OldTown is not always my favourite hang-out place as the one near my home is always full-house and I can’t always get a seat whenever I want to hang out there. The Platinum Walk branch service is not very satisfactory too, apart from the fact that their seats and air-con are not properly maintained. The WIFI speed in Platinum Walk is also at snail pace, so the place is not an idea place for me to hang out cuz I usually like to go online with my gadgets while having my meals there. As they say, one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch, and because I usually have bad experience with the branch near home, I usually avoided going to other OldTown Kopitiam franchises.

But I changed my mind immediately when I stepped into Paradigm Mall branch. I thought perhaps I made an error in judgment. One OldTown was bad, but that does not mean that ALL of them are bad as the one in Paradigm Mall was definitely in a tip top condition, and the service is comparable with a hotel. The staffs are mostly locals, and are eager to please. I did not say this merely because I went there as an invited media, but I say this because I’ve observed how they serve other patrons who were there that day. I was really impressed with the speed of the OldTown staff’s service in Paradigm Mall. Food was served in a timely manner and no diners went annoyed while having their meals there.

Unlike the OldTown  that I am familiar with, this particular branch is surprisingly spacious. The lighting was not dull and shoddy either.

There are ample of comfortable sofas for you to lounge on too.

Apart from the fact that the OldTown in Paradigm Mall is VERY urban professional friendly; where the WIFI speed was excellent and they provided power point everywhere for your gadget’s usage, I was particularly impressed with this. A locker that you can use to charge various kinds of smart-phones. Pretty awesome for people like me who usually had her smart-phone battery drained but never bothered to buy a power bank for it. OldTown in Paradigm Mall is also different from OldTown that I’m familiar with in a sense that you do not need to write down your orders on an order sheets and call the waiter to get the order for you afterwards. In Paradigm Mall, things are done differently and you order from the cashier counter instead.

Anyway, I went there to review their latest Ramadan offering, known as MyDulang.They have two set of MyDulang on offerings this coming Ramadan. One is Family MyDulang while another one is individual MyDulang.

This is the family MyDulang offerings.

It consists of: a choice of rendang chicken or rendang beef, curry chicken with potato,chicken satay with satay sauce fried keropok lekor, cucumber strips, egg skin strips, cooked long beans, kangkung sambal hae bee, two portion of nasi kunyit and sambal sotong. And then there’s the dipping sauce, of course. The set also comes with lekor chilli sauce and sambal belacan.

Inclusive in the set is 4 Beverages: 2 Rose Nata Selasih. (There’s three in the pic cuz these was served to us bloggers who were early for the media preview that day)

2x OldTown White Coffee/ OldTown Teh Tarik.

Apart from that, there’s also 2 dessert treats: 2x OldTown Ice Kacang with Rose Syrup/ 2x OldTown Ice Kacang with Gula Melaka.

The indidual MyDulang offerings is much more modest. If you’re to order the individual MyDulang, you will have a choice of rendang chicken/ rendang beef, chicken satay with satay sauce, fried keropok lekor. some cucumber strips, egg skin strips, cooked long bean kangkung sambal hae bee and nasi kunyit. There is of course the dipping sauce for the keropok lekor and sambal belacan for you to go with your meal. You will also get 1 beverage of your choice: Rose Nata Selasih/ OldTown White Coffee/ OldTown Teh Tarik and one dessert of your choice: OldTown Ice Kacang with Rose Syrup/ Ice Kacang with Gula Melaka.

Again, I went there with my son, and although I have assured that my son and I will be fine with just one set as I’m pretty much a small-eater, the Old Town folks has generously offered my son a set of his own to sample while chiding me gently, saying that my boy is a growing boy and he’ll probably needs to eat more. Very sweet of them, isn’t it? Neway, these are what’s on our plates:

My son had the MyDulang with the rendang chicken option. The boy finished up everything besides the rice, the cucumber and the long beans.He’s not much a green eater, and the rice portion was too much for him, I suppose… he only managed to eat half of it, but polished off everything else. His favourite was the chicken satay and he loved it so much that he hijacked mine after he was done with his. Geezzz…somehow I was really glad that he had his own plate.

While my son had the MyDulang set with chicken rendang, I had the one with beef rendang. Now, having the dish served in dulang reminds me very much of my growing up kampung days where meals were served in dulangs during family gatherings or wedding feasts. You see, my grandparents lived in a Malay kampung and whenever they are invited for a wedding reception, the dishes will be served just like this. I enjoyed those dishes very much back then as a child, and it’s nice to see that OldTown came up with such a nostalgic theme for their Ramadan offering this year. We don’t get such treats these days. People pretty much go modern these days and buffet is much more preferable in weddings or family function.

Anyway, enough trip down the memory lane. Here’s my comment on the dishes that’s served to us that day: The rice was exceptionally fragrant and the hay bee kangkung complemented the kunyit rice very well. The cucumber was refreshingly crunchy, but I did not touch long beans cuz they usually make my tummy bloated. The beef rendang was sensational, and I definitely would not mind ordering an ala carte top up of the rendang. The beef was surprisingly tender and the rendang was wonderfully flavoursome. Thumbs up for the rendang. They’re positively addictive and I bet will go well with toasts and roti canais too.

The keropok lekor deserves a big mention too. They may look unappealing but don’t let the looks fool you. They’re absolutely divine and authentic. It may arrived at our table rather cold, but it was still wonderfully soft and crunchy. On top of that, it’s very fishy and tiny bones were absent! They’re just the way I like it and a taste of it makes me feel like running to the kitchen and ask the chef where he gets a supply of these keropok lekor! The keropok lekor dips was wonderfully spicy and sweet too, and I wonder if OldTown  will consider selling em in bottles? I certainly won’t mind buying them, that’s for sure!

These were our desserts

My son had the ais kacang with syrup

While I opt for the ais kacang with gula melaka topping and mistook it for being cendol when it arrives at the table. 😛 They’re really nice and refreshing, definitely repel the heat that came from eating the spicy stuff earlier on. My son loves this too, and again, he hijacked mine though he had his own ais kacang; the one with the syrup topping.

Overall, the dining experience in Old Town Kopitiam Paradigm Mall was wonderful and I love how nostalgic the MyDulang offering made me feel and at some point, it made me feel wistful cuz people no longer serves food in dulangs for sharing with family and friends. The MyDulang is great for sharing and definitely will bring the sense of togetherness this coming Ramadan. And apart from doing from fasting from sun up to sun down and doing good deeds, togetherness is just what Ramadan is about.

The Family MyDulang is priced at RM39.90

And RM16.90 for the Individual MyDulang set. MyDulang @ OldTown will be served from 11AM daily at all OldTown.

The Ramadan offerings will be available from 8th July onwards. So do give it a try yea? 😀

Cleffairy: Ramadan is not just about fasting, but also about being a good individual in whole.