The Makan, a Malaysian Restaurant on Songridan-gil in Jamsil

Because overseas travel became impossible due to COVID, I feel like restaurants have become much more diverse. In the past, when one thing became trendy, a rush of restaurants selling similar, related foods would pop up, but these days that does not seem to be the case. It seems like many restaurants have opened that let you enjoy not only a variety of dishes but also food from different countries. Today, I’d like to introduce one such place: The Makan, a Malaysian restaurant located on Songridan-gil in Jamsil. As people who have been to Malaysia will know, Malaysian food also suits Korean tastes quite well. So when I heard that a Malaysian restaurant had opened, I felt a little excited.

At The Makan, a Malaysian restaurant on Songridan-gil in Jamsil, the food is said to be prepared by chefs with more than seven years of experience at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In other words, you could say this is a place where you can experience the local flavors of Malaysia!!

First, let’s take a look at the menu. A variety of Malaysian dishes are available, and among them, nasi lemak and char kway teow, which are what people usually think of when they think of Malaysia, are said to be The Makan’s signature menu items.

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When you enter the restaurant, you can smell incense, and the moment you catch that scent, it feels like the space turns exotic. In particular, people who have traveled to Malaysia say that the scent alone brings back travel memories, so it seems that when you travel to Malaysia, you encounter a lot of incense-like fragrances.

The restaurant itself was not very large, but I liked that the space between tables was not too narrow. And thanks to the wooden interior, it had a calm and warm feeling. In addition, there were lush green plants here and there, which made it feel like I had traveled to Southeast Asia. That’s why, apparently, many people come here for dates. On weekends, if you go without a reservation, you may have to wait.

It suddenly got cold, but when I visited this place, it was still during a hot period, so I couldn’t help but order a beer. After cooling my throat with something refreshing first, I waited for the food. Drinking Tiger beer made it really feel like I was on a trip.

I visited hoping to try Malaysian food, but honestly, I wasn’t sure what to order. So I chose a dish that many people order. That seemed like the safest way not to fail, based on experience.

It was a dish called char kway teow, a Malaysian-style fried rice noodle dish. It is stir-fried noodles with chicken and shrimp, and the key point at The Makan is that you eat it with the restaurant’s special chili vinegar sauce.

At first, I tried it as is, but since it came with the sauce, I thought there must be a reason and poured it on. The freshness of the vinegar brought out the savory flavor of the fried rice noodles.

I also ordered some fried items that seemed like they would go well with alcohol, and visually they were the kind of fried foods and skewers we all know.

First, the salted egg fried sotong is fried squid. When squid is fried really well, it’s so delicious. The salty fried squid was truly the kind of flavor that naturally makes you want a beer.

And there was a skewer dish called satay, which is a Malaysian-style skewer of chicken and beef grilled over charcoal. What was interesting was that it is eaten with peanut sauce, and this peanut sauce paired so well with the skewers.

At The Makan, a Malaysian restaurant on Songridan-gil in Jamsil, I had a delicious meal while fully enjoying the feeling of being on a trip.