If you love fried chicken, transnational couples and no-drama llamas, Jeda might just be your next favourite restaurant, serving Asian rice bowls with crispy chicken by day and Nashville-inspired hot chicken by night.
Helmed by a wife-and-husband team - Jakarta-born Jessica and Subang Jaya's own David (forming the portmanteau Jeda), who met in Melbourne - this is a cheerful neighbourhood space that's perfect for lunch with friends or dinner with the family. Check out Jessica's fun mural, with a friendly llama that's strayed into a cactus-filled habitat, alongside a mirage of abstract art.
Lunchtime is currently dedicated to feel-good fowl in the form of fillet-topped rice. Start with the Indonesian specialities, including What's The Mattah - thigh meat, lightly crunchy to the bite and naturally tender to the chew, showered with Balinese sambal matah, aromatic with shallots and lemongrass, sufficiently spicy to bring on the pleasure without pointless pain.
A set lunch with iced tea costs RM15 - it's worth upgrading the steamed rice to Jeda rice (fragrant with crispy shallots, shredded kaffir lime leaves and torch ginger flower) for an extra RM1.50; we also added on a portion of juicy Padang-style eggplant balado (RM6) and sweetly creamy sambal bawang (RM2). The meal was delicious enough to exceed expectations - the ingredients tasted fresh and wholesome; the cooking was thoughtfully tuned, yielding lively flavours and luscious textures.
The lunchtime rice bowls also span chicken with a Thai-influenced zesty dressing or Japanese nanban-style tartar sauce.
Dinner sounds like a Tennessee honky-tonk delight - cayenne-spiced legs, breasts and wings that pay homage to Nashville's hot chicken, offered by different degrees of fieriness, southern U.S. soul food that Reba, Tim and Faith might approve of. The Asian rice bowls are not available for now in the evening.
Jeda Cafe & Diner
24A, First Floor, Jalan Datuk Sulaiman, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. Kitchen opens for lunch and dinner, Thursday-Tuesday (closed Wednesday).
This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com
