Rohani Jelani
Good for: cooking classes, cooking, beautiful, wonderful, culinary
Not good for: bad food, ugly, messy, lazy people, unsociable people
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- Website
Lonely Planet review for Rohani Jelani
Book online for courses with cookbook author Rohani Jelani in her kitchen out at Sungai Penchala, 10km southwest of KL.
Traveller reviews for Rohani Jelani (5)
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i cannot agree more
raylai recommends this,
We attended a cooking party organised by newly-married friends at Bayan Indah. It was very proffessionally done with pleasant lady staff and everyone felt very pleased with the results of the cookery class as we cooked a truly excellent dinner. My wife was so surprise with herself that she made the same dish 8 times in the next month, and always with good results because Rohani is a very good teacher and her recipes are accurate and easy to follow. We live in Singapore but plan to travel again specially for more classes here. Also intend to take some staff here for a special company event.
They respected our wishes for not wishing to publish the party pictures on their website so just say so if you want total privacy.
Highly recommend this place. Organised, proffessionally managed and as a result, everything went very smooth and it was a excellent day out.
Good for: good food, cooking classes, good fun
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A fantastic cooking school in a beautiful setting
bsusie recommends this,
We came here as part of a spouse program organised by my husband's company when we attended a corporate seminar. What an inspired choice! Instead of the usual handicrafts fairs or guided tours, we were taken to Bayan Indah to experience at first-hand the magic of making Malaysian meals. I am used to various Asian cuisines but never did I imagine that Malaysia had so much delicious food to offer.
It was a serious pleasure to meet Rohani and to listen to her talk about the herbs and condiments which had just been freshly plucked from the organic gardens outside the kitchen. The class itself was well-organised and it was such a lot of fun because all the staff were very nice and very funny ladies, obviously enjoying themselves being with us in the beautiful open plan kitchen. The real magic was sitting on the verandah tables dining on the dishes we had cooked. Every single dish was a culinary delight, delicious beyond words almost. The day is now etched in my memory as the best day I had in Kuala Lumpur.
At this point, I should mention a little about the setting of Bayan Indah. It hugs the side of a steep patch of tropical forest and the decor of the rooms are very original and pretty. What a gem of a mansion! No wonder Rohani says that she never advertises as enough people seem to know about the place that she doesn't have to promote it and she likes to keep it as a "special" place for the initiated. Therefore, I may be doing a little disservice to her by telling people about this place but I cannot help it. It is just too NICE a place to keep to oneself!
Good for: Scenery, beautiful, cooking, cooking classes, wonderful, culinary, delicious
Not good for: bad food
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Our favourite place in Kuala Lumpur
emmajacks recommends this,
I visit my boyfriend who is working in KL several times a year and one thing we always do whenever I come is go to Bayan Indah for cooking classes. It is our secret place in many ways. We both love food and cooking and we enjoy so much learning from Rohani, who is also a food writer and researcher into original Malaysian recipes. My cooking has improved tremendously after a few classes and I am now much more aware of how great Asian dishes are created.
Apart from the culinary aspects, Bayan Indah is also a very beautiful place and quite unlike anywhere else in Kuala Lumpur. It is such an unexpected mix of antiques and stylish modern art, and yet it feels so harmonious. The kitchen is superb, extremely well-equipped and spacious and looks into the forest at the rear.
Unusually, Bayan Indah also offer a limited number of guest rooms for overnight visitors and we have also stayed at the Pandan Room here. It is a lovely and different experience from a hotel, and it begins with the wonderful breakfast and fresh free cookies every day. However, it is difficult to book as availability is very limited so we have not been able to make it a second time yet.
I think the link here is wrong as Rohani's website has been updated and it should now be http://www.bayanindah.com
Good for: retreat, cooking, class, cooking classes, kuala lumpur, fantastic, great, superb, lovely, brilliant, wonderful, culinary, delicious, room, dining, gourmet, malay, nyonya
Not good for: ugly, messy, bad food
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Wonderful experience - totally perfect cooking class
selinag recommends this,
The place Bayan Indah is for sure not an easy place to find but like all treasures, it is very much worth the effort. It is hidden away in an olden Malay village where the roads have no maps and no names so please use Bayan Indah to call a taxi for you!
When you arrive at the lovely mansion, you notice the forest on the high hill behind and wonder how a beautiful place like this is a cooking school. Then you walk in and are greeted by a very friendly Rohani and the equally friendly group of other people who came for the class and most of them are local Malaysian or Singapore people with 2 people from Australian and a fellow German woman.
The class then begins with a short but clear explanation of the spices and how they combine in a dish and then we get our recipes and we start to cook with a lot of laughing and fun as Rohani expertly shows us how to make the dishes, with a lot of jokes in between.
Too soon, the class ends and then we sit on the beautifully-prepared outside table (in the nice cool shade!) and we eat a truly wonderful lunch. It is the best meal I had in all Malaysia, honestly. Then we spend like hours talking with each other and in the end it was very difficult to leave. It is like leaving your favourite auntie's house after a very happy party and all you can do is think of coming again.
Good for: gourmet food, Malaysian food, people who like good food, beauty, beautiful, cooking, cuisine, cooking classes, kuala lumpur
Not good for: lazy people, unsociable people, food haters
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Fantastic classes in a beautiful location
dinclub recommends this,
Bayan Indah is the stunning cooking school run by Rohani Jelani, and probably one of the best such schools in South East Asia. The classes are conducted by a charming, witty Rohani in a lovely spacious open-plan kitchen and are informative, useful and very detailed, down to the precise recipes and the history lessons about the origins and uses of spices, herbs and other ingredients. Some of the herbs are sourced directly from the organic herb gardens outside the kitchen.
The whole place is also breathtakingly beautiful, set against a small rainforest mountain. The decor is eclectic, quirky and funky but always stylish and elegant, with a mix of ancient and modern furnishings. Everything conspires to make any visitor never want to leave. This place is one of Malaysia's best kept secrets and most of the students are local foodies, not tourists, which shows how highly regarded Rohani is in a country full of excellent food.
Good for: Organic food, Malaysian food, local people, cooking, class, cuisine, cookery, school, local
Not good for: casual tourists, bad taste
