it is cheap. Three or four daily vegetable side dishes are placed about a scoop on a fresh and natural banana leaf. One of them is to have coconut chutney or mint chutney made in-house at the restaurant.
The daily vegetables served are usually cabbage, cucumber, onions and potatoes most often. Probably because they are the cheapest vegetables in the world. If you’re just lucky, you might have beansprout, bitter gourd family, spinach, eggplant, radishes and long beans.
And if you’re very lucky, you can get beetroot that you don’t usually see at other Banana Leaf restaurants. After all, the types of vegetables in banana leaves are random, so it is impossible to know which ones will be provided. But lucky enough I’ve had it a couple of times and it’s so good that it pleases my mouth and eyes when this delicious dark purple and red beetroot dish is placed in front of me.
After the vegetable curry is placed on the banana leaf, more than a bowl of steamed Indian rice is laid out. At that time, if the amount of rice is not enough and you immediately ask the staff for more, they will give you another bowl. Next, on top of the rice, the waiter will pour a generous amount of curry of your choice. There are usually four types of curry to choose from – chicken, fish, vegetable, and lentil (daal).
And If you want them all, they are poured over the rice one by one and mixed together. So, if you choose all four at once, it is hard to tell which curry tastes which one, and all the curry colors are mixed together and you just mix it with rice and eat it.
I used to work nearby before the Covid-19 crisis, so I often went there for lunch with my co-workers. At that time, I remember ordering banana leaf and eating meat side dishes separately. Meats are pre-packed in one pot on a small stainless steel plate. So, the Indian staff goes around each table with the pre-prepared curry of eggs, lamb, beef, fish, chicken shrimp, crab, etc. on a wide tray. If, while eating banana leaf, you decide to eat meat together, you can choose the meat you like from the tray and eat it together.
One important point is that the price of a meat curry is almost higher than the fixed price for banana leaves per person. So, not only Umac House but also any Banana leaves restaurant, you can enjoy banana leaves meal and pay a fixed price, but if you choose meat dishes, you should expect the bill price to be more than double. So, my suggestion is to avoid any disappointment at the final price you didn’t expect at the end, it would be better to ask the price in advance before choosing any meat dishes of your choice.
As always at banana leaves setting, one or two crispy, salty Indian biscuits called papadam are served. A few, mango pickles or a thick, salty and spicy sambal type paste are laid out neatly. Of course, if you run out of all these curry vegetables and rice and curry liquid, you can ask for more rice, curry liquid, and vegetable side dishes. I remember that on Friday, a separate cup of spicy and salty soup called Rasam was served. Water is provided free of charge in small plastic cups or stainless steel cups. However, drinks such as teh tarik variation, coffee variation, soft drinks, lassi variation drinks, canned beer, bottled beer have to be ordered separately.????
FYI, Umac House would be good for Liverpool fans in the English Premier League. The Liverpool team’s flag hangs on the bungalows here and there in the restaurant. It is immediately visible at a glance.?? Maybe it’s a bad feeling for Manchester United fans. Haha! But be sure to try the banana leaves no matter what!????
Here’s my video of Umac House, a Sri Lankan restaurant, where you can see a beautiful bungalow house in the city converted into an Indian restaurant for mouth-watering delicious banana leaf food.
Umac House
Address: 1, Jalan 12/5, Seksyen 12, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
And be sure to check out my videos showing the really spicy and delicious Madurai style Banana Leaf from South India packed full of seafood feasts, and Banana Leaf from Saravana Bhavan, the famous Indian vegetarian who has a chain around the world!
Also, don’t forget to watch my restaurant review videos of “Yarl”, a really tasty and authentic Sri Lankan restaurant located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
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