Wakaf Che Yeh, Kelantan

The Insight

Your tour in Kelantan especially in Kota Bahru would be incomplete if you don't visit the famous night market at Wakaf Che Yeh. At least you have an option for your nightlife when you are in Kota Bahru. What can we have here? In the morning this is a wholesale area while at night it becomes a lively night market. At the night market, you can buy souvenirs, dining or just chill out at the coffee shops or enjoying the street foods. Here you can buy apparels, cloths, local fruits, toys, body accessories, watches, blanket as well as electronic gadgets at reasonable price and do not forget to bargain. If you are hungry, it would not be a problem because there are a lot of stalls selling street foods and there are also many restaurants surrounds this area. Kerabu or Malaysian salads is one of the famous street food that you must try here. There are few options of kerabu such as seafood, beef, chicken, vegetables, squid or beef tripe. Basically the mixture of  fish sauce, fresh chillies and lime juice gives a strong flavour of the kerabu. There are few recipes but the most distinct kerabu is the one which has the right mixture of its ingredients. 

How to get there? It is located by the jalan Kuala Kerai and approximately 7 km from Pasar Siti Khadijah, which is in the heart of Kota Bahru. You can take taxi or drive by yourself. If you're driving, just take Jalan Kuala Kerai (JKR no.8) heading to Ketereh. The other way is to drive along Jalan Pintu Geng from Kota Bahru city centre until you reach Kota Jelasin or Jalan Puteri Saadong. If you plan to stay here, there are choices of accomodations; from 5 star hotel to family-friendly homestays. Holiday Villa hotel is just opposite to the main gate. 

Trivia:

Wakaf Che Yeh is located adjacent to Kota Jelasin. Both place is near to the Kelantan river. Kota Jelasin is well known for the residence of Puteri Saadong, a Kelantanese legendary princess who was also an adopted daughter of Che Siti Wan Kembang, the legendary Queen of Kelantan. There are few versions of her story but the most important thing is, her stories show that the independent Kelantanese Kingdom emerged since hundred of years ago and had become rivalry to the current Thai Kingdom for few centuries.

 Location of Wakaf Che Yeh and Kota Jelasin

 Jalan Kuala Kerai. Bus stop for Wakaf Che Yeh.

 Jalan Kuala Kerai picture, taken from Wakaf Che Yeh. Not far from the main gate.

 Body accessories are sold here.

Multi choice of apparels; jerseys, cloths, shirts, blouses, baju kurung etc.

 Electronic devices and gadgets.

 Local fruits and street foods.

Fresh laichees

 Fresh mangoes; ready to eat, kerabu or chutneys; its up to you.

This is one of a fine and fabulous kerabu that I had ever eat; the seafood kerabu.

Restoran Nasi Ulam Cikgu, Kota Bahru

Salah satu keunikan Kelantan adalah makanannya. Di sini aku nak nyatakan salah satu restoran unik yang ada di Kelantan, secara tepatnya di tengah bandar Kota Bahru adalah Restoran Nasi Ulam Cikgu. Restoran ini betul-betul terletak di sebelah Kampung Kraftangan Kota Bahru, yang berdekatan dengan Istana Jahar dan Masjid Muhammadi. Memang dekat. Untuk ke restoran ni, sekiranya berada di dataran parking bas depan istana tu, susue melalui Jalan Istana (sebelah istana yang dijadikan muzium tu lah) dalam kurang 100m anda akan jumpa dengan restoran ni. Nampak dari jauh macam medan selera sebab bumbungnya panjang. Di sebelahnya pula Muzium Kraftangan.

Begitulah lebih kurang menu yang ada di sini. Macam-macam jenis ulam ada, baik yang segar mahupun yang direbus. Lepas tu ada pulak pencicahnya seperti tempoyak, sambal manis, budu, cili kicap dan lain-lain. Boleh campur ikut cita rasa sendiri. Memang unik. Jangan orang Malaysia kenal kimchi Korea aje ye? Tempoyak Melayu jauh lebih sedap dan mantap berbanding kimchi Korea tu (tapi orang macam aku ni makan je kimchi, wasabi dan seangkatan dengannya asalkan halal). Lagi satu, ini juga bukti bahawa bukan orang Korea, Jepun dan Vietnam je yang kuat makan sayur, tapi orang Melayu juga memang kuat makan sayur. 

Inilah menu yang aku ambil. Ikan keli masak gulai, sayur campur masak lemak dan ulam daun tenggek burung dan ape ek, satu lagi aku tak tahu. Dan kena dengan campuran perasa aku sendiri iaitu tempoyak dan budu, diperah limau nipis sebagai sumber asid, ditambah pula penaik rasa asli yang terdiri daripada hirisan halus serai dan bawang. Akhir sekali siram dengan sos cili manis Kelantan. Perghhh! memang mantap! Memang kena lah untuk menghilangkan rasa pahit sayur tu. Kalau tengok macam hambar je kan? Tapi cuba rasa. Ikan gulai tu pulak, aku tak pasti nama tepatnya gulai apa. Tanya kawan Kelantan yang bawa aku ke situ pun dia tak tahu. Hmmm. Tapi takpe, aku suka dengan keunikannya. Senang cerita kalau di Johor dan Melaka terkenal dengan asam pedasnya, Kedah terkenal dengan sup rempah dan gulai karinya, Kelantan ni dengan gulai X ni lah! Serius, rasanya unik. Aku memang tak jumpa tempat lain. Gulai ikan patin Temerloh pun lain - tu unik jugak. Pendek cerita, memang seronok dengan makanan di Malaysia. Selamat mencuba.