Feeling a little nostalgic, guess who joined her dad at Sixth Avenue for some nasi lemak!

Hoping to replicate my taste memories, I was disappointed to find out that due to the prolonged pandemic, Sixth Ave Nasi Lemak has significantly shrunk their à la carte selection, choosing to subsist on the usual nasi lemak set staples alongside other noodle dishes like mee soto, mee siam, and mee rebus.

I ended up settling – I know – for a normal set with two extra fishes while my dad ordered his usual bowl of mee siam. Here is normally where I tell you how much everything costs, except that because I’ve never actually ordered food from SANL myself before, I have no idea how much anything costs. The ballpark if memory serves is around $4-$5 for their standard nasi lemak set without additions, with extra charge for more sambal.

While I wished I had the presence of either their sambal cuttlefish – thick, luscious cuts that my mum and I would get extra servings of – or sayur lodeh as a reprieve from all the dry ingredients, the nasi lemak is still really good.

The basmati rice was misty with the scent of coconut, making it even sweet when rolled with their signature sambal. Perfectly built to cut the richness of their protein. The fishes are bigger and fleshier than most places, and seared just enough to bring forth their natural flavour and to create texture. And their ikan bilis is just magical in their crackle. Even their chicken wing – which I normally skip – had a beautifully crisp skin and juicy interior, neither marred by the overwhelming stain of oil.

Always a treat when your childhood food heroes live up to your taste memories!