KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — I have a soft spot for eateries located within condominiums.

The food served at these places cater primarily to residents so the offerings have a homestyle air versus those located in commercial locations.

There’s a whole spectrum of eats at such places, whether it’s simple rice or noodles dishes, sandwiches and even Japanese food.

However, to survive, they also open up their business to the public.

Hence, one night my friends and I ended up at Tivoli Villas’ SeKitchen for dinner. Access to the eatery that faces the swimming pool is easy: just register at the guardhouse and you can drive up to the restaurant which is at the back.

We had all seen their postings on the Bangsar community Facebook but not ventured inside the condominium grounds till that evening.

In fact, we were just looking for a place for Chinese food that didn’t require us fighting the after-work traffic.

Look for this sign at the back building of Tivoli Villa, once you drive up the side left road of the condominium

The cafe has seats for big groups and also smaller tables for a quick meal

What we discovered was food here tastes just like how your mother would make it. The dishes are made with fresh ingredients with no preservatives and a light hand when it comes to seasoning.

At SeKitchen, you will find two menus. One features an all-day breakfast, noodles and rice dishes. What’s unusual is there’s Asam Laksa and Teochew Ginger Duck on the menu.

At night, the menu covers family-style dishes. It’s best to pre-book the items at least two hours prior to your meal via WhatsApp for them to prepare the ingredients.

For the all-day menu, you can get a bowl of spicy, tangy Asam Laksa

What makes this small eatery special is their Sekinchan sourced seafood. Hence, the menu proclaims that the prawns, squid and fish are wild caught and not treated with any preservatives.

With fish, everyone’s got their preference on which parts they must eat. If you’re a fish head lover, their Steamed Sea Grouper Fish Head will make you a happy diner.

With this huge fish, its meat tends to be firmer so if you dig around the massive head, you find chunks of thick fish meat. Drizzle over the soy sauce, combined with calamansi lime juice and sliced onions for a touch of savouriness.

The real treasure of this dish is the gelatinous skin clinging to the mouth and the bones.

It needs to be slowly relished with fingers, if you want to extract every precious bit.

The fish head is priced by weight (RM10 per 100 grams) and since ours was a hefty one and a half kilogram, it was the most expensive item that night at RM150.

This bowl of Fishballs and Fish Maw Soup is packed with comfort

If you’re not into fiddling with bones, the Fish Maw and Fish Ball Soup (RM32) will make you happy. The fish balls have just a slight bounce when bitten into and goes so well with the clear soup to warm the belly.

My personal favourite is the Fried Ikan Bulus (RM20 for five pieces). The slender fish has a fine flesh. Just crunch the whole fish, together with its head and bones for an irresistible combination of crispy textures with the sweet taste of the fish meat.

It was everyone’s favourite too so another order was placed for more of the golden deep fried fish.

Fried Ikan Bulus is best eaten from head to tail with all the crunchy bones (left). The Indonesian Style Curry Prawns is a lighter-tasting curry with semi peeled prawns (right)

Here, their version of Indonesian Style Curry Prawns (RM35) won’t clog up your arteries as it’s not thick and creamy. Nevertheless, the curry is still a tasty one, albeit with lighter flavours.

The prawns are the smaller sized ones though so somehow, it wasn’t too satisfying.

I’m always that person who would gripe if there’s no greens so that big plate of Bitter Gourd With Egg (RM15) made me very happy.

The sliced bitter gourd is enveloped in fluffy egg and the best part is it wasn’t drowning in oil.

The simple Bittergourd Egg is well prepared and most importantly, not dripping with oil

Ask for more rice to eat with this wobbly Signature Homemade Tofu

We all demolished the Signature Homemade Tofu (RM20) too. You get wobbly egg and soy milk custard inside — encased in a deep fried skin — drenched with a savoury sauce.

What I find is that with some dishes, they tend to put their own spin on classic recipes. It could be just a different style. Hence their Gong Poh Lala (RM30) wasn’t as fragrant as what you would find at other places and tasted more like a brown, savoury sauce coating the clams.

Even the Assam Stingray (RM50) wasn’t using the typical sourish sauce. It felt like a variation of the brown sauce from the Gong Poh dish, paired with shreds of ginger and pieces of asam keping.

What I liked was the texture of the sting ray though. It was perfectly cooked so each piece was soft, rather than the usual firm ones you find at, say, ikan bakar stalls.

With the Gong Poh Lala, you get clams fried in a brown savoury sauce (left). Their Asam Stingray is different as the sauce isn’t tangy but more savoury with pieces of ‘asam keping’ (right)

It was a little fiddly to eat, since the fish was cut into small pieces. You had to slowly scrape the fish out to get the delicious flesh. I felt it was worth it but my friends weren’t so keen.

I went back a few days later to try their famous Asam Laksa (RM12). It may not have many toppings but you get flaked fish inside the orange-red broth.

The broth on the first few sips was slightly tangy taste with just a bit of spiciness. The heat kicks in after some time, making you drink more. You get the prawn paste in a squeeze bottle, so use that to temper the spiciness of the broth.

You also have a variety of side dishes like soup with fish balls, fish paste, fish wantons and yong tau foo. I tried the Fish Wanton Soup (RM12) and it was really good. You get the tasty, clear broth with the fish wantons. These are made with minced fish and tapioca flour, giving a chewy bite when you eat it.

There’s also side dishes like fish ‘wantons’ with a chewy skin served with a clear soup and vegetables

For me, SeKitchen is a neighbourhood place. It’s ideal if you live within the Bangsar area and you’re seeking a home-style meal.

As the flavours aren’t enhanced with MSG, those who prefer stronger flavours may need to reach for extra soy sauce and chillies.

And one telling factor was after our meal at SeKitchen that night, I didn’t seek out a can of Coca Cola. It’s my go-to “antidote” against MSG to clear my palate after any meal in a Chinese restaurant.

SeKitchen, Tivoli Villas, Jalan Medang Tanduk, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 11am to 4pm, 5pm to 10pm (Tuesday to Saturday). Closed on Sunday and Monday. Tel:+6011-31479448. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeKitchen-353444661801309

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