Kokoyo Nyonya Delights

Kokoyo's Nasi Lemak Sambal Sotong offers an indulgent taste of Peranakan with its double-steamed coconut rice that perfectly complements the rich and spicy sambal sotong.
The addition of crunchy ikan bilis, fried peanuts, signature sambal telur, and fresh cucumbers rounds out this flavourful dish.
Priced at just $11.90, it's a satisfying meal that promises both quality and value.

Got to know about the new Kopitiam Kokoyo that has recently opened its doors very recently whilst scrolling through social media one day — situated in Serangoon Central, Kopitiam Kokoyo’s location in Serangoon can be described as a fairly accessible from Serangoon MRT Station, Serangoon Bus Interchange and NEX given how they are just at Blk 263 Serangoon Central; the space of which it is at was formerly occupied by an outlet of Lau Wang Claypot Delights that had since expanded their operations into locations within shopping malls as well. Kopitiam Kokoyo has done a little bit of work to the space, though it does seem rather obvious that they are struggling to make sense of the shop’s layout here — they have kept the establishment rather barebones with furniture and fittings that are mostly functional; there really isn’t much of a theming per se with the space seemingly being rather fuss-free though generic. Apart from the dine-in area located within the shop unit, there are also some seats located outside along the corridors as well. Considering how these folks are currently in their soft opening phase, they have mentioned that the menu that they are currently offering is just a scaled-down version of whatever that they intend to carry — the current menu doesn’t really have a strong Peranakan influence when one takes a look at their individually-sized mains which includes a section dedicated to to Nasi Lemak, whilst the Soup section comprises of a Pig Stomach Soup, Teo Chew Fish Soup and Laksa. There are also some sharing plates offered — think items like the Sambal Bendi and Babi Pongteh, while the list of beverages included canned beverages, as well as local-style Kopi and Teh.

Since Nasi Lemak does make up quite a substantial part of what Kopitiam Kokoyo had to serve during their soft opening phase, it was needless to say that we found it essential to opt for at least once item that is being listed in the said section of the menu. The Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Inchi Kabin stood out to us when we were skimming through the menu at Kopitiam Kokoyo; the menu describes the dish to come with elements such as double steamed coconut rice paired with fried rempah whole chicken leg, ikan bilis, fried peanuts, signature sambal telur, and cucumbers — the item is also marked as one that is “Ah Ma’s favourite”, which is their way to identify the recommended items on their menu. It didn’t take too long for the dish to arrive the table — portions of the food do seem pretty generous especially when one can see how they have decided to plate their Nasi Lemak on the round metallic segmented plates that Mamak establishments tend to dish out their Roti Prata dishes. Digging into the double steamed coconut rice here, we found the rice to be really moist and carried an evident note of coconut milk fragrance that lingers in every spoonful — unlike some variants of Nasi Lemak served elsewhere that sometimes come with a gingery note, the version of the coconut rice does not come with any distracting flavours; something which we immensely loved. The fried whole chicken leg was a good fried chicken item in its own right, though not necessarily one that was that close to being the Ayam Goreng Berempah if one expects it to be so based on the description in the menu. Sure, we do get a chicken leg that comes with juicy, tender flesh that seems to be marinated with turmeric; all that with a crisp, golden brown batter which was also not greasy — whilst we note the crispy fried crumbs that come over the fried chicken, it was lacking notes of lemongrass and the wok-fried curry leaves that would gave it the additional oomph factor especially if this was supposed to go in the way of an Ayam Goreng Berempah. The signature sambal telur comes with the egg lightly-fried on the exterior, with the yolks being fully-cooked like how it should have been; the highlight here would be the sambal chili that comes especially tangy and with onions for a very slight hint of sweetness — one that is rather suitable for those who are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. It is also noted that the anchovies that came on the side were still crisp — nothing close to being limp even despite us dropping by Kokoyo on a weekend evening. During our visit to Kopitiam Kokoyo, we also had the opportunity to try another one of their Nasi Lemak dishes — the Nasi Lemak Sambal Sotong; this one comes with the same elements as that of the Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Inchi Kabin which was mentioned earlier but with the fried rempah whole chicken leg being replaced by the sambal sotong. Patrons can also opt to have the sambal sotong ala-carte as a side under the “Sharing is Caring” section of the menu.

Whilst most Sambal Sotong dishes feature sotong sautéed with the sambal, it seems that Kopitiam Kokoyo has went a step further for their rendition and had battered the sotong before lightly frying it — all these before having wok-fried it with the sambal. Purists might disagree with the approach, though we do feel that this gives to Sambal Sotong a slight twist almost akin to that of fried calamari — the sambal used for the Sambal Sotong is the same one as per the signature sambal telur that comes with their Nasi Lemak dishes. We also tried the Babi Pongteh during our visit here; we loved how the pork belly here came with a firm bite without being particularly gelatinous or fatty — all that while the pork has absorbed the flavours of the fermented soy bean and dark soy sauce. It also carried no hint of undesirable porky stench, though we did notice the lack of the usual mushrooms. The potatoes were good to a decent consistency where it is soft, but not overly so being still fairly chunky — would work well with a bowl of white rice on the side. The Kopi (Iced) that we have had was quite a punchy one that came with enough sweetness to balance things out just fine; would work well either way most. Overall, Kopitiam Kokoyo is off a good start; we do find that their food does hit the spot for the most part, though there are definitely some areas that would do better with a little bit of tweaking — it also helps that their portion-sizes are fairly generous so it does correspond to the slightly higher price point when compared to the other F&B establishments within the neighbourhood as well. That being said, Kopitiam Kokoyo might have a lot more work to do to streamline their operations; it does seem that these folks are still trying to get the hang of things since it looks like this is their very first venture into F&B so confusions and missed orders do happen here — perhaps better for those whom are particular about such things to wait out a bit to make the trip there. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to see how Kopitiam Kokoyo intends to bring themselves forward further once they serve up the actual menu after they officially launch; might consider giving these folks a revisit once they sort out their operations and have more dishes that appeal to us further.