So Lemak

While I like how they have otah as an option (because I don't eat fried chicken or fish), the rice was quite mushy & it was sadly not lemak at all. On first bite, my reaction was one of confusion.

The chilli was good while it lasted, but nothing to shout about. The other ingredients - egg, peanuts, ikan bilis - were fine; I added long beans because I was afraid I'd be hungry if I didn't.

Honestly, I expected more. Even as someone who doesn't eat Nasi Lemak often, So Lemak unfortunately fell quite short of expectations. Maybe the fried items here are the highlights?

There is really quite a fair bit of life that we have for Nasi Lemak around the island here — So Lemak is a new stall that had recently sprouted up at FoodLoft coffeeshop located at Blk 217 Bedok North Street 1. If the coffeeshop does sound familiar, this is because it is the same exact coffeeshop we had recently visited to try out Ah Lim Chicken Rice; we had also written about our experience at Ah Lim Chicken Rice in a post that we have put up earlier. For those whom are unfamiliar with the coffeeshop, the FoodLoft coffeeshop at Blk 217 Bedok North Street 1 is situated right beside Pasar 216 Bedok Central, which is a market and food centre; the same coffeeshop also houses an outlet of Common Grill by COLLIN'S — Ah Lim Chicken Rice is one of the stalls that is located right beside So Lemak. As it name suggests, So Lemak is a stall that focuses much on their Nasi Lemak offerings — the Nasi Lemak at So Lemak are sold in sets where all the elements that come with the coconut-infused rice have been pre-determined for each set; patrons are also allowed to pick and choose their desired items to go along with the rice based on the elements that are on display in the display case located at the counter. For those looking for something to share around the table, So Lemak also does serve up a “Family Wings” item — essentially a set of five or eight pieces of their Prawn Paste Wings that works well for sharing.

For those looking for the “full works” at So Lemak to give everything that they have to offer a go, the So Lemak Set would be the one to go for — the So Lemak Set comes with all of So Lemak’s signature offerings such as the Har Cheong Wings and the Fried Fish; it also comes with the Grilled Otah, Fish Cake, as well as all the condiments that would be served up by default such as the anchovies, peanuts, sambal chili and the sunny side-up. So Lemak’s Nasi Lemak can be said to be a rendition of Nasi Lemak that is closer to that of local Chinese-style Nasi Lemak rather than that of the Malaysian-style Nasi Lemak that has become all the rage with other establishments here.

The short-grain rice here comes with an alluring aroma of coconut that is evident with each spoonful of rice that one sends into the it mouth — something that most Nasi Lemak stalls seem to be able to achieve from the first few mouthfuls, though the fragrance usually dies out after a short while. Going for the various elements in the Nasi Lemak, we were pretty excited to go with the Har Cheong Wings — these prawn paste chicken wings were absolutely spot-on; crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside, they were also not particularly greasy and carried a umami punch which we found to be a delight to have. The fried fish was the showstopper however; we aren’t a fan of such fried fish — the folks of So Lemak had actually served us with one that was fresh from the fryer, though it did take us a while to get to it. We loved how the fried fish was actually still crisp by the time we had it; nothing too greasy and that it hadn’t become limp and chewy — something which they absolutely nailed in our opinion. The other items were a little more pedestrian; there was nothing much to mention about the grilled otah though it was admittedly better than some generic renditions out there; the fish cake provided a firm, lunch bite while the sunny side-up was lacking that consistency of a runny egg yolk that some would be looking for. The sambal itself leant nearer to the savoury side of things; provides for a spicy kick that works well for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness, while we did wish that there was a more balanced proportion of anchovies being served with the peanuts (the portion of anchovies was really little in comparison). Overall, a rendition of Nasi Lemak which we found to be pretty well-executed for a newly-opened establishment.

Having tried the So Lemak Set from So Lemak, we must say that we were fairly impressed. It is clear from the start that So Lemak places quite a fair bit of emphasis on their fried items alongside their rice, and these turned out to be pretty much the strengths of So Lemak — we would go as much to say that one would not have really given So Lemak a try if they skipped on having their Har Cheong Wings or their Fried Fish. Their rice is also one that is more well-executed than that of most other individually-run Nasi Lemak establishments that we had tried thus far; while most places seem to to struggle to get the right consistency or right levels of flavour for their rice, So Lemak’s coconut-infused rice was done just about right without being overly moist whilst being well-flavoured, and remained so throughout the entire plate. That being said, there are some establishments that does a more impactful Nasi Lemak where the sambal and the rice are of concern; So Lemak isn’t quite that spot that we would probably make an out-of-the-way visit to just to get our Nasi Lemak cravings resolved — it would however likely serve the residents around them pretty well, since we would think that it is a plate of Nasi Lemak that is done well that warrants a revisit if we actually do stay around the neighbourhood. Prices of the Nasi Lemak sets at So Lemak can be said as rather reasonably-priced; the cheapest set here being the Grilled Otah Set costs $4.50 — the other sets are priced at $5 or $5.50. The only exception here would be the So Lemak Set that we had, which is priced at $7.50 and reasonably so considering the number of items that it comes with. So Lemak does seem like a promising addition to the ‘hood overall; the quality of its food surpassing what we had expected for a new stall that had just sprouted up in the ‘hood — a stall that residents at Bedok would be happy to have in their neighbourhood.