Al-Paz Nasi Arab Mandi @ Golden Mile · Arabian Cuisine in a Singapore Hawker Centre

We had eaten a lot since breakfast, all our familiar favourite stalls. We were all full and satisfied but the outing was missing a little something.

We needed something new, a delightful, novel little spark.

We were huddled across from Al-Paz Nasi Arab stall. It's a new kid on the Golden Mile block and hasn't build any sort of presence yet - online or off line.

Then, Amy from Charlie's Peranakan stall walked by and recommended Al-Paz Nasi Arab, encouraged us to give it a try.

Aaron got up and came back with this.

Me, I was in some kind of food coma induced stupor. Trying to digest my breakfast(s) had sapped most of my energy and drained my consciousness 😅

The first thing that caught my eye was the rice.

Long, yet quite plump, with a golden yellowish hue infused from spices. Each basmati grain was discrete, separate, not lumped together and no broken grains.

All nice and long, like micro torpedoes.

Took a little mouthful. The rice was fluffy, tender, lightly coated with an oily sheen. (It was sunflower oil, not ghee, I found out later.) Spice aroma and taste was slight, delicate. It's similar to nasi briyani spices but more shy, with less and lighter grease.

Nice.

The plate of rice was heaped with chunks of orangey hued mutton that looked like thick knotted ropes. It was a mix of lean and fat with very little bone.

It was tender, moist inside, with gentle taste of spices mixed with taste of lamb, yeah... slightly gamey (which I like - lamb taste is the only reason why I would order lamb anywhere).

The lamb and rice together was a delightful coupling 😋

The dish was served with two soups and this zesty, bright, refreshing, sourish, spicy relish. It was so good, I ate it neat. It does wonders in perking up the somewhat gentle flattish tasting mandi rice and mutton.

It brought me back to life.

I got off my butt stool to chat with the stallholder Al-Paz.

Al-Paz hails from the city of Ibb in Yemen. Before opening this stall six months ago, Al-Paz ran his own Arabic restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. Al-Paz had to close his KL restaurant due to the Covid pandemic and had to start anew with this stall in Golden Mile hawker centre. He hopes that he will run his own restaurant again.

Aaron said next time we shall have the lamb shank.

Traditionally and in some restaurants, mandi rice is made by baking the spiced rice and meat in a big, deep sealed pit with wood / charcoal fire. Hot juices from the meat drip into the uncovered pot of rice below.

Terrible.

I mean terribly, wickedly delicious 😋

Mandi rice originated in Yemen, and spread throughout the Arabic world, India and beyond.

Of course, cooking in a pit is not possible in a Singapore hawker centre stall, so Al-Paz cooks the rice and meat separately. The meat is marinated, steamed, marinated again then baked wrapped in foil.

Give Al-Paz Nasi Arab a try. I hope that one day soon he will have his own restaurant in Singapore.

Stall name: Al-Paz Nasi Arab

Address: 505 Beach Rd, #B1-20 Golden Mile Food Centre, Singapore 199583

Nearest MRT: 10 minutes walk from Lavender station

Tel: 9723 2277

Hours: 11am - 8pm (Sun off)

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Written by Tony Boey on 27 Feb 2024

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