Uptown Nasi Lemak (City Gate)

Mention Nasi Lemak in the Central Business District and a few names would immediately come to mind — that being said, one of the names that is most likely to be repeated by office workers around the area would likely be Uptown Nasi Lemak. Uptown Nasi Lemak is one of those names that had came into the F&B scene when the craze for Nasi Lemak executed in the same style as Village Park Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had become a trendy offering around the island — the queues for their Nasi Lemak still going on strong during weekday lunch hours even though a couple of years had since passed from its initial days of opening at the coffeeshop at 121 Telok Ayer Street. With its continued popularity, it seems like the folks at Uptown Nasi Lemak have decided to finally expand their operations — their second outlet being an independently-run establishment located at the ground level of City Gate just a short distance away from Nicoll Highway MRT Station amk bbt the Circle Line. Taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Doris’s Devilishly Delicious Curry, this also meant that the City Gate outlet of Uptown Nasi Lemak is one that comes with a fully air conditioned dining environment. The entire interior does seem to be decked in a way that is more for function rather than for form, though the walls does feature some “art” pieces as one may call it. Nonetheless, Uptown Nasi Lemak does not seem to stray away from its core offerings at its newest location; the emphasis here is undoubtedly on the Nasi Lemak which they are all known for — the Nasi Lemak at their City Gate outlet coming in various options of meat / seafood such as that of the usual Ayam Goreng Berempah, as well as Sambal Sotong, Curry Kapitan Chicken, Beef Rendang and even Sambal Petai Prawn, just to name a few. Beverages offered currently revolve around canned drinks, though we did notice boilers and other equipment that might hint of them serving up local-style Kopi and Teh in the near future.

We still recalled having dropped by Uptown Nasi Lemak’s outlet at Telok Ayer when they had first opened their doors at the coffeeshop at 121 Telok Ayer Street — we had previously also given their Nasi Lemak with Ayam Goreng Ayam Berempah a go, though the chicken part that we went for was the Thigh back then. Wanting to give the full Uptown Nasi Lemak experience a go this time round during our visit to their City Gate outlet, we went for tithe Nasi Goreng Ayam Berempah (Whole Leg) option instead. All else on the plate was pretty similar to what we have had before — apart from the entire fried chicken leg that we had opted for this time round, the dish came with the coconut-infused rice, Nyonya Achar, Ikan Bilis and peanuts, sambal chili, half of a hard-boiled egg and slices of cucumber on the side. We did recall ourselves having preferred the Nasi Lemak that is served up at other establishments a little more then what we have had at Uptown Nasi Lemak previously, and this seemed to have remain true especially considering how we have had more variants of Nasi Lemak from other establishments over the years. Don’t get us wrong — this is one enjoyable Nasi Lemak in its own right; the rice being sufficiently moist and distinguishable to the grain with a light coconut-y fragrance. The chicken leg itself was also decent; it comes with a light hint of lemongrass and turmeric notes that can be said as alluring, though the chicken wasn’t quite as tender and moist as we would have liked it to be. The real star here seems to be the sambal chili — this carried an evident hint of sweetness, yet packed quite a fiery punch that would tickle the taste buds of those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness even. Ikan Bilis were also satisfying here — delivered a crunch without feeling limp from being left in the open for too long. Had always felt that Uptown Nasi Lemak’s rendition of the Village Park Restaurant Nasi Lemak has been a good attempt independently, though this might be one that suits those with a lighter palate in general.