If you’ve been following the nasi lemak buzz online, you’ve probably heard about the latest craze: Nasi Lemak Sotong Selambak. Picture your classic nasi lemak, but crowned with a glorious mountain of crispy, deep-fried squid. The visual? Absolutely mouthwatering.
Let’s be real — who wouldn’t swoon at the sight of fried squid piled high on a fragrant, coconut rice platter? While I suspect the hype is mostly about the over-the-top presentation, I couldn’t resist the temptation to give it a try.
I had narrowed my options down to 2 popular spots for this dish: 3 Days Nasi Lemak and Warong Nismilan. After some deliberation, I chose Warong Nismilan, as 3 Days Nasi Lemak is better known for their classic nasi lemak rather than this particular squid-loaded version.
Warong Nismilan is a modest setup — a simple tent with plastic tables and chairs serving as the dining area. It’s interestingly located inside Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), though the university itself is the largest in Malaysia (stretching to IOI City Mall) — so it’s not uncommon for outsiders to drive around the area.
A little bit of oversharing: it also happened to be where I used to study at so heading there certainly gave me war flashbacks.
What I tried at Warong Nismilan
Right off the bat, I knew I had to order Warong Nismilan’s signature dish: Nasi Lemak Sotong Crispy Melimpah (RM28). Each serving has a fixed 250g of deep-fried squid, so I suggest you share with a friend or two if you’re not a big eater. Warong Nismilan also uses basmati rice for their nasi lemak, as stated in the menu.
While the crispy squid didn’t look a lot at first glance, it did take a lot of digging for me to see what was underneath. Even the nasi lemak portion itself was huge, in my opinion. The dish came with basmati coconut rice, sambal, sunny-side-up egg instead of hard-boiled one, cucumbers, ikan bilis and roasted peanuts, and surprisingly — deep-fried cassava leaves, or daun pucuk ubi. That was a first for me!
As per my nasi lemak taste-test tradition, I started with the sambal. One bite in, and I was taken aback — it was intensely sour and spicy, a combination that threw me off. I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not, but it was definitely unlike any sambal I’d had before. The consistency was perfect though! And it was not oily at all — kudos for that. The rice, on the other hand, was perfectly fluffy, though its flavour didn’t stand out much.
I’d been eagerly eyeing the cassava leaves since the dish arrived. When I finally tried them, I was, once again, surprised. While they seemed to be prepared with the classic rendang tok spices and method, the sourness of the dish completely overpowered my palate. It was an unexpected twist that left me puzzled.
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And now, the star of the show: the crispy squid! On its own, it was quite enjoyable. Lightly battered, the squid had a delicate, crispy crust that shattered with every bite, while the flesh remained soft and tender. That said, there was still a hint of squid’s natural fishiness.
The downside? It could definitely use more seasoning. When paired with the rice, the flavours were so subtle that they almost disappeared entirely. A little extra salt would have gone a long way!
Final thoughts
Is it worth the price? Absolutely. The portion was massive — I couldn’t even finish half of it. But is it worth the hype? Not really. For me, the overall taste of the nasi lemak was slightly below average, though it might vary for everyone!
What really dampened the experience was the Warong Nismilan’s location. The abundance of flies was hard to ignore. Normally, I’m pretty laid-back about small inconveniences, but having 5 or 6 flies buzzing around your face at once? Let’s just say, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone — not even my worst enemy.
Expected damage: RM6 – RM34 per pax
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