THE Nasi Lemak

From THE Nasi Lemak
Spoonfuls of fluffy long grain basmati rice.
Consistently crunchy fried anchovies and groundnuts.
Signature chilli sauce and fried egg.
Yummy.
$4.

Had come across The Nasi Lemak — one of the few new stalls which had opened its doors in recent months at one of the two coffee shops located at Blk 269 Queen Street; the very same coffeeshop that also houses King of Pao Fan and a rather popular “Bukit Purmei Lor Mee” stall.

Affiliated with Aliff’s Nasi Lemak which is located at Serangoon Gardens Food Centre, the stall does serve up Kueh on selected days — otherwise, the stall serves up Nasi Lemak either in predetermined sets which comes with fixed ingredients, or one can actually mix and match the dishes to their own preferences. Served on a tray with waxed paper lining the tray, the presentation is pretty rustic — actually rather different from how some influencers have portrayed it to be; the original presentation being rather down-to-earth and less pretentious, which was something I quite liked.

Have seen some mixed reviews over the rice here but it was pretty decent when we made our visit — the basmati rice is cooked soft and fluffy; each grain being distinguishable from one another, while the rice perfumes of an evident hint of coconut-y aroma that carries a slight note of saltish-ness that seemingly replicates that of coconut water; pretty interesting. Most of the dishes, including the fried items, are prepared in big batches and placed at the display counter — despite the chicken being served almost close to room temperature, I did appreciate how the chicken still remained relatively crispy whilst coming lightly flavoured from the turmeric used in the marination process; not particularly greasy, and was juicy and tender. Otah was also rather decent; coming in a rather well-sized slab that was smooth and carried a good hint of rempah spices and a slight kick of spiciness that should be manageable to most. The sunny-side-up was unfortunately overdone; lacked the runny egg yolk that some would be looking out for, whilst also prepared in big batches while the chili lacked a kick even though it did carry an aptly sweet note typical of Nasi Lemak chili. Ikan Bilis also felt like they were on the verge of being limp halfway through the meal, though not too much of a dealbreaker.

Given how their Nasi Lemak is, The Nasi Lemak’s rendition of the local favourite fares better than most in the immediate area that it is located at — behind the fluff generated by social media with the overdone plating efforts seems to lie a rather down-to-earth character that does not make it too much different from most other stalls serving the same fare. But that being said, The Nasi Lemak is far from being perfect; there are elements that could do better with some tweaks — especially that of the sunny-side-up and the intensity of their chili (though probably fits well with those of low spiciness tolerance). It is not exactly a stall I would make the trip down just to give it a go, but their basmati rice does seem considerably well-executed to satisfy those last-minute Nasi Lemak cravings — an option I would most certainly exercise again for lunch back in the office.