Most Indonesian kueh lovers in Singapore know Ollella but I just realised that they have a nice little diner tucked away at 454 Race Course Road named Makan House by Ollella. Located about 7-8 minutes walk from Boon Keng MRT station, now I know another delicious Indonesian classics & kueh hang out at the city fringe.
Makan House by Ollella is a small space. But, I like small quaint places with understated decor that oozes personality. Yeah, Makan House is a tiny shop that is big on flavours and charm.
The menu of Indonesian classics all on one page. The cakes and kueh all made daily fresh in-house, are displayed at the counter.
Our lunch, everything on the Indonesian classics menu - nasi lemak, lontong sayur, soto ayam, sate ayam, plus XL chicken cutlet side dish.
Makan House's nasi lemak looks so beautiful. Boiled basmati rice flavoured with coconut milk, half white, half tinted blue with butterfly pea flower. For $3.50, it is a huge portion.
Two types of sambal chili totally in character with Indonesian cuisine which has different sambal chili for every type of dish. There's sambal belacan with red chili and sambal ijo with green chili & anchovies. Shiok lah like that... .
Egg, crunchy fried peanut with icing sugar, fried anchovies, and this otah perkedel (potato cutlet with otah otah inside).
The XL Chicken Cutlet was huge and looked like an oversize piece of thick kerupuk (Indonesian way of spelling keropok).
The batter wrapping the cutlet was crisp. It was rather heavily flavoured with savoury aromatic spices. The chicken thigh meat was tender and we can still taste a bit of natural chicken sweetness under the crisp savoury spiced batter.
Oh..., I love this sweet and mildly spicy lontong sayur which is a vegetable curry rich with coconut milk and rempah (spice paste) inside. There's carrot, long beans, cabbage, green papaya, chayote squash, etc which all added layers of natural sweetness to the curry.
Sambal belacan and serundeng (sautéed grated coconut & spices) added more flavours to the dish. There were spongy taupok, egg and cubes of tender boiled rice cakes (ketupat) inside the vegetable curry.
Soto Ayam. Indonesian style chicken soup with mild aromatic spices like galangal, lemongrass etc. In the soup were shredded chicken, mung bean noodle (tang hoon or glass noodle), shredded cabbage, bean sprout, tomato, etc. Topped with deep fried shallot. Soto ayam is served with a plate of boiled rice.
Sate Ayam. Madura style chicken satay with candlenut and peanut sauce. (Most satay sold in Jakarta where owner Marcella hails from, are by hawkers from Madura island off northeastern Java.)
The four inch long satay made with chunks of tender juicy chicken thigh skewered with a bamboo stick and grilled. The sweet savoury tender chicken meat was smothered with savoury nutty tasting peanut sauce.
Mackerel Otah Otah made in-house.
Nice aromatic spices and bits of fish inside the steamed cake wrapped in banana leaf.
Come to Ollella must of course also have their famous cakes and kueh.
This is Ollella's best selling ondeh ondeh cake with grated coconut saturated with gula Jawa between layers of sweet sponge cake and cream.
Irresistibly sinful.
Lots of savoury, lightly spiced, aromatic and sweet Indonesian kueh to choose from.
My flat white was perfect with the sweet cakes and kueh.
No more stomach space, so tabao (takeaway) to enjoy at leisure at home 😄
No. Don't want to share with anyone unless you follow me on Instagram 😄 (I promise to share the kueh there 😋 )
Located at a row of colourfully restored conserved shophouses at the edge of Little India, Makan House by Ollella is a good hangout with good espresso coffee and authentic Indonesian fare. Convenient location at city fringe and near Boon Keng MRT station.
I first met owner Marcella (and sister Ollyvia) at the soft opening of Ollella in 2016.
Restaurant name: Makan House by Ollella
Address: #454 Race Course Road, Singapore 218697
Tel: +65 6917 7273
Hours: 11:30am to 6:00pm (Tues off)
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