Singapore Zam Zam Restaurant

Not too unlike roti prata, murtabak is an interesting Indian-like dish but actually a local Singaporean/Malaysian creation. And Zam Zam (697/699 North Bridge Road, 6298-7011) is a Singaporean institution that has been around since 1908 (wow - that's older than Singapore itself). The mutton murtabak is like a prata stuffed with ground mutton, chopped onions, and egg, and served piping hot for you to dip into a curry sauce. This was pretty tasty, and the prata kosong is huge too.

To add to the cultural experience, this place is across the street from the Masjid Sultan mosque, and the restaurant staff stops every so often for the call to prayer, which is quite enchanting. The food is dirt cheap, and I plan to come back here to try the sardine murtabak as well as their nasi goreng noodles, both of which looked pretty good. Just as with most of these places though, the smell of curry penetrates your clothing (despite the air conditioning upstairs), so I'll be sure not to wear a shirt and tie here next time.