Line Clear Restaurant in Kampung Baru (LC Restoran KL)

Against (perhaps) our better judgement, the sibling and myself decided to check out the KL branch of the (in)famous Line Clear nasi kandar, LC Restoran, located in Kampung Baru, for lunch on the first day of CNY (it's not like we could go during Raya...). Even though we had breakfast less than a couple of hours before, we left home around noon. 

The sibling had already scouted out the best place to park (it's on Waze) - there's a parking lot out back for the Line Clear clientele. Between the both of us, he was the only one who's ever been to the one in Penang. 

Entrance from the unpaved parking lot in the back

As to be expected, there is a line - apparently all the non-Chinese in KL had decided to check the place out too..? At least we weren't lining up out on the street.

There's also an air-conditioned VIP area downstairs and a surau upstairs. You would think there would be more seating upstairs, but they don't. Ish. 

Check out the crazy line

One of the things about being in line so long is that you have all the time in the world to study the menu and judge its prices. We joked with this makcik ahead of us about the price of the poppadom (RM1 for 3 pieces -_-) - the usual, "for that price, can fry our own" etc. 

Check out the prices :P

 I scoffed at the tagline, "Always Clear". Clear my ass lah :P

So close, yet so far.

At this point, we were probably in line for at least half an hour. Luckily I was still full from breakfast earlier and managed to stay hangry-free. 

So by the time I got my lunch (curry drenched rice, fried chicken, some fried bittergourd, and cabbage), I was properly hungry and we were in line for almost an hour. When I got to the front of the line, I think I understood why the line was so long and so slow - things like basic fried chicken run out pretty quickly, and I waited an awkward couple of minutes for a fresh batch to come out of the fryer (which is a pretty long time). By the time I got my food, there were no more clean spoons and I had to settle with eating my meal with just a fork (if there's anything I learned from angmo food shows: you could eat rice with a fork, but it'll be slow). Tip: if you get the chance, get the cutlery first, even if you hadn't gotten your nasi just yet. Have you tried eating fried chicken with just a fork? I had to use my hand towards the end. 

Nice to look back :P

Lining up for the food is one thing; getting a table afters is another - tables were being taken up by people waiting for their family members who are in line for food. Luckily I found a table quickly by unabashedly asking a family of four if the table next to theirs was taken (it wasn't); can't trust the sibling to do anything one, table also yours truly must scout :P 

I heard from the guy we shared a table with that if you came in a group of five or more, you get tableside service and the food comes to you in family serving portions... Don't know how true is that, but if the family of four we shared a table with also had to line up for their food, they probably had a point :P  And the guy was erm, surprised that Chinese people also "tau makan" nasi kandar. Errr... okay then. 

Prep station for group orders

For my plate of rice, they only charged me RM6.60, which wasn't too bad I suppose, but it's also pretty basic. Not sure if I would come back again any time soon or ever...