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One might believe that the only way to find the best of the best is to search far and wide, to traverse sandy dunes and climb mountains. But sometimes, the thing you’ve been looking for has been right under your nose all along. This is the case for Restoran Rejab, a friendly neighbourhood mamak shop in Puchong.
When night falls, Restoran Rejab slowly fills itself with families and groups of friends looking for an easy, no-brainer meal. Some want an effortless dinner, many just want a tasty snack to accompany their gossip-laden conversations.
Looking from the outside, the restaurant looks like any mamak shop you’d find. From an interior decoration standpoint, the only distinctive trait is its greenness, and not in the environmental way. It quite literally is a bright lime green— the tables, the chairs, the signs, only the floor and wall are exempt from this borderline fluorescent colour.
To accommodate the large dinner crowd, they set up extra seating in the alleyway right next to the shop, which is always a good indication of a well-loved mamak store.
What I tried at Restoran Rejab
While the restaurant serves all the mamak essentials like Maggi goreng, roti telur, and nasi goreng kampung, the star of the show is something you might not expect. Yes, many places have cheese naan, but Restoran Rejab takes it up a notch with their Mozzarella Cheese Naan (RM9).
There’s no other way to describe the visuals of this naan other than it looked like a soft pillow. It was thick, or as Generation Z say, thicc. So thick, in fact, it resembled a hand-tossed pizza crust. The bread had some nice charring, and the dish came with a rich garlic sauce, dal, and raita. It came piping hot, which meant the mozzarella was still nice and gooey on the inside.
Finally, it was time to see if this naan would pass the cheese pull test.
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Accompanied by a chorus of shocked “wow”s, the cheese stretched longer than anticipated; it was extremely satisfying. Clearly, the chef behind this was nothing short of generous when it came to the filling, so much so that this particular naan shouldn’t even be considered as a type of flatbread.
This dish was everything you could ever want from a cheese naan— loaded with milky and slightly tangy mozzarella and perfectly cooked bread. Even without the cheese, the bread was fluffy and delightful.
However, some may find the bread to be too thick in some areas. I personally think that the bread had to be of that density to maintain the structure of the naan (I’m sure you wouldn’t want it to fall apart before you even get to take a bite), and to balance out the sheer amount of cheese.
The garlic sauce may not look like much, but it added another depth of flavour to the dish. Naan or tandoori, whatever I dipped into the creamy sauce instantly became 10 times more tasty.
The Chicken Tandoori (RM9) was equally as impressive as the mozzarella naan. Even when alone, I could tell that it was thoroughly marinated. It was very flavourful, with a delicious smokiness that could be tasted throughout, and the meat itself was juicy and well-cooked.
And the combination of the cheese naan, tandoori, and garlic sauce? Incredible. Amazing. Show stopping.
Final thoughts
If you’ve spent your whole life being disappointed by the cheese naans of the world, Restoran Rejab is definitely worth checking out. This naan was made with cheese lovers in mind, and I can safely say that you won’t be disappointed.
Admittedly, the mozzarella naan could make you feel jelak due to the amount of cheese used. So, I suggest going with a friend and ordering 2 naans, one of which should be a different flavour like garlic or butter. That way, you can share and appreciate the cheesiness without feeling like you’re going to explode.
Expected damage: RM11 – RM20 per pax
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