Palapa Express

For those that had been following us for quite a while, the mention of Palapa / Palapa Express may ring some familiar bells — Palapa had first started out at City Gate being its very own individually-operated establishment before the introduction of the Palapa Express brand that sees their second outlet having opened within the Maxim Stars coffeeshop at Blk 326 Woodlands Street 32. These folks have recently found new digs with a second outlet of Palapa Express — this time within the Kopitiam food court at PLQ Mall. These folks are situated right beside the outlet of Sing HK Kitchen there. For those whom are still unfamiliar with the Palapa brand, these folks serve up Indonesian cuisine, with its emphasis being on their Nasi Putih (White Rice) and Nasi Jeruk (Lime Rice) offerings; for the Palapa Express outlet in the Kopitiam food court in PLQ Mall, the menu is split into sections dedicated to Rice Menu and Indomie Menu whilst also offering a number of Ala-Carte items of which can be shared around the table.

Palapa has always been all about their fried chicken and their Nasi Jeruk for us; it is needless to say that we had settled on the Palapa Fried Chicken with Lime Rice yet again when we had decided to drop by the Palapa Express outlet in the Kopitiam food court in PLQ Mall. Palapa Express does not exactly describe the elements that are included in the various items on the menu, though it can be observed that apart from the Palapa Fried Chicken and the Lime Rice, the dish also does come with a Veggie Fritter (i.e. Bakwan Sayur) and Fried Tempeh (i.e. Tempeh Goreng). The plating of the dish does look a little better at the PLQ Mall location as compared to their other outlets considering the use of a circular plate that does not come with food-grade wax paper.

Going for the Palapa Fried Chicken here, we did notice that there is a little bit of a difference between the fried chicken that is being served here and the one that we have previously had at Palapa at Beach Road. While the fried chicken does come fried to a beautiful shade of golden-brown and with a fried batter that wasn’t overly thick while the meat does remain relatively tender, we did note the lack of coriander seeds that added a dimension of crunch previous — perhaps this is also the same reason why the item is being named Palapa Fried Chicken at its PLQ Mall location as compared to its City Gate location where it bears the namesake of Coriander Fried Chicken Set.

With that being said, the Lime Rice is still pretty fragrant with a slight zing from the lime zest and a gingery note that perfumes throughout — this worked well with the Sambal Balado that comes in the side which provides a spicy kick of freshly-ground chili padi that tickles the tastebuds even for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The Veggie Fritters does come with a crisp batter and features crunchy strips of vegetables that is being held together with the use of flour. Meanwhile, it does seem that Palapa Express had improved the recipe with its Fried Tempeh — now coming with a crispier and lighter batter whilst containing a crunch from the fermented soy beans within.