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.
9 comments:
Yes, a classic! I've been eating there or at the neighbouring Victory Restaurance since I was a kid.
wow... definitely yummy.. thanks.
I type Singapore and Hungry to search and found your blog. Indeed a nice complement to my otherwise boring packed lunch
U meant mee goreng right? I think u ought to try the nasi goreng ikan bilis, its fried rice with ikan bilis, thats nice!
Sorry - I did mean nasi goreng - I just accidentally wrote "noodles" instead of "rice." Well, the mee goreng looked good too!
Actually, the Wall Street Journal did a front page story on something similar in Vietnam maybe 5 years ago. They call it cafe cut chon, and there are even fakes/imitations that have never actually passed through the civet cat.
I have yet to try it, but I plan to next time I'm in Vietnam. I just hope that I don't get conned into drinking the fake stuff.
The curry Zam Zam uses is really heaty, unlike other curries. It gave me a headache for a few hours. (Or was it because of the noisy photocopier in my workplace?)
Anyway, I highly recommend the sardine murtabak without the curry. It's very filling and tases great, for a low price of $3.
Be careful though, don't slip on the oily floor in ZZ.
Murtabak and teh tarek...ahhh...what more can u ask for! :) Been browsing your blog, and u sure have eaten at alot of places! If you are concerned about going back smelling like a wakling murtabak soaked in curry, I suggest you order for take-away. It's even tastier coz they wrap the murtabak in banana leaf; once home, opening the packed murtabak can already make u drool!
I've read some of your posts, and wow, Zam Zam, sedap! I love that place, so old-fashioned style and none of that weird cheese/chocolate/ prata funny business. Great that you seem to really like Singapore food! I'm opposite of you, living in the US, I so miss the makan.
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