Cristang Restaurant, 8 Avenue, PJ.

Cristang Restaurant

Anything porky gets me going. There is something special about pork as compared to other meats. I am not dissing chicken or beef. I think they have their own unique flavours too. But pork, it is the cornerstone of all meats, all nice and tasty.(Although Jules Winnfield thought of the pig as a filthy animal) That’s the reason why you need to sanitize your stomach with alcohol. And pork so happen to go well with it too! Anyway, when I was going to meet up with my old friend Nikki for happy hrs she wanted somewhere nearby, so I suggested Cristang. Its been around for awhile now and I heard quite a bit about their famous pork burgers. So without much objection, we went for it.

Ambience

Cristang is a place that serves Malaccan / Portuguese cuisine along with some western cuisine as well. It was pretty quiet the whole night we were there. Either everyone has turned vegetarian or it only gets crowded on weekends. Maybe it would be pack on Wednesdays as all pork burgers are 20% off. Nicely decorated and pretty cozy, the place is quiet and conducive for a catch up with friends.

Food

Apparently their best seller happens to be their pork burgers. Basically their pork burger comes in various combinations:

P1: pork patty (RM 16.80)

P2: P1 + back bacon (RM 19.80)

P3: P2 + minced pork chili con carne (RM 23.80)

P4: P3 + petai stuffed in patty (RM 25.90)

P5: P4 + grilled cajun prawns (RM 28.80)

P6: P5 + grilled fresh cut pineapples (RM 30.80)

P7: P4 + melted cheese (RM 28.80) - The Urban Legend

P8: Tandoori burger served in garlic butter pita bread (RM 28.80)

P9: The Korean Inspired burger (RM 30.80)

The unique ingredient in some of these burgers is the petai (stink bean). Eating petai for some is kind of like an acquired taste. Putting petai into burger is different thing altogether. So I ordered P7, the one they called the Urban Legend and it has got everything in it. The more the merrier I guessed.

P7

This burger was one of the most interesting ones I have ever tasted. Juicy, pungent (from the petai), grainy, mushy, intense are some of the words to describe it. The rich flavour of chili con carne filled with diced petai, melted cheese, great pork patty, onion, tomato slices, gherkins and ultimate bacon all assembled together, presents a really great orchestra of a heavenly burger. This little fella is packed with oomph!

Well, it is little because I find it a wee bit small in size. I like BIG BUNS !

A definite must try! And it comes with perfectly roasted potato wedges sprinkled with dry herbs (rosemary). These wedges made up for the lack in size.

Another must-try is the Devils on Horseback. I have had devils on demons back before (pork sausage wrapped with bacon), but what is this devil doing on a horseback? Kinky little devil, this one! 
 
Devils on Horseback

It is actually their version of asparagus wrapped with grilled back bacon drenched with red wine reduction and sprinkled with fresh herbs (probably chopped parsley and thyme). Great combination as the fresh and almost raw green asparagus helps to break the heavy and fatty texture of the back bacon. The asparagus used were fresh and crunchy and the juicy bacon wrapped around it just makes this a bundle of joy.

St Louis BBQ Ribs was the other main dish we ordered. The pork ribs comes with fresh vegetables on the side (French beans and capsicum of various colours) and topped with chopped parsley.

St Louis BBQ Ribs

Served piping hot (you can see the steam from the pic) ,the ribs has a nice texture to it and the meat falls off nicely without much ‘sawing’ effort. But we didn’t quite like it, maybe because we appreciate the natural flavours of the ribs and the sauce sort of mask it out. Decent but not the best.


That’s as much food as we could manage as we need space for drinks too. Guinness was good and fresh. I stuck to it the whole night. Nikki had Frozen Margarita and Cuban Mojito. In the end, we didn’t get to try some of the recommended dishes. Which means, we have to return to savour the rest. I will do just that.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





Frozen Margarita

 
 
 
 




















Cuban Mojito

Special Guest
Nikki

Verdict
The pork burger was awesome. Variety of combination to choose from if you are not adventurous enough to brave the petai flavour. Quite some interesting Portuguese / Malaccan dishes to try out and some are really traditional stuff too. The Guinness was good. Can’t say the same for the cocktails. Nikki didn’t like the Frozen Margarita as it was not strong enough for her. In the own words… “I’ve had better !” . She didn’t like the Cuban Mojito too. Not strong enough too, it seems. Well, she is not easily pleased but she knows a great place for steak of which she promised to take me. And the margarita there is the best too!



Location

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Address:
B-G-19, 8 Avenue, Jalan Sungei Jernih (8/1),
46050 Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7956 7877
Opening hours: Tues to Sun 11am-3pm, 5.30pm-11pm. Closed on Mondays


GPS: 3.09985, 101.640208


How to get there?
(Opposite PJ Hilton right behind Courts Mammoth, Wisma Thrifty)
Take a right at the traffic light next to KFC, when you reach a T junction, turn right again, pass some shops on the right, take a right turn into the parking zone , you will see Miracles bar & kitchen, pass that and its on the right!