Carne de Porco at Cristang

So I finally got to visit the restaurant that has apparently already been “blogged to death” after earning a reputation as the go-to place for their much-raved pork burgers. (Although my favourites for the night turned out to be something else, read on to find out) Cristang is tucked away behind PJ’s Wisma Thrifty in the relatively quiet commercial centre that is 8 Avenue. We were pleasantly surprised to arrive at the cosy restaurant buzzing with customers in a square that was mostly quiet (save for a handful of restaurants and bars open), ringing true the old adage that “when the food is good, the customers shall arrive”. That being said, I also attribute the good business of this place to the increasing trend of non-Muslim diners out to hunt for a good serving of pork. Probably a backlash to years of being served with pork-free fare by the not-so-daring restauranteurs. All bodes well for the diners though, but I digress.

Dining in Cristang means being dealt with a dizzying array of dishes on the menu, from appetizers to burgers, to Asian style dishes and Western mains. You can feel your inner glutton manifest itself even from the appetizers’ list, as you feel tempted to order the countless dishes that sound unfamiliar yet have a captivating description.

The only appetizer we ordered was the recommended Orgasmic Mashed Potatoes, considering that we will save the pork for our mains. The first thing that struck us when it arrived was the rather modest serving size. But of course, size doesn’t matter if it was capable of giving out orgasms right? So did the mashed potatoes make men and women cry for help? All I can say is that the mashed potatoes tasted very good, the potatoes were smooth in texture and its flavours packed a punch with its lovely cream sauce, bacon bits and chopped curled-leaf parsley on top. It was great, but not having enough to go round between four of us diners meant that perhaps one spoonful was not sufficient to make the experience ‘orgasmic’.

Orgasmic mashed potatoes. Forgive the blurry quality, bungled the live view auto-focus.

Next came our Portuguese food, the bacon ribs ambila and the portuguese baked fish.

Bacon Ribs Ambila

I was quite surprised when the Bacon Ribs Ambila arrived, for I was expecting ribs in a western sense i.e meat and two vege. I must have not read the descriptions properly. The bacon ribs lent its smoky and salty flavours while being accented by a light curry-like spiciness. These are not your typical barbecue ribs but more of a curry, so the meat was not particularly juicy, but neither was it hard nor dry. The flavours of this dish went down well with white rice, although personally I would have preferred a spicier curry to balance the strong flavours coming from the bacon ribs.

Portuguese Baked Fish

The fish was baked to perfection, succulent and not overcooked. This is not your typical hawker stall variety, spices here were pleasant and not overpowering with a nice tangy flavour from the slices of lemon.

The much awaited P3 burger

And this is purported piece-de-resistance of Cristang, a burger from their P-series (stands for Pork, I presume). Not being a fan of the idea of petai incorporated into my burger patty, I opted for the P3 that was essentially the pork burger patty+bacon+chilli con carne. When this dish came, a strong alluring aroma came from, surprise, surprise, the side dish! They were the most lovely potato wedges, wrapped in an intoxicating blend of cajun spices and rosemary. This definitely was one of the highlights of the meal. As for the burger, I thought it was pretty good but not exactly the mind blowing taste explosion I was hoping for. The chilli con carne made of pork was nice, and the pork patty was meaty. But pork, unlike beef, doesn’t possess strong flavours and with the patty not very charred its presence was somewhat overshadowed by the pork chilli. Nonetheless, worth coming back for.

P8- the Tandoori Burger

This is the Tandoori Burger which my friend had ordered. The tandoori (pork, of course), was stuffed inside the toasted pita bread and hidden from view. What you are actually seeing is the tomato raita, although I had initially mistook it as a salsa since it had more a salad dressing-like sweet taste than yoghurt like sourness. I am surprised that the tandoori was pretty well executed since it was a Kristang restaurant, although this is not something that I would order since I am not a fan of pita bread.

MY favourite for the night, Hickory Ribs!

As 3 out of four of us were guys with insatiable bellies, we were all still hungry for more pork dishes. So we decided to try ribs, this time with two veg. We went for the Hickory Ribs, if I remember the name correctly. These ribs definitely scored high on my boards, with the meat all tender and juicy and the unforgettable bbq glazing with the right tinge of sweet and sour. I devoured this like a lion does a gazelle, to the point that I almost disallowed the waiter from clearing the plate because of a streak of meat still hanging on one of them ribs. And did I mention that the ribs were served on a bed of mashed potatoes? It was seasoned nicely just like the orgasmic ones, only this time combined with the lovely barbecue sauce. De(vour)licious. If I remember correctly, this dish is still on the specials but yet to make it on the menu. I highly suggest they make this a permanent fixture in the menu, though.

Final word?

I look forward to trying the more adventurous petai-incorporated burgers , but I will definitely be back for the ribs and cajun wedges. Here’s hoping that the next time I come, the orgasmic mashed potatoes’ portion would have been bumped up a little.

Cristang

B-G-19, 8 Avenue,

Pusat Perniagaan Sek 8,

Jalan Sungei Jernih (8/1)

Petaling Jaya

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