I headed down to check out this legendary Chinese style nasi lemak establishment with Joyce during my last day in Miri. Joyce is a regular dining companion of ours during my fortnight over there. We usually have breakfast or lunch together and on the last day I realized something…I’ve never actually taken a photo with her! I thought I have coz we’ve been eating together almost every day but I don’t have a picture of her.
Thus, we went down to Nasi Lemak NagaLiar for their acclaimed…er, nasi lemak. I have no idea what the tagline is supposed to convey. However, the history behind this super packed establishment is rather interesting β almost a rags to riches success story.
Nasi Lemak Naga Liar only serves nasi lemak and it sells out really fast. I think we went there at around 1 pm and the nasi lemak special is gone β only the regular ones remain. π‘ I could see a lot of people ordering packets to go β it seems to serve mainly office workers but it wasn’t always so.
According to Joyce, the humble beginnings of NagaLiar Nasi Lemak started with a husband and wife team delivering nasi lemak to schools using a motorcycle (!!!). The proprietor used to go around the schools and sell the nasi lemak to students during recess. It became very popular but they didn’t open a brick and mortar shop until recently.
I ordered Nasi Lemak Regular (RM 4) β it’s a pretty basic Chinese style version of the dish. There’s sambal, peanuts, anchovies, cool cucumber slices, an egg, a piece of fried chicken and of course, the santan (coconut milk) infused rice.
The nasi lemak from Naga Liar comes with fried chicken by default but you can also order…
…a side of curry chicken drumstick (RM 3). I like the curry chicken, but it’s also cooked Chinese style β it’s not as rich and has a distinctive taste like the curry chicken you get from chap fan places. The fried chicken is pretty good though β it’s dipped into a flavorful savory batter and deep fried. Delicious!
Naga Liar’s nasi lemak is practically an institution for the people my age in Miri, who grew up eating this during high school. However, I didn’t find it to be particularly outstanding. It’s good, but falls short of greatness. I’m comparing it to Village Park nasi lemak in Damansara Uptown though so that might not be a fair gauge.
I’ll say that it’s good nasi lemak by Miri standards. More importantly, it was great to have lunch with Joyce before leaving Miri again. π