Food review: Can do better, lah!

Vegetarian nasi lemak

Instagram is a great place to find new trends and discover new places to eat. But does it always live up to the hype of drool-worthy pictures? We were curious to find out when we saw Makan Lah, (In Singaporean, ‘makan' means eat, while ‘lah' is a suffix to add emphasis in a sentence), on our feed.

We request two friends, who have loitered the streets of Singapore tucking into its fare, to be our guinea pigs for the anonymous mission. A small space, we settle into a table in the indoor section and start off with a cold kopi with condensed milk (Rs 220) and cold kopi with evaporated milk and sugar. The first one has an indulgent sweetness that balances the caffeine, waking us out of our Sunday stupor. We prefer it over the version with evaporated milk.

Kopi with condensed milk

The prawn dumplings (Rs 490) come donned in the finest dough wrappers we have savoured recently. This shows a skilled hand at work. They hold perfectly-cooked prawn, which we savour with a spicy chilli oil. Clean presentation and simple flavours; this one gets a thumbs up. The fragrance of pandan and coconut milk precedes the arrival of veg nasi lemak (Rs 350), which turns out to be our favourite dish of the meal. Freshly sliced cucumber, beans, peanuts and a red sambal that is fiery and well-balanced.

Ice kachang

Our big hopes on the chilli crab (Rs 800) come crashing down. The dish is too sweet, and the dry bread served with it doesn't bring the watery curry together. The rice noodles with egg and chicken too are overtly sweet for us to taste any other flavour. Our order of the carrot cake with egg didn't arrive, in spite of reminding the server of it twice. We gave up the wait and ordered ice kachang (Rs 250). A mound of shaven ice drizzled with colourful syrups including rose syrup and gula melaka (palm sugar syrup) arrives floating in milk blushing with rose syrup. The rice jelly is flavourless, and sweet corn floating in the milk adds texture, but overall, it is a sugar rush for cheap thrills; this is strictly for sugar junkies.

The prawn dumplings are served with chilli oil. PICS/PHORUM PANDYA

Overall, we miss the punch and diverse flavours of street food fare, even if we consider milder versions of Singaporean cuisine, which in itself is a celebration of several cuisines. While most dishes were low on salt, the generosity with sugar was avoidable. We feel short-changed after the promise of a Singaporean street food binge.

Makan Lah
AT Shop No. 3, Pioneer Heights, 3rd Road, Khar West.
Time 10.30 am to 11 pm
Call 8879369819

'''' Exceptional, ''' Excellent, '' very Good, ' Good, Average. Makan Lah didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals