A new kind of assam experience

I am not exactly an assam fan but rather a chilli fan instead. As compared to other Asian spicy and chilli flavours, I am more inclined towards rendang, sambal and curry. But I do go head over heels when it comes to assam fish. Totally thumbs up.

Happened to pass by this fried dough fritters (油条) store in Square 2 quite a long while back and there was this mysterious signage outside that says "Lunch". Weird. A store that sells fried dough fritters selling lunch? Out of curiosity, my colleague and I was staring at the rather short menu on lunch sets. The first one that caught our eyes is the "Assam Rendang Chicken with Nasi Lemak".

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Are you kidding me? How to put assam and rendang together? Wait... Plus nasi lemak? No way man..."

That was our reaction at that point of time. But really. Assam and rendang are very different kind of spice with totally different taste that challenges individual's taste buds. Putting them together, though felt interesting, might also turn disastrous.

Moreover, this store specialises in fried dough fritters. No doubt there are posters over the store to proof that they were on the news previously for selling unique taste fried dough fritters like green tea and almond flavours. Going on something so adventurous like this might be a little too risky I felt.

Assam has this really sour and unqiue taste that most spices does not have. Many might dislike the taste in fact and find it very much close to an expired yogurt. The gravvy tends to be watery unlike the commonly seen curry gravvy from the nasi padang stores.

Rendang, on the other hand, are thick gravvy usually used on beef, lamb or chicken. Not only in appearance, the taste is also thick and heavy and the taste of spice will cover the mouth in speed of sound. This unique taste had soon became really popular since the successful making of the Channel 8 TV drama, Little Nyonya, as rendang is one of the popular dish in the peranakan culture.

Bringing up the courage a couple of days back, my colleague and I decided to give it a try. Went to the store and ordered each a set of the Assam Rendang Chicken with Nasi Lemak. It is going for S$4.90 per set. We did not queued long but not because the business was bad. We were early actually to beat the lunch crowd. The queue started growing slightly after 12.15pm.

Each set is served with a seperate bowl of the assam rendang chicken. On the main plate served with a straw tray similar to that of the ayam penyet straw plate, the portion of nasi lemak rice seemed huge for a lady but just nice for an average male. Pretty large portion of ah-char and halfed hard-boiled egg. And wait, halfed fried dough fritter? Weird combination but probably it is because the fried dough fritter is their signature.

Close up on the assam rendang chicken.

The gravvy still soupy and there is indeed a strong assam taste. However, the rendang taste was really too mild to feel it. But you can still taste it lightly. The chicken, sad to say, was not marinated long enough. Though cooked close to perfection and not too tough to chew on, the taste was really very... erm... chicken!!! I could not taste any form of spice marinate on the chicken itself.

On the nasi lemak, it is too dry and a little tough to swallow. Even though the taste of coconut is strongly accounted, it felt like the rice was not cooked. We had to mix some gravvy to the rice but that will cover the original taste of nasi lemak. The ah-char was probably one of the best in the whole set. The cucumber was crunchy and the portion was generous. Not too spicy for those not into chilli. On the signature fried dough fritter, seriously speaking, nothing special. It tasted just like any other fried dough fritter we find in the wet market food centres. But, it is alot less oily as compared to the others. So, for the health concious eaters, you might want to consider this if you have the craving for fried dough fritters.

Hmmmmmm... Just realised that their "set lunch" does not include drinks or soup or desserts! So where is the "set"?

Will I go back again? Probably for the others on the lunch menu instead.

Taste - 3 / 5
Not exactly the kind of taste I was hoping for. Could have been better. At least improve the rice please.

Appearance - 3.5 / 5
Nothing fantastic. Very hawker style.

Portion - 4 / 5
Just nice for an average male. Might be too much for a lady unless you have good appetite.

Price - 2.5 / 5
The set does not include any other stuff except the main course itself. So where is the set? At least a drink right? So, paying S$4.90 for this, I don't think highly about it. Not exactly value for money.

Ambience - 4 / 5
Clean! I love the place but probably because I was early. I like the way they make it close to something familiar for many eaters. Very 70s.

Location: Novena Square 2 Mall level 2