Funan has recently been seeing quite a bit of movement of its F&B tenants; with former tenants such as that of Carl’s Junior, Yu Kee Braised Duck and Hawkerman which have all moved out of the mall recently, new entrants such as GyoGyo (a establishment focusing of Japanese grilled fish by Minor Food Singapore) and Five Foot Lane has established their presence in the mall. Taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Hawkerman outlet within Funan, Five Foot Lane is a new concept that focuses on serving up Indonesian dishes inspired by the street hawkers of Jakarta; the establishment is non-halal however, considering that they do serve dishes that contains pork. Whilst the layout of the space has not seen much changes the days which it was occupied by Hawkerman, there are some slight changes made to the furnishing and fittings overall; the space now sporting a slightly more colourful interior with splashes of pastel pink, green and bright yellow against wooden furniture and fittings — all that for a fun look that would attract the target audience which usually frequents the mall. We visited Five Foot Lane during their soft launch phase where they are serving a soft launch menu; the menu comprises of what one would typically expect out of an Indonesian eatery — think Fish, Beef, Pork and Chicken dishes such as that of Grilled Pomfret Fish with Rice, Signature Beef Rendang with Rice, Pork Satay, and Smashed Fried Chicken with Rice. The Noodles section features Indomie dishes served with different meat options, while there is also the Vegetables and Sides sections that would work well as a communal item to share across the table. Choice of beverages were rather limited during our visit; these were mainly restricted to canned beverages, as well as bottled drinks such as Tehbotol — all displayed at the counter and not listed anywhere on their printed or online menu.

Having skimmed through the menu, we found ourselves going for the Indomie with Pork Belly Sambal Rica; the item featuring elements such as Sambal Rica marinated pork belly, assorted vegetables, thinly sliced egg omelette and prawn cracker as per the printed menu. It is noted that both the Pork Belly Sambal Rica and Indomie came in separate bowls, with the bowl of Indomie coming with the all the other elements mentioned in the menu description of the item. Being a rather safe bet on its own, the Indomie is pretty comforting as one would have expected it to be — the noodles being springy, while also just savoury enough and lightly spicy (the noodles come spicy by default) that should work just fine for those with lower levels of tolerance to spiciness. The assorted vegetables included with the Indomie also seems to have featured cubes of pickled cucumbers and carrots; these provided a light tanginess which we found to be quite refreshing when had together after all the spicy elements in the item — the egg omelette itself was nothing much to shout about, though we were not too big of a fan with how the prawn cracker felt a little limp on some parts as though it has been placed in the open for a little too long. Moving on to the Pork Belly Sambal Rica, the Sambal Rica is described as a special sort of sambal that is known for being hot and spicy. The chunks of pork belly served up with their Indomie with Pork Belly Sambal Rica were pretty chunky; though there are some bits that felt more gelatinous from all the fatty parts, we liked how there are also quite a fair bit of leaner meat that gave a good chew. The sambal rica didn’t come with much of the ingredients that went into the making of it (i.e. the chili, shallots, garlic etc.), but the oil that came with it does provide quite a piquant kick on its own that tingles the tastebuds for those who are tolerant to moderate levels of spiciness — would have went absolutely well with a bowl of rice on the side to drizzle the oil with.

Indonesian fare is something that seem to be a niche that very few eateries would dabble into — whilst that is a market for such cuisine in Singapore, there just isn’t quite the same appeal for such food as compared to Korean, Japanese or even Malaysian fare to begin with. Five Foot Lane does seem to be a daring move to provide the masses an option of Indonesian fare within the mall that isn’t a mass-market brand that one would be able to easily find in other locations. Having tried also the Signature Beef Rendang with Rice and the Fried Tofu Inside-Out (i.e. Tofu with chicken and carrot filling), we found their offerings to be relatively decent, though there were definitely parts where it could certainly be more refined for more impact. Perhaps it is the lack of familiarity to Indonesian fare in general for us and us not having tried authentic Indonesian fare for the most part — the food just seemed a little difficult to relate to; probably just something that stuck out with us. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to wait out till they have officially launched for a more complete experience of what they have to offer.