Two words: nasi lemak. Simply utter them and you’ll most likely get people gushing about how much they love the Malay-style dish (me) or bombarding you with their best recommendations for a mean plate of nasi lemak.
A dish that can be eaten anytime throughout the day, nasi lemak is loved by all ages and races for both its simplicity and complexity. Simple, because if you really think about it, it’s just rice with a handful of garnishes of various textures and flavours. Complex, because it can quickly turn you off if one of the components isn’t done perfectly.
The fragrant rice needs to be soaked and cooked in coconut milk or cream long enough for it to be intoxicatingly aromatic; some even throw pandan leaf into the mix for a distinctive flavour. The spicy sambal sauce needs to pack a good amount of heat to go with the rice as well as the other accompaniments, including fresh cucumber slices, fried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, and egg (either hard-boiled or fried).
To make the dish more substantial, you’ll often find additional protein dishes such as fried chicken, fried fish, meat curry, beef curry, sambal cuttlefish or even spicy cockles. Vegetables such as spicy stir-fried kangkung (water spinach) are also common side dishes for nasi lemak.
On a never-ending quest for amazing local delicacies, AVENUE ONE recently attended a media tasting at OSG Bar + Kitchen in Suntec City and we’re happy to report that we may have just found one of the yummiest restaurant-quality nasi lemak in town.
Read on for our review on the music restaurant bar’s latest offering as well as other delectable highlights that you must try in your next visit to OSG Bar + Kitchen.
OSG Bar + Kitchen review: The new Signature Nasi Lemak
First, the violet-tinged rice. Fans of nasi kerabu – a Malaysian cuisine – will immediately notice the resemblance of the special-coloured rice, which begets its vibrant hue from blue pea flower. As a healthier option, the rice is prepared with Indian basmati rice, which is cooked in fragrant chicken broth (a nod to Singapore’s favourite dish, the chicken rice) and rich coconut milk.
The rice is accompanied by a fried chicken drumstick that’s been marinated with a special spice mix before going into the deep fryer, mini lobsters, fried chicken wing, spicy Indonesian-style balado egg, acar, fried anchovies, peanuts, and not one, but three different sambal sauces that are made in-house. If that isn’t a hearty dish, we don’t know what is…
When this abundant plate was served, we immediately caught a strong whiff of the coconut-perfumed rice which, to us, was a sign of a good start. Our server informed us of the three hot sambal sauces and their spiciness level before getting us to dig right in.
And boy, did we dig in. We carved out bites of all the garnishes to eat together with a spoonful of rice, mixed in with a generous dollop of each sambal sauce each time – one even had a hint of tom yam! While the spiciness level varied, none of them were overwhelmingly spicy – just enough to make your taste buds dance.
The marinated fried chicken drumstick hit all the right notes with its crispiness and taste. The spice blend, which included ginger and turmeric, elevated the simple fried dish and the meat beneath the crispy skin was juicy and tender. The spicy pickled salad (fondly known as acar) had the perfect balance of tang and freshness to cut off the spiciness from the sambal.
For us, the star of the dish has got to be the sambal sauces that complemented the rice and garnishes perfectly. We found ourselves reaching for the sambal bite after bite because of how tantalising each was. Frankly, we wished we had an unlimited serving of the blue pea coconut rice so that we could keep eating the sambal.
Having had our hearts won by the marinated fried chicken drumstick, the fried chicken wing felt a little underwhelming and was something we felt the dish could do without. Perhaps the restaurant can consider substituting it with beef rendang instead?
We also felt that the mini lobster was rather cumbersome to eat with fork and spoon. Our advice? Ditch the cutlery and go right in with your hands.
While there were a couple of misses in the dish, it didn’t dampen our fondness for the OSG’s Signature Nasi Lemak because there were definitely more hits overall on the plate. The Signature Nasi Lemak is priced at S$17.90 but during weekday lunch hour, you can get a free drink (coffee, tea, soft drinks or juices) with the dish.
OSG Bar + Kitchen review: Other highlights
If you’re a fried rice lover or on days that you crave for both fried rice and nasi lemak (carb heaven!), order the Mini Lobster Nasi Goreng Sambal (S$16.90). It’s basically the best of both worlds – spicy seafood fried rice coupled with everything else from the restaurant’s Signature Nasi Lemak dish.
Other notable highlights that you cannot miss include the Nasi Lemak Ayam Bakar (S$10.90). Available in the restaurant’s lunch set menu only, this dish features the all-time favourite nasi lemak together with the crowd-pleasing Indonesian grilled chicken that’s marinated in kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) before going on the grill. The meaty chicken thigh, which was served with yet another generous dollop of sambal, was grilled to perfection and left us hankering for more even though we were almost in a food coma state.
Prefer to drench your rice with loads of gravy? Go for the Ayam Masak Lemak (S$11.90). Served together with coconut rice, you’ll enjoy the succulent chicken drumstick that’s bathed in a rich, spicy yellow coconut gravy cooked with cili padi.
If you’re up for a taste adventure, get the Harmony Wagyu Beef Rice Burger (S$17.90), which features coconut rice as burger buns, kimchi-laced wagyu beef patty, and french fries together with the typical nasi lemak garnishes.
OSG Bar + Kitchen is located at 3 Temasek Boulevard, #01-510/511, Suntec City (Tower 1), Singapore 038983. The music restaurant bar has both indoor and outdoor seating, with the latter being available only in evenings. Do note that the restaurant’s entrance is accessible only via the foyer, which means you’ll have to step outside of the mall area in order to enter.
With a nice, relaxed ambience, OSG is a good place to dine in with your friends, colleagues, and family to savour delicious fusion food with booze – just keep in mind not to gather in a group larger than five if you’re not from the same household.
Aside from local and Indo-Chinese dishes, you can also find a variety of sharing bites such as spam fries, nachos, roasted pork belly, mala popcorn chicken, and pizza. There are also other main courses like pasta, Japanese rice bowls, noodles, and burgers. For more information or updates, follow OSG Bar + Kitchen on Facebook and Instagram. OSG Bar + Kitchen is a non-halal eatery.
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