Heard about the new Sembarang which had recently opened its doors at Blk 63A Lengkok Bahru — the establishment, which is Muslim-owned, takes over the former premises of the now-defunct Maison Sucree that had ceased operations and both their Balestier and Lengkok Bahru outlets some time back. Just like Maison Sucree, Sembarang is a brand by the LS & CO Group; the group also runs Ashesburnnit; a rather notable brand that can be found in several hawker centres and coffeeshops that serves pretty affordably-priced burgers to the masses with outlets at Golden Mile Food Centre, Alexandra Village Food Centre, Woodlands North Plaza, and most recently, within Urban Hawker in New York City. Being LS & CO Group’s very first brand that focuses on Malay cuisine, Sembarang’s main offerings will be their Nasi Lemak and Nasi Padang dishes — Sembarang does have quite a good variety of dishes being served up for their Nasi Padang; one would be able to pick and choose their preferred dishes to either go as Nasi Padang, or opt for the Nasi Lemak rice to go along with the dishes. For those who prefer a fuss-free experience, the Nasi Lemak is also available in sets featuring different meat options such as Chicken Wing, Fish Fillet etc. — patrons are also free to add-on more items for their set if they wish to do so. Beverages available at Sembarang includes local Kopi and Teh, which are seemingly served in takeaway cups with Maison Sucree’s branding as at the day of our visit.

Visiting Sembarang for their Nasi Lemak, we found ourselves going for the Chicken Wing Nasi Lemak Set; we have also added a Begedil for our order. Each Nasi Lemak set comes with the patron’s choice of meat (that would be the chicken wing here in this case), as well as the sambal chili, Ikan Bilis and peanuts, cucumbers and the omelette. Digging into the rice here, one could notice that they use basmati rice for the Nasi Lemak here — the grains being distinctively longer than what is typically used for the Chinese variant of the dish. We did feel that the rice here carried a distinct aroma that is slightly different from what we would have usually expected out of Nasi Lemak; the rice being undeniably fragrant, though does seem to carry a sort of aroma that isn’t quite as coconut-y as what we would expect. Rather, it does carry an interesting fragrance that we aren’t quite able to put a finger to; perhaps close to Nasi Briyani but also not quite the same as well — we thought that the rice could be cooked for a little more for a fluffier texture however. Moving to chicken wing, we did feel like the chicken wing was a missed opportunity as well; fried in batches and left on the display counter, the fried chicken wing turned out rather cold and stodgy having been exposed to the elements for a while — a shame considering how well-seasoned and well-marinated it was being all flavourful from the turmeric and all. While the omelette was nothing much to shout about, something worth commending about how their Ikan Bilis and peanuts mix was how they seemed to have included bits of tempeh for an additional crunch and that slightly nutty and earthy flavour that gave the mix a little more contrast of texture and flavour; all that with some fried basil leaves that further adds to that. The sambal chili here also works pretty well with the entire deal, though does seemingly drown out the fragrance of the rice somewhat — the sambal chili carried a distinct sweetness with a lingering fiery note that tingles the taste buds of those whom are able to tolerate moderate levels of spiciness; quite befitting with the other elements that come together with the set.

Having tried Sembarang’s Chicken Wing Nasi Lemak set, it does seem like the dish had quite a number of hits and misses at the same time — the winning factor of the their variant of the Nasi Lemak seemingly being how fragrant the rice was, as well as the flavours coming off from the chicken wing; we also liked what they have done when it comes to the sambal chili, as well as the inclusion of tempeh with the Ikan Bilis and peanut mix. All of those elements helped to give Sembarang’s Chicken Wing Nasi Lemak a character that is fairly unique and to their own. That being said, the items that gave it quite the character were also the items that we felt could be further refined to give the dish a better edge in terms of the overall execution; this would be pertaining to how long the rice was being cooked, as well as how we would have preferred the fried chicken wing to be served warm to preserve that crisp and bring out the flavours even further. Overall, it does seem like a good attempt overall in trying to serve up Nasi Lemak in in a style of their own; we wouldn’t be making an out-of-the-way visit for sure, though Redhill residents might be pleased to have something a little different from the usual in their estate. Hoping that the guys would be able to fine tune their recipes as they smoothen things out though — there’s definitely some potential we are seeing here!