Warong Pak Sapari (Lau Pa Sat)

Heard about the new opening of Warong Pak Sapari which had recently just sprouted up at Lau Pa Sat — the stall had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Lina’s Viet Kitchen and is pretty much eye-catching with its large use of red and a striking stall facade. Warong Pak Sapari does seem to be related to the stall with the same namesake at Adam Road Food Centre — a Muslim stall that is perhaps best known for their Mee Soto and Mee Rebus. While it is not explicitly stated anywhere, we do feel that Warong Pak Sapari’s outlet at Lau Pa Sat might be affiliated with that of Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang — there is some similarity in the way that the stall facade is being designed where it also features neon lighting indicating that they are “The World’s First Michelin Bib Gourmand Mee Soto / Mee Rebus Hawker; something that is very alike the tagline being used by Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang and also lit in neon lighting at Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang’s stall at Lau Pa Sat as well. It is also noted that Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang has also posted about the opening of Watong Pak Sapari’s outlet at Lau Pa Sat on social media as well. Since Mee Soto and Mee Rebus are what Warong Pak Sapari is known for during their days at Adam Road Food Centre, the menu of Warong Pak Sapari has to carry those items as well — interestingly, Warong Pak Sapari does not only serve the regular Mee Soto and Mee Rebus on their menu, but also variants such as one with fried chicken cutlet, fried fish fillet, as well as fried prawns; something quite reminiscent to the menu at Island Curry Rice at TamChiak Kopitiam that shares a stall unit with Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang. One item that is unique to the Lau Pa Sat location at Warong Pak Sapari is the Nasi Soto — again coming with the same meat / seafood options that one can opt for with the Mee Soto / Mee Rebus offerings here.

Skimming through the menu on what they have to offer, we found ourselves eventually settling for the Nasi Soto Ayam Bakar — we had initially wanted to settle for the Nasi Soto Ayam Goreng, though we eventually settled for the Ayam Bakar variant since we weren’t particularly in the mood for fried food. Thank goodness we did so as well; the portion of the Nasi Soto Ayam Bakar can be said as pretty generous with its price tag of $6.90 — definitely more than sufficient to fill up one’s stomach. The menu describes the Nasi Soto as an item that is “created 1st in SG”, and that the Ayam Bakar comes with grilled chicken — it is noted from the portion that we were served that the Nasi Soto Ayam Bakar also comes with fried tofu puff, cucumbers, as well as shallots and coriander above the rice; it is also accompanied with a quite a big bowl of soup (the bowl being the size of what some minced meat noodle stalls will serve their orders in).

We weren’t really told of the way to really enjoy this dish at its best, but we really enjoyed it when we drenched the flavoured rice with the soup and have them altogether — probably also the way it is intended since Nasi Soto does seem like a word play on “Nasi” and “Mee Soto”; the latter translating into “Malay Chicken Noodle Soup” in English. While we aren’t usually fans of Mee Soto since we have had variants that are particularly bland, the soup itself here is especially flavoursome yet clean-tasting; a light savoury note that is particularly refreshing. Pairing up with the rice that comes with a hint of spices, there is a particularly warming effect that goes into the tasting notes of the Nasi Soto. Some recommend adding the Original Recipe Sambal Sauce which consist of soy sauce and chopped chili together with the soup (especially for the Mee Soto), though we found it to be a bit overwhelming and drowns out the flavours of the soup somewhat. We really liked the Ayam Bakar as well; while the meat itself was decent in terms of the texture of the flesh (not really juicy, but not that dry either), we loved that slight crispness of the skin along with the sweetness that the Kecap Manis (Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce) glaze brought — one can also taste the smokiness from the grilling process as well. For the beancurd puff, we would recommend just dumping it into the bowl of soup to allow it to soak up the soup and enjoying it only some time after — the texture of the beancurd puff was considered rather dry for our liking otherwise. At $6.90, the Nasi Soto Ayam Bakar is definitely something which we will consider having again if we do make a trip to Lau Pa Sat; very comforting whilst flavoursome — something that we never quite have had so far and is a good idea that actually works. Perhaps giving that Nasi Soto Ayam Goreng when the revisit comes along!