Lemak Boys, Shaw Centre

Whaddayaknow? Les Amis Group does nasi lemak with Lemak Boys (#03-10 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6235 3218). 

There's always a challenge selling stuff like nasi lemak at prices Lemak Boys do because it's local food. Someone is bound to voice out that there's better and cheaper elsewhere. Others will balk at the prices because, local food - and that most of us are used to not paying a premium for them. There will always be somebody's need to justify the price tag because we all want them cheap and good. Or at a minimal, great value for the money we're expected to fork out. Understandable.

And because of what they sell, Lemak Boys will also invariably be compared to the likes of Coconut Club. So how did they fare?

Ingredients and cooking were fine in my opinion. What they included in the basic plate were quite nice but not particularly outstanding. It's the "getting there and not quite there" kind of standards if you catch my drift. Not mediocre, but also not quite there. Heh.

But I'm sure there'll be those that think that 'getting there' isn't good enough because of how much one is made to pay for a plate and in the other end of the spectrum, there'll be those whose standards are so low that they'd claim that this is one of the best nasi lemak in town/they've had.

The rice was forgettable. Not enough flavour. In fact I think I like Lee Wee Brothers' rice better. Ponggol Nasi Lemak was more satisfying as well since we're comparing. And if we're beating yet another dead horse, the defunct Island Cafe's basmati rendition blows them all out of the water. If I were to come back, it wouldn't be for the lemak rice. 

Sambal was interesting. There's heat and it was tangy - a tanginess with a quality that was almost fruity. Not traditional but also not bad.

Sayur lodeh packed a bit more heat than I had been expecting. This was rich and redolent of dried shrimps. Would make great pairing with steamed white rice.

I ordered the chicken and yam patty because I've never had one before. Made with minced chicken and strips of yam. Tasted like chicken and strips of yam. I didn't mind this though.