Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre 榜鹅椰浆饭中心 (Tanjong Katong)

Background:
I stay at a stone's throw away from this eatery. I have avoided it like plague because of the queue I often see. Folks have been telling me how great the food is, blah blah blah...

Hypothesis:
I am a firm believer that once an eatery gets too much exposure and its business multiplies by folds, the owner will charge exorbitant prices.

Time:
Monday morning (November 26) on the right side of midnight.

Occasion:
Missed dinner and getting a quick bite on the way home.

What I ordered and the price:
I ordered a fried egg, a serving of long beans, a serving of lady's fingers, an otak and a serving of hei bi hiam (crispy and spicy deep fried minced shrimps). The price came up to $4.60, which I deem exorbitant for that small amount of food.

Portion:
SMALL, SMALL and SMALL for the price.

Taste:
A fried egg is a fried egg. The long beans and the lady's fingers are just the normal run-of-the-mill stuff. The otak is nothing to shout about; there are tonnes of places that sell more outstanding otak. The rice is not too bad, but I have tasted better. The sambal chilie is hardly exciting. The hei bi hiam is the only saving grace. It is a dish that requires a great deal of work. The said eatery's version is not too salty and spicy, and fried to near perfection.

Conclusion:
The nasi lemak sold when this business had started elsewhere might had been remarkable... but sorry folks, what they serve at this location is way too ordinary for the price they make you pay.

Friday (12 Oct 07). Came here with LL and AW. When we reached the coffee shop, we were greeted by the familiar sight of the queue snaking around the front of the shop. This was no different from any other business day here. While LL and I queued for our food, AW went to look for seats.

What makes this place different from other places is that they have a somewhat efficient serving process in place, which alleviates the waiting time. There are 3 servers behind the counter to perform 3 different roles of: scooping rice, scooping the add-ons, and collecting payment. LL and I were in the queue for about 10 minutes, but it was well worth it.

So when you get to the head of the queue, you just tell the server what are the add-ons that you want. There is a wide selection to choose from: chicken wing, breadcrumb-coated prawns, French beans, long beans, ikan bilis, fried egg, otah, curry mixed vegetables, just to name a few.

There is a high turnover rate for the food here, so there are staff at the back of the coffee shop busy with preparing more food; and there are staff who quickly clean up the recently vacated tables, ready for the next hungry diners. Overall, this establishment is a really well oiled machine.

I paid $5.20 for my plate of nasi lemak. Firstly, the rice. The rice was very fragrant and lemak. The rice was light and fluffy, and not oily. The rice did not clump together, but were individual grains.
The French beans were nicely done, fried with garlic and heh bee, nice and crunchy. The chicken wing was great. The skin was crispy, and it was not over-fried till it became hard. The meat inside was cooked thoroughly, yet retained its juiciness It was very juicy and not too oily. The breadcrumb-coated prawns were fantastic for a coffee shop standard. The coating was fine, crispy and light. Lastly, I love the sambal belacan here. It is not so spicy to the extent that it stings your tongue, but you can still taste it. You can have a heap of it in your mouthful of rice, yet wont get burnt from it.

No doubt the nasi lemak here is more expensive that what you would normally get, but the quality and tastiness makes it worth it.

This place sell one of the better nasi lemak (not sure if it is the best though as I do not eat muslim food, there must be other good muslim nasi lemak around). It is only open from dinner time onwards and i usually go at about 11pm+. There is seldom any queue at this time. One big reason i like this place is it is very clean. If u spend time looking at the surroundings and peep into the kitchen u will know how much the boss value hygiene. The kitchen is spick n span for a kopi tiam standard.
The food is abit pricey but here's what I will usually order - chicken wings (YUMS), luncheon meat, egg, ikan billis n must ask for more chilli (YUMS)..rice is nice too but i cannot eat too much rice for supper
I prefer this outlet to the serangoon one. The outlet at serangoon is more dirty, hot and crowded. For some reason, the food taste better here as well though they looked the same..The service is also better here as the aunties at the serangoon outlet is simply rude and impatient..