Nasi 7 Benua is causing some stir in the food-hunting community recently. I took advantage of an off-peak hour to find out what the hype is all about. This Malay restaurant is located near SPICE Arena, next to Seri Delima flats and the soccer field.
The name “7 Benua” literally means “7 Continents”, which represents the classical grouping of the world’s major landmasses. Symbolically, this name reflects the 7 types of rice that is available here. Of course, one can opt for only 1 type of rice. But why settle for 1 when you can have all 7?
Each of the 7 types of rice is served in size of a small teacup.
The 7 types are:
– Nasi Putih (Plain Rice): plain white rice.
– Nasi Minyak (Buttered Rice): often served in kenduri (village feasts).
– Nasi Hujan Panas (Rainbow Rice): uses dyes of different color to simulate raindrops.
– Nasi Kacang (Lentil Rice): has greenish hue due to the use of green lentil.
– Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice): often used to serve nasi lemak.
– Nasi Tomato (Tomato Sauce Rice): crowd favorite in Malay stalls due to its sweet-tangy taste.
– Nasi Lemuni (Lemuni Rice): uses leaves of a local herb which is traditional remedy for fever, cough and ulcer.
Besides rice, there is also a reasonably wide spread of Malay-style side dishes, such as meats, fish, shrimps, squid, vegetables, crackers and others. My choices today are squid with chili paste, braised potato, fried anchovies with chili paste, and boiled bean curd. The meal costs RM9.50. The food here is quite affordable when considering the amount and serving size.
To stretch the ringgit even further, free drink is provided for each dine-in customer, although the choices are limited to a few such as Sirap Ros (rose syrup). For other drinks, customers just need to cover the price difference.
Address: Lintang Bayan 12, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang
Contact: 017-439-7617
Business hours: 11:30am-11:00pm, closed on SundaysTaste
