(Note: Pictures can be found here http://wildchildurbancity.blogspot.sg/2013/04/nasi-padang-river-valley.html)


Even though Nasi Padang River Valley (NPRV) is a little tucked away along Zion Road so that passer-bys might not even know it serves nasi padang, many Singaporeans seem to know of it. I do not remember how we got to know of NPRV or when we first started having their nasi padang, but mom has been "da pao-ing" from NPRV occasionally for at least the past 10 years.


ieatishootipost was told by the 2nd generation owner of NPRV that most of the dishes are from Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, but "have been have all been modified to suit the local tastebuds and in particular, the local Chinese palate", resulting in the food tasting "generally milder and sweeter instead of salty and spicy as it is back home".

If you eat at NPRV, you will find that the dishes are definitely and starkly sweeter compared to Malay and Indonesian nasi padang, and are very, very much milder (to me at least).


NPRV's assam fish curry is usually a dish mom orders for herself because she likes fish. The assam curry is generally not too bad and lends good flavour to the mackeral. Submerged in the curry are slivers of soft, naturally sweet onion that are a joy when found.


The sambal brinjal tastes average and is oily, so you may want to save your calories for something else.


We usually order the chicken curry instead of the chicken korma, because pretty much nothing can beat Rendezvous Restaurant's chicken korma. But the time I ordered NPRV's chicken korma for a change, it was a total lacklustre.

It is a bit funny that the sambal sotong is called sambal sotong, because I cannot taste any sambal in it. The gravy has more of a tomato-tasting base that is quite sweet for nasi padang standards. Yet, I think that this is one of NPRV's best dishes, because of the delicious gravy, and is one of the dishes that calories should be spent on. Whenever we "da pao" the sambal sotong, I reuse the leftover gravy on boiled meat or veggies for flavour. As for the sotong itself, pity that it is usually a little rubbery and overcooked.

Again, the style of NPRV's beef rendang is very different from normal nasi padang beef rendang in that it is obviously more sweet than savoury, and is only the littlelest bit spicy. Despite its usually-tender chunks of beef (but with little tendon unfortunately), I prefer my rendang savoury, bitingly spicy, and.. well, simply Tambuah Mas style.

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Nasi Padang River Valley is a very popular lunch destination, particularly for the office crowd around the area. An open air concept, be prepared for above average quality food in a "hawker like" setting.

Meat portions are pretty large, but be prepared to pay a higher than average price for it. Great to go with people who you can share the food with. One thing they do well here is the beef rendang. The meat is very tender and tasty.

The place is an "eat and run" place but there is a coffee joint next door where one can sit down to kill the rest of the lunch hour.

Right off the bat I wanna confess I have never been a fan. NOt even while I was living in that area for a couple of years. So when my Eastern friends said they wanted to have dinner at this insitutional diner, I complied. I have been to my share of over hyped eateries so what can go wrong? It's not going to be totally unedible, just not to my fancy. I can live with that for the sake of my companions.

The queue was very short to my amazament (HGW is working) and it was out turn to order, we pointed to the beef rendang, sayur lodeh, chicken curry, sambal goreng and sambal ikan. 4 plates of rice & 2 drinks completed the meal.This meal took place just 2 nights ago and there is already no recollection of it except that I found the curries on the salty side and the rendang being tad tough. So there, there is really nothing special there. No sparks, no saves. Nada.

In all honesty I must say that it wasn't too expensive. It tuned out to be $28.60 for 4 of us. Thats about $7.15 each. Compare that to a economic rice stall, say average abt $5, the premium goes towards the spices used. Yes I gather they r pretty expensive. But naturally, if you didn't enjoy the food it is $7 down the drain.

I note a dated article on the wall saying the recipes were saved on a diskette and kept in a safe. We had some small talk about the need to do this but am of varying opinions. mine? I 've already said that earlier......................