On The Menu | nasi lemak

If you’ve got friends from faraway lands coming to visit, where should you bring them for lunch? The nearest hawker centre would be an obvious choice, but there’s just one problem: the sweltering Singapore heat doesn’t really help when you’re eating a spicy bowl of laksa.

Beat the heat and grab some local classic dishes at these upscale, air-conditioned restaurants! They offer mouth-watering, uniquely Singaporean hawker foods that have gotten an atas makeover. We’re also exploring two levels of fancy, so you don’t have to burn a hole in your wallet… unless you want to, of course.

Chicken Rice

Privé Asian Civilisations Museum

Our mums and dads will love the chicken rice served at Privé Asian Civilisations Museum ($17). The chicken is slightly pink – trust us, it’s completely safe to eat – just the way it was in the good old days. You can be sure you’re getting quality chicken too, as the chickens are from Toh Thye San Farm, where they are raised without hormones or antibiotics and allowed to roam freely. The result is flavourful and succulent meat that makes this dish a resounding hit with both locals and tourists. Pro tip: there are only 20 portions prepared daily, so call ahead to avoid disappointment.

Find it at 1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Town Restaurant

Located in the majestic Fullerton Hotel near the mouth of the historic Singapore River, Town Restaurant’s menu of local delights features their take on an iconic dish: the Fullerton’s Boneless Hainanese Chicken Rice. For $29, you’ll get a bowl of rice bursting with the fragrance of pandan and lemongrass, silky and tender chicken, and a flavourful soup with cabbages, tofu, and wolfberry. Trust us, it’s worth every cent. Best enjoyed at the breezy al fresco waterfront terrace.

Find it at 1 Fullerton Square, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, Singapore 049178.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Laksa

Beast & Butterflies

You’ll never have a boring meal at Beast & Butterflies, a bold fusion restaurant with an adventurous take on the classic Laksa. The laksa ($16) features mee tai mak noodles in a creamy yet piquant broth, served with prawns, fishcake, and tau pok. Instead of cockles, cherrystone clams are used instead, giving a sweeter, less briny flavour. Another welcome twist is the deep-fried tau pok, which is delightfully crispy and makes for an enjoyable variation in texture.

Find it at 90 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238259.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Straits Cafe

Offering buffets showcasing cuisine from the Straits Settlement, the delectable spread at Straits Cafe features their award-winning laksa that is too good to be missed! The star of this dish is undoubtedly the laksa broth, which is rich, satisfying, and overflowing with classic Peranakan flavours. Be prepared to splurge a little as lunch starts at $42++, while dinner starts at $50++. On the bright side, you’ll get to stuff your face with as many local treats as you can handle, so the buffet’s definitely worth the price tag.

Find it at 9 Bras Basah Road, Lobby Level, Rendezvous Hotel, Singapore 189559.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Nasi Lemak

Sinpopo

There’s only one word that comes to mind when you step into Sinpopo: nostalgia. However, the vintage furniture and retro interior isn’t the real gem of this throwback to the 70s. Sinpopo’s Nasi Lemak for Two ($28; so that works out to be $14 per person) is a masterful dish that will bring back memories of the Singapore of days gone by. Everything is cooked using traditional methods, from the coconut rice steamed in traditional muslin cloth to the homemade sweet onion ikan bilis sambal. Each portion of rice also comes with a soft-centre egg, Har Jeong Kai wings, pork belly marinated in lam yu, deep fried luncheon meat crisps, rojak slaw, and sambal fishballs.

Find it at 458 Joo Chiat Road, Singapore 427671.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Chatterbox

For a uniquely Singaporean meal with a touch of class, look no further than Mandarin Orchard Hotel’s Chatterbox. The restaurant is a green and earth-toned oasis that offers a respite from the sweltering weather as well as upmarket versions of our local favourites, including a delicious Nasi Lemak ($26). Expect fragrant coconut rice, with crispy fried chicken wing, a fried egg, and an otah. You don’t need to worry about your ang moh friend either, as the sambal has a little less kick than what locals are used to, making it perfect for foreigners.

Find it at 333 Orchard Road Level 5, Mandarin Orchard Hotel Singapore, Singapore 238867.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Bak Chor Mee

The Lobby Lounge at Shangri-La Hotel

The Lobby Lounge at Shangri-La Hotel offers an enticing array of local heritage hawker dishes. However the Bak Chor Mee with Fish Maw Soup ($28) stands out as the star of the show. This noodle dish is inspired by the famous Seng Kee Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle, in Serangoon Gardens Market & Food Centre, so expect the noodles to be cooked perfectly al dente and the soup to be rich, filled with umami, and brimming with quality threadfin fish maw. It’s served in delicate porcelain bowls (the kind you can find in your grandmother’s house) as well, to give an extra serving of nostalgia and authenticity.

Find it at 22 Orange Grove Road, Lobby Level, Tower Wing, Shangri-La Hotel Singapore, Singapore 258350.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Restaurant Labyrinth

Presenting a feast of atas Singaporean food that’s a treat for all the senses, Restaurant Labyrinth deconstructs Singaporean classics and presents them in delicious, yet innovative ways. The Chef’s Tasting Menu (SGD$118) features Chef LG Han’s unique spin on Bak Chor Mee – the noodles are made from strips of squid while the pieces of fish cake are sliced Hokkaido scallops. With his adventurous expectation-defying dishes, you’ll soon come to realise that nothing is ever as it seems.

Find it at 8 Raffles Avenue, #02-23, Esplanade Mall, Singapore 039802.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Roti Prata

Big Street Singapore

Nestled in a two-storey shophouse, Big Street Singapore is a local heritage restaurant that serves Singaporean staples like roti prata. Their prata sets give you plain or egg prata, with a choice between the fragrant Curry Chicken Thigh ($9) or the moreish Rendang Mutton Mysore ($11). If you prefer to customise your order, you can get two pieces of plain prata for $3, while a murtabak costs $10. They even offer innovative dishes incorporating local favourites like the Chilli Crab in a Prata Bag (market price) and Salted Egg Prata Bom ($6).

Find it at 104/106 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208828.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Zaffron Kitchen (East Coast)

Although roti prata is commonly eaten for breakfast or supper, Singaporeans love their Indian food and can have it anytime. One of the best places to indulge in perfectly executed Indian cuisine is Zaffron Kitchen. The restaurant, awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2017, is a hip, modern space in Katong perfect for large gatherings. The Curry Chicken Prata Set ($12.90) features thick chicken curry with generous servings of meat and flaky prata you can mop up every last drop of curry with.

Find it at 135-137 East Coast Road, Singapore 428820.
Earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Nasi lemak is one of those foods that has seen plenty of iterations in recent years. With more and more places around the island offering the delicious dish at various price points, we decided to find out if it’s actually worth shelling out extra cash for a “better” quality dish.

Wan Xing Nasi Lemak and Economic Bee Hoon ($2.50)

Wan Xing is known for their cheap food – they have a couple of outlets, if we recall correctly – so it’s no wonder their stall frequently sees snaking queues. The nasi lemak incorporates all the ingredients you would expect – from the spicy sambal to sunny side up – but you can add various dishes from their selection. The rice is supposed to have a green tinge but ours was quite faint. Taste-wise, it had a mild pandan flavour and wasn’t particularly fragrant, but blended perfectly with the sambal, which, to be honest, tasted like most other sambals from the hawker centre. The peanut and ikan bilis mix was crunchy and salty, but relatively sparse. However, for the low price point, this dish was filling and rather delicious, something we would buy again if we were in the neighbourhood and craving nasi lemak.

Find it at 270 Queen Street, Albert Centre #01-62, Singapore 180270

The Coconut Club ($15)

The Coconut Club has been popular among the lunchtime crowd in the city for a while now, so we were curious to see how it held up against the low, low price of $2.50. This spot pays careful attention to the quality of their dishes – think using old crop Thai Jasmine Rice and coconuts from one specific plantation in Sabak Bernam to create fluffy, fragrant rice.

When the dish arrived at the table, it certainly looked impressive, from the colours to the amount of each component. We tried the rice and that was good, fluffy and not drenched in oil. We tried the homemade sambal and that was good too, a balance of sweet and spicy. But then we tried the chicken and forgot everything else; it was definitely the highlight of the dish. Unlike the generic fried chicken of the other two, the chicken here had a spicy, uniquely Asian flavour and featured a delightfully crunchy skin. Would we come back? Yes (after payday), if only to eat that crisp chicken skin again.

Find it at 6 Ann Siang Hill, Singapore 069787
Click here for more information on The Coconut Club.

Chatterbox (Mandarin Orchard Singapore) ($30)

Given the price tag, this must have been the best of the lot, right? We hoped it was, we wanted it to be! The excitement was real, but dampened a bit when the dish was laid before us. The sambal looked legitimately crafted and there was the addition of prawns, but the rest of the components looked like any nasi lemak joint out there. Nevermind, we thought, it’s all in the taste. But while the tangy, spicy prawns did leave us satisfied and the otah was undeniably flavourful, neither the sambal nor the rice left us in gastronomic heaven. That’s not to say it wasn’t good, however, the dish as a whole was fragrant and recognisably ‘nasi lemak’, but lacked a real punch that would elevate it to legendary status. On the whole, it’s a great place to bring someone you’re looking to impress with classy local faves, or for people who prefer less spice and more subtle flavours.

Find it at 333 Orchard Road, Singapore 238867
Book a table at Chatterbox and earn 2X Chope-Dollars with code TASTYBLOG.

Ultimately, we’re happy to keep our nasi lemak expenditure below $7 on the regular (why the odd number? Because we admit to having a soft spot for Qiji), but willing to fork out that extra bit of cash for The Coconut Club’s hearty offering.