Chong Pang Nasi Lemak is inevitably on every viral listicle on the "best nasi lemak" in Singapore.
Every night starting at 5pm, the corner shop lot is packed full of customers till the next morning at 7am.
Located right at the fence of Republic of Singapore Air Force's Chong Pang Camp, Chong Pang nasi lemak is synonymous with the town. Established in 1973, some might even say that it is the "pride of Chong Pang".
It's the Chinese interpretation of the Malay staple, coconut flavoured rice and sambal chili. The coconut flavoured rice is eaten with side dishes such as fried chicken wings, fried fish, vegetables (e.g. long beans, cabbage), fried sausages (wieners), ngoh hiang (meat rolls), fish cakes, otak otak etc etc. Put another way, it's Chinese "economic rice" with a Malay twist.
At Chong Pang nasi lemak, the rice is a mix of broken and normal grains - mostly broken. The taste and aroma of coconut milk are strong in the loose rice. It is also quite salty. Quite poor quality rice really.
The famous freshly fried chicken wing was crispy on the outside. Inside, the meat was a little dry and quite stiff. Not much flavour except for the salty seasoning on the outside and salty marination that penetrated the meat. There was no chicken taste at all.
The Ikan Kuning were fried till the fish were quite dry. The meat was chewy and I could only taste quite flat saltiness. No fresh fish taste at all.
The sambal chili was mainly sugary sweet with a bit of mild chili spiciness.
My total bill which included 2 take away chicken wings came to less than SGD8 (7 something - I can't remember exactly).
👎 I like the kampung ambiance at Chong Pang nasi lemak. Its opening hours 5pm to 7am makes it perfect for dinner, supper and brekky. Service was friendly and efficient - the queue is long but clears quickly. I like the fried chicken wings though not as much as I like Eng Kee and 焱 fried chicken wings. The fried fish, rice and sambal chili didn't really suit my tastebuds.
Don't take my word for it - Chong Pang nasi lemak is rated among Singapore's best and is popular for good reasons. Try it for yourself and let me know your experience by dropping me a comment. Thank you in advance 😃
Restaurant name: Chong Pang Nasi Lemak
Address: 447 Sembawang Rd, Singapore 758404 (Very challenging to park here. Best to park at the HDB carpark across the road or take public transport.)
GPS: 1°25'43.4"N 103°49'35.9"E | 1.428718, 103.826644
Tel: +65 9655 1868
Hours: 5:00pm to 7:00am
Non Halal
13 Feb 2017
Can try Ananas Nasi Lemak at Kranji MRT there? Other Ananas branches not as good as Kranji's one. , their fried chicken is the best among all branches I tasted in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteOK thank you for the tip :-D
DeleteOnly malays eat the small fried fish, I wonder why any Chinese coconut rice seller bothers to stock it.
ReplyDeleteMy family and I love Ikan Kuning.
DeleteChua Alvin on Facebook: "This nasi lemak bring back memories of my NSF life whereby it's our usual supper before booking in to camp (chong pang camp). But also a nightmare as transport operator driving in convoy returning to camp due to all the illegal parking along the road side first the nasi lemak."
ReplyDeleteAaron Ong on Facebook: "I actually dislike it to a very big degree. Lol.
ReplyDeleteOK. That was too polite. I hate it. 😂😂😂 Really."
Aaron Ong on Facebook: "Wah bro. I made the comment before I read your review. Glad to see you describe the chicken wing as it is. I totally didn't understand why people were raving about the chicken wings like it was the best thing since transformers.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the styrofoam plate, the disposable dirty looking wooden chopsticks and the plastic soup spoon. They can't even give a proper set of plastic fork and spoon...."
Lionel Lim on Facebook: "Agree. Sometimes I don't understand why people rave about it. Just like the Punggol Nasi Lemak too. 😏"
ReplyDeleteKumaresan Balakrishnan on Facebook: "Those crispy fish flakes are the reason I go there. It's their signature isn't it? Quite addictive."
ReplyDeleteHerman Ooi on Facebook: "Delicious 😋"
ReplyDeleteDonaldson Tan on Facebook: "This brings back good memories. Supper for duty personnel at Sembawang Airbase."
ReplyDeleteSadly, it is over-rated and over priced...but Singaporeans being Singaporeans, they will swear that it is delicious as long as they see a long queue and pricey......as you Malaysians would say: Buaya tidak ada lidah. Oh well! one man's food is another's crap ;-)
ReplyDeleteI am a Singaporean lol :-D
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