A Simple Malaysian In Dilemma: Annalakshmi @ Brickfields

Recent this from a friend - I think it not a bad place. Must try it someday.

Imagine this, a comfy cozy nicely decorated restaurant, friendly and good service, eat and refill all you want, reasonably good food, bottomless fresh mango lassi..and …u get to decide what you want to pay. Whaaaaaaat ? Like that also can ? Well, experience that when you dine at Annalakshmi.

Annalakshmi is a vegetarian restaurant serving a variety of north and south Indian menu, and with the tagline ‘where vegetarian dining is a cultural experience’, Annalakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of food .Read more about this from their official website here.

The entrance , intricately carved wooden door.

Once you walk through the door, you will be greeted by this lovely sight flowers

Checkered tablecloth line the tables water

It’s self service, first you collect the big steel plate at the beginning of the line, also collect the steel bowls ( for gravy /curry/dessert). Then u get in line..and fill your plate /bowls…

On that day of our visit, there were 2 different types of rice, plain white rice and rice plus some condiments, was this Pulao rice ? And if you would like to have tosai ( plain, ghee, paper, masala or rava) or plain Ootthappam – which were not served on the buffet table- you can order these from the waiters.

There were various dishes available, I am not an Indian food expert ( not

even a regular) , so I won’t attempt to name them, this was what was on

Chunny’s plate

And this was mine- no points for spotting that I had a bigger portion than

my fellow diner ..greedy person that I am... this is mine

What was on my plate : potato in dried curry ( nice), vegetable chutney (I like), bittergourd curry ( the first bite into this, when u taste the spiciness, then aiks..the bitterness..wonderful combination), some chopped

mixed vege, pampadam ( fried fritters). In the bowls, dhall and something that has a soy-ish, taufoo pok-ish texture thingy.

And guess what, after finishing what was on my plate..i got into line again…had my second helping of bittergourd curry and vegetable chutney,tried some fried bee-hoon as well..

The cozy and nicely decorated environment

It was only towards the end of the meal did we realized that the available food is not just what is on the table , but that you can also order some of these stuff on the menu from the waiter ( no extra charge, i.e. still falls
in the pay-as-you-eat-category). And although I was very close to full capacity, I had to have my mango lassi..

After the meal..that will be where the dilemma creeps in..hmm..how much to pay worr..? we start to work on what we would normally pay for this quality and quantity of food , factor in the nice ambience and good service..and while Chunny visited the bathroom, I was observing (kaypo-ing ) what the other dinners were paying..i saw this guy ( family of four) counting four fifty dollar bills and passing to his wife ( is that the weekly allowance or to pay for dinner ?), another couple passed a RM50 bill to the waiter behind the counter, but saw i saw the cashier returning 2 RM10 ..sooo…how..? hahah…anyway, the thing is, be sincere lah..just pay
what you feel is right, and at the end of the day, what you give will support the temple of fine arts activities..so, enjoy the food and don’t be too greedy…as mentioned on their website – You cannot put a price on the food prepared by a mother or a wife, and this is why at Annalakshmi you – eat as you like and pay as you feel.