Red Lacquer Penang Peranakan @ Jurong Point

I met up with a fellow Malaysian friend at Jurong Point and she had excitedly told me about Red Lacquer Restaurant that serves Penang Peranakan food. Authentic Penang food in Singapore, too good to be missed.

After going through the menu, we settled for fish otak otak, fruit rojak, fried kway teow and prawn noodle soup.

The fish otak otak was wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, just like in Penang.


Tastewise, not too great I must say. The steamed fish otak otak was a little too dry, terribly not spicy at all without any kick. It would have been much better if the fish fillet was served separately from the concoction of chilli, spices, egg and coconut milk. Instead, the fish fillet was minced together with the concoction of spices-coconut milk. Other than that, the obligatory daun kodok which is usually added at the bottom of the banana leave package was missing.

The fruit rojak came with the prawn paste and chopped peanuts. Yummy, there were fruits such as green mango, pineapple, pink guava and cucumber slices dressed up with the prawn paste and chopped peanuts. We enjoyed the fruit rojak. Another lady at another table was enjoying her fruit rojak alone with a cup of coffee, looks like a great idea for lunch for me the next time!

The next dish was the prawn noodle soup. The soup was truly enjoyable, bursting with shrimp flavour, I must say. The portion was just a little too small for me. But then again, if you have eaten in Penang, food portions are very small.

The next dish was the fried kuay teow or rice sticks. I would just rate it 3.5 out of 5. It was just good enough to satisfy the food craving of a Malaysian staying in Singapore. The cockles were too small. The Chinese sausages were sliced so thinly that one could not taste the richness of the sausage. Kudos to the big prawns though.

All in all, it was an enjoyable meal. I am sure there are other great dishes in the menu that warrants a second visit, such as the popiah and the duck with preserved vegetable soup. Not forgeting the nasi lemak which looked great in the menu.

Address: Red Lacquer Penang Peranakan
Jurong Point Shopping Centre
#03-96/ 101 Singapore 648331

Sabar Menanti @ Kandahar Street

I have been meaning to write a little about Sabar Menanti which is in Malay and it means "Have patience waiting". Very nice name for a eatery.

How do we order our food here? Walk up to their food counter, where there is a wide array of ready-cooked dishes to select from. Let the people behind the counter know whether you want to order dishes for 1 or 2 or any number of people that you wish. If the dishes are meant for more than 2, it would be good to let them know that you want to share the dishes.

The special of the day, in which many people were ordering, was the bittergourd dish. I believe that the dish was stir fried with egg and chillies. Absolutely delicious. Even my friend who hates bittergourd was competing with me to finish it. Picture below.

The next dish that I ordered was the "sambal sotong" (or squid with chilli paste). Another winner of the day. The spiciness and sourness of the chilli gravy was so well balanced with the squid and onion. Just thinking of it makes my mouth-water. Picture below.

Another great dish is the "beef rendang" (a type of dry beef curry, Malay-influenced). Picture below.

We ordered a fried egg. Simple dish, it was. However, since it was spiced up with some chopped shallots and sliced chillies drizzled with "kechap manis". It was so appetizing. And it was topped up with a little saucer of sambal, too delicious for words.

Lastly, we have ordered the "ayam percik" (grilled chicken). It was another winner. The chicken was well marinated with spices (in which I have zero idea) and grilled. Again, this dish was drizzled with "kechap manis" and chopped shallots. Very appetizing.

We have also ordered 2 plates of white rice to go with the above-mentioned dishes. The total cost was SG$12 dollars. Pricing is reasonable. Yes, I have said that the food here is extremely yummy, but the food here is a little on the oily and salty side. But it does not bother me.

We have also ordered a dessert called the "chendol". It was very disappointing. I cannot help noticing that the quality of the "chendol" has been dropping consistently over the past 1 to 2 years. It even used to have durian paste in it which kicked up flavours one notch.

Other than the above mentioned dishes, Sabar Menanti also has "perkedil" (potato cutlets or balls), "kuah nangka" (jackfruit curry) and many other fish dishes which are very popular among patrons.

Address:
Sabar Menanti
48, Kandahar Street
Singapore 198899