MON CHINESE BEEF ROTI (Food Republic @ VivoCity)

The revamp of the Food Republic food court at VivoCity had most certainly brought in quite a number of new and interesting tenants into the tenant mix — whilst we had previously given Xi Dian 囍・點 and Paragon Nasi Lemak a go, another tenant that has gotten a fair bit of attention would be that of Mon Chinese Beef Roti. These folks have been said to originate from Yinchuan, China, but are probably more noted for their operations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in Bukit Bintang which had seen them becoming viral — they had since opened a few more outlets in Kuala Lumpur as well. Occupying a stall unit that is slightly bigger than some within the food court, Mon Chinese Beef Roti does have quite a visible food preparation area where one can literally view how the Rotis are made before being fried whilst queueing up for the food. Mon Chinese Beef Roti serves up only two (2) items on the menu — their signature Beef Roti and the Chicken Roti. It is of particular note that whilst the locations of Mon Chinese Beef Roti in Malaysia are halal, the Mon Chinese Beef Roti in the Food Republic food court at VivoCity is not halal-certified at the time of writing of this post.

We went for the Chicken Roti since we weren’t really quite wanting to deal with red meat on the day that we had made our visit to Mon Chinese Beef Roti — in doing so, we are also lucky to be able to get our hands on a batch of the Chicken Roti that has just been freshly-fried out of the fryer. It is worth noting that despite the similarities in the bread in terms of aesthetics, the Roti from Mon Chinese Beef Roti should not be mixed up with that of the Rougamo which is more commonplace around the island — this is especially so when the Roti comes more like a bun with the meat filings encased within, while the Rougamo sees the bread sliced in the middle to be stuffed with meat and vegetables in the middle; the flavours of the meat fillings are also somewhat different between the two as well. Taking a bite into the Chicken Roti, the bread here is one that comes all light, crispy and flaky; one can definitely feel the lamination process in the making of the bread as well where there a distinct layers almost akin to that of a croissant. Considering how the Roti itself is being fried in oil, it can be a little greasy for some but we did find it still within an acceptable extent anyway. The chicken filling within the Roti itself can be described as being in a form akin to a meat patty that was well-sized; coming with bits of onions in between, the onions provided a soft crunch amidst the also soft, tender and moist chicken patty that came with a light touch of seasoning (supposedly cumin?) — we did wish that the sprinkling of cumin powder could be a little more even throughout the meat patty however since the lightly saltish flavours are concentrated mostly in one area of the meat patty. Nonetheless, still a very satisfying eat anyway that is reasonably priced — think $4.50 for the Chicken Roti and $5 for the Beef Roti. Definitely something which we would consider getting again if craving for something less substantial for a meal if Mon Chinese Beef Roti will be able to keep to such standards and consistency in the long run.