One of the great finds FY2010 would be Dancing Fish, located in Bangsar Shopping Center. Dancing Fish Malay-Indo Restaurant is a place that serves Indonesian food from Bali, Java and other parts of Indonesia. The food here is prepared very well and tastes delicious. Dancing fish comes highly recommended if you want to partake of excellent Indonesian cuisine, with simple yet well crafted desserts to boot. Honestly, it does not get any better than this. Of all the dishes that really intrigued me and had me bowled over was a simple vegetable dish, called the gulai pucuk paku. I mean, I have eaten this fern like green vegetable many, many times in the past but the one here at Dancing Fish is just the most wonderfully prepared one I have ever encountered. I am talking about a fragrant mound of stir-fried green baby fern leave tendrils, soaked in a rich coconut base sauce and shredded coconut, flecked with crunchy bits of tiny fried onions. The best thing about this pucuk paku is that there wasn’t any old and fibrous stems used. It was all, baby ferns. The texture can only be described as delicate yet crunchy. If you ever eat at Dancing Fish Malay-Indo Restaurant, be sure to have the Gulai pucuk paku.
Gulai Pucuk – RM9.90
Left – Emping Sambal RM9.00; Right – Spicy Mango Lime RM11.00
Tahu Telur – RM11.90
Terong Sambal – RM9.90
Rice rice RICE!
The rice was so good even I had to have some. The other interesting dish of course was the “Dancing Fish” i.e. the Kedongdong. The way the fish is flayed and fried makes the fish really “come alive” and reminds me of a flying fish (minus the wings), that is in mid flight out of the water. Very artistic stuff. Not only that, it tastes good too.
Dancing Fish a.k.a. Kedongdong – RM39.90
Bebek Bali (duck) – RM43.90 for a whole duck
Being a big fan of the duck, this next dish here, called the Bebek Bali knocked my socks off. The entire duck is fried so well that the flesh retains its succulence whilst the other layer is browned to a crisp, and you can even eat the smaller bones in certain parts because they have the texture of ‘keropok’!
Cumi cumi (not my husband but the squid!) – RM15.90
Another hot favourite of mine is the squid. I have to say that the way Dancing Fish marinades it is even better than the ones I have eaten in Indonesia. Whatever spices they use here would be a trade secret worth guarding.
Cendol (Durian Gelato) – RM9.50
Even-though I seldom eat durian, this cendol with a huge dollop of durian gelato is a must have. So creamy and smooth it almost made me a believer. Almost!
Lemongrass jelly with mango dessert on the side was the best dessert for me. The smoothest creamiest mango in a crispy shell, eaten with tiny exploding beads of asam flavoured pearls in a cool lemongrass jelly. So refreshing it makes you want to start eating all over again.
Lemongrass jelly – RM8.50
We have no complaints about the food at Dancing Fish. One should endeavor to try everything!
Dance lil Fish, dance..
So I gotta ask – what was for dinner last night: Cumi cumi… or just Cumi? 😉
both! haha
My friends have been raving about the food here. Must try it some day. Some dayyyyyyy….somewayyyyy….
SOMEEE DAYYYY! hehe
“Twas really a great meal – food & company-wise! :-))
agree!
… and the prices are not expensive! (considering that its BSC, after all).
Gotta go taste the food there soon 😀
well, yeah. in an upmarket place like Bangsar, Dancing Fish is the last of the affordable resto’s!
If I can be swayed to the fu gua side, I don’t see any reason you can’t be swayed to the durian side, especially when you had a good one here!
I know of a PERFECT place to initiate, but it closed down some 3 years ago. Oh well.
nice try! i used to eat it.. but went off it unfortunately 😛
Love the photos, especially the comic-style collages! I’m intrigued by the spicy shaved ice drink and the jelly dessert. Malaysian sweets look so interesting. I’d love to try them!
Nice fish! Yum.. the tahu telur is quite unique! I have to go try this one day!
oh yea, the tauhu was the least of my favourites.. but the rest of the dishes, perfect!
wow that jelly looks so yummy. I had dark grass jelly before but nothing like that. Was it very sweet?
Not too sweet at all. but it is definitely a sweet dessert, not savory.
wow it is really a good find! looks good!
thanks luv
You have the cutest blog and the food looks so delicious, I wanna try Spicy Mango Lime, dancing fish and cumi cumi!! So cumi is your husband, double cumi is the squid 🙂
Thank you! Yes on the cumi comment! LOL
Glad you enjoyed the food.
Must admit that every visit here has been very satisfying & I love that pucuk pakis dish too.
thanks for suggesting, boo!
Looks like an awesome place…and the food is too tempting! Though am a vegetarian, the food still looks delicious: )
The branding of the restaurant looks cool too, is it money plan in the background?
I think they can definitely rustle up some vege alternatives for you. The eggplant is vegetarian!
This is great, another good eating place in BSC!
agree babe. have you been?
South America has some amazing food but I am so jealous when I read your posts. I really need to a) find a Malaysian restaurant in the next major city I’m in or b) come visit you!
Wishing you the best.. hope u find a Malaysian restaurant in Lima.. but I seriously doubt it;) LOL
Haha .. yeah, you know what? Whenever I see cumi-cumi in Indonesian cuisine menus, instantly thought about your blog.
Ironically.
So how did your hubby taste? Hehe ….
Anyway, those emping’s belinja right? With a bitter after taste. Acquired.
my hubby tastes very nice thank you! LOL
cumi cumi is squid.. my squidy hub indeed 😛
Yup Emping belinja.. totally awesome. I actually like that bitter after taste.. don’t know about you;)