Not sure what has happened to me of the late, but after being pretty much on a phase of discovery of Prata places around Sembawang, Springleaf and Upper Thomson, it seems that I have gotten pretty curious on the various mamak stalls around the island — after all, there are just so many of them around, but one rarely hears about comparing one against the other. ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant is a favourite with the dining partner (rumour has it that he orders them on food delivery platforms pretty often) — also a very prominent eating place along River Valley Road where the likes to Boon Tong Kee and Culture Spoon are located. Have tried their Plain Prata under the dining partner’s recommendation previously; thought I would order something a little different with this revisit.

It may be a thing with me visiting Springleaf Prata Place a little too much; those whom are familiar with Springleaf Prata Place would come to know that their cheese prata usually involve the use of melted mozzarella rather than sliced cheese that one can usually get from supermarkets from the dairy section. Considering that, the Cheese Prata from ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant would feature cheese in the likes of the latter — not something one would call “wrong” per se; but definitely a little far from my personal preference. Here, a single slice of cheese is found within the rectangular shaped Prata — not really a fan of the doughy Prata that is a little firm to pull apart, though the Prata does exude a nice doughy aroma. Having tried their Plain Prata here before, the Plain Prata does have a better texture than the Cheese Prata in comparison being less dense, though the Pratas from ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant is something I wouldn’t necessarily call a crispy prata by any means. Interestingly, ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant serves up fish curry and sambal chili by default with their Prata offerings here — very similar to that of Meeras Curry Banana Leaf which we had visited at Springleaf recently. The curry that is served with the Pratas at ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant can be said as moderately spicy, though I particularly like how it wasn’t watered down (pretty thankful that it has been the same for most mamak stalls I had went to thus far ever since I kickstarted this journey), while the sambal is provides a sweet-savoury blend of flavours that gives the Prata a different sort of feel.

Having tried a couple of dishes from ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant, it has been pretty consistent in our visits that they seem to do their other cooked dishes way better than their Prata offerings — had tried their Maggi Goreng Chicken and their Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis on separate occasions and these were delicious; the dining partner actually swears by their Nasi Goreng Ikan Bilis with his picky taste buds so that’s pretty a testament to the dish on is own. Apart from that, the staff at ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant are also especially friendly as compared to the other establishments we have encountered so far; cracking jokes with the patrons once in a while especially with the younger ones. It’s not like I ain’t a regular at ZAMAS River Valley Restaurant these days, but I guess I am probably going for their non-Prata offerings when we do drop by again.