I don't really like Malay food because it's too sweet, but one notable exception is nasi lemak, which is a coconut cream-soaked rice with a sweet chili sauce, ikan bilis (little fish), and other accompaniments like a fried egg, fried chicken, and fried fish. For those of you in the SF Bay Area, note that this is the dish referenced in The Straits Times (the national paper here) story about how a Singaporean went to California to start up the Straits Cafe, where he charges Americans US$15 for nasi lemak (my dish served here was only S$3.50, or US$2).
Actually, I think the only reason I like this is because of an incident of mental conditioning: after a long morning of wakeboarding on an empty stomach in Borneo, I headed off to the airport dying for food, finding only nasi lemak upon arrival. It ended up being one of the most satisfying meals that I've ever had (I needed the carbs and grease), and I've had a soft spot for nasi lemak ever since.
This place is one of the most famous spots - so much that the Sultan of Brunei allegedly sends his people here to get food for him whenever he comes into Singapore. You can see here the long lines forming at 11:30 AM too (and they are longer than their next door imitator). It's worth the wait. The rice here was particularly good, as is the fried chicken, which must be one of the crispiest I've ever had (although not necessarily as tasty as the colonel). Add some teh halia (a really spicy ginger-based milk tea) - not too shabby!
Another interesting local dish is roti john, which is basically just a fried egg and bread with chili sauce. It is nice and greasy, but I'm not a huge fan of bread, so I won't go out of may way for this. But it is good.
4 comments:
I agree, Malay food is too sweet for my tastes (as is much of the food in Singapore). Indonesian food, on the other hand, is a more savory version and it's up there with Indian and Middle Eastern food in my book. Especially the Gulai dishes from Yogyakarta. The closest thing I can find in Singapore is the consistently fabulous Warung M Nasir on Killiney. I'm curious how it would strike your palate.
Try the nasi lemak stall at the North Bridge Road market(the one near ICA)- the chicken's awesome, and it's all under three bucks. They've got mee siam and whatnot as well, and nasi padang as well.
hey!!! i like ur blog so much... it gives me so much info on wat's not and wat's gud to eat... haha!! anw, if u want to try various food u have to go to Indonesia!!! The food there are gud!!! (if u know where to go, it's so complicated in indo) but basically u can go to Jakarta to find the quite enough gud fud.nb:jakarta also has gud fud. this will become ur new experience...
hey i still think that Middle Road Nasi Lemak is still the best!:)yummmyyyyyy
Post a Comment