Langkawi Gazette

Ais Kacang at Selera Lubuk Buaya

By Mathijas Nanne

On the road again…. this time heading back home from some grocery shopping in Kuah. My wife was feeling peckish, not me, and suggested this little unknown place - to me at least - on Jalan Pantai Tengah. So we dropped by only to find a place that was nearly dead. Perhaps 5pm is either too early or too late but who doesn’t fancy an ‘Ais kacang’ at that time of the day? The sign board read ‘Selera Lubuk Buaya’ which translates to ‘Dining at the Crocodile Pool'…..hmmm original name, to say the least.

Located right beside one of Langkawi’s many abandoned projects, next to Aseania Resort, this eatery does local food at lunch and dinner. But we came for their Ais Kacang, something hard to find around this area.

My wife ordered for us and I just sat back and relaxed. It took some time to arrive and in the meantime she got bombarded with personal questions. But that’s not what we are here for. As said, the place was a little quiet but I’m sure when it is a bit busier it will have a nice atmosphere. Though located on the main road, it didn’t seem to be noisy from the traffic passing by or at least I didn’t notice.

While waiting, I noticed this particular smell, strong, musty and impossible to miss. Yep, there they were, a bunch of Durians waiting for consumption in the corner. The ‘king of fruits’ - as they’re known in this region - smell good for some but for many foreigners they either smell strange or just plain wrong. I know car rental companies and hotels that ban these fruits in their properties. I’ve tried it a couple of times and can’t say that I like it. Some people say it works even with Ais Kacang but I can only imagine the smell and intense flavour will take over whatever is in your bowl.

And there they were, two hefty bowls of iced bliss. Ais Kacang’s literal translation will be “Ice Peanut”. For those in the unknown, it is a lot of shaved ice with a great variety of garnishes but should always include beans and peanuts. This one here has also sweetened corn, aloe vera jelly with a lot of other colourfull types, a good dose of condensed milk and a whole lot of coloured syrups, which makes the whole thing look like a rainbow of ice.

Upon eating it we concluded that it was quite refreshing but since it didn’t have palm sugar syrup we felt there was something missing. I am however, biased and addicted to almost all variety of that particular sugar. Other than that, it covered all bases and was decent indeed. I’m sure you can request for your own style of this dessert and therefore suits it to your taste. If it was me, I would take out all the artificially coloured syrups and jellies and replace it with a generous amount of palm sugar but I will not take responsibility for any future health issues (say diabetes) should anyone take this advice of mine.

Since we didn’t try any other dishes there I cannot say much about the rest of the food they’re cooking. I suggest taking it easy on the rice and other dishes you may order and leave plenty of space for your perfect Ais Kacang!

Selera Lubuk Buaya
Lot 9659, KG PDG Putih
Jalan Pantai Tengah
Langkawi
Ph. 012 5395451