It kind of means something when a stall boasts of the multiple awards that it receives at the front of the stall. At 830pm when most of the stalls at Geylang Serai Hawker Centre were already closed and with the Ramadan bazaar nearby, I was surprised to find Sinar Pagi still opened and the trays of dishes simply called out to me.

When asked what dishes did I want, I told the stall owner everything looked delicious which he laughed in reply. Eventually decided on sambar goreng, tapioca leaves and sambal ayam. The portion of sambal chicken was huge, perhaps also because it was the last available piece. Meat was tender and even drenched with sambal, the fragrant aroma of the fried skin was still evident. Would have been much better if the chicken was served hot. Sambal was initially sweet, before the lingering spiciness kicks in.

Pro tip: the stall owner taught us that a good Nasi Padang stall will always hide their best curry and only served upon request. He gave us a mixture of curries and chilies; the yellow curry which the tapioca leaves were cooked in was really Lemak and coconutty, might be overwhelming if you aren’t a fan of coconut milk. The chili topped on it had a nice hae bee hiam (dried shrimp sambal paste) smell that was a little fishy but extremely umami. Addictive!