Nasi Coco – Indulge in a Unique Menu Inspired by Nasi Lemak

The makings of tendon is fairly simple: gloriously fried tempura pieces (tempura) served atop a bowl of rice (donburi). It’s not hard to fall in love with this dish, and supply for these bowls are growing as well.

And to stand out from the rest, some restaurants in Singapore have reimagined their tendon to create versions that include the Golden Salted Egg Tendon from Don Meijin and Katsudon Hanakatsu’s chicken and pork rice bowl.

Now, adding to that list is Nasi Coco and their nasi lemak-inspired menu, which includes nasi lemak tendon bowls. The iconic flavours of coconut and sambal finds its way into many of the dishes here. Think Sambal Prawn Coconut Cream Pasta ($10.90) and Lemak Salad ($6.90).

But the main feature of Nasi Coco is the Nasi Coco Supreme ($9.90), which comes with a mixed selection of tempura including prawn, chicken, luncheon meat, and seasonal vegetables served on a bed of coconut rice with cucumber slices, ikan bilis, peanut, and sambal chilli. Diners can also choose to have a tempura lava egg or sous vide egg.

Essentially a deconstructed nasi lemak, the bowl is a generous serving of lightly coated tempura pieces. It is drizzled with their “special curated” TEN sauce, but the pieces go equally well with the sambal as well.

Instead of the usual full cream found in carbonara sauces, Nasi Coco’s Pasuta Lemak ($9.90) uses coconut cream instead. The result is a slightly sweet, creamy aromatic sauce, which created a great counterbalance to the salty luncheon meat cubes and ikan bilis. Stir in some of the sambal served at the side for a fiery punch.

Even the sauces here are unique. Every order of the Tempura Chicken Wings ($4 for two pcs) comes with the choice of four sauces  – TEN sauce, coco mayo, sambal mayo, and sambal chili. For something truly unique, go for the tropical coco mayo, with notes of sweet coconut to help cut through the grease.

Otherwise, the wings, while decent, tasted very much like Old Chang Kee’s.

The drinks and dessert options have the same coconut theme as well. Apart from the usual Ondeh Ondeh Cake ($5.90) and Iced Coco Latte ($4.50), the Coco Bandung ($2.50) was a refreshing complement to the many rich and sinful plates.

Be warned, locating Nasi Coco might be a bit of a hassle. They are located in a seemingly vacant building, NEWest, which is a bus ride away from the nearest MRT (Clementi).

MissTamChiak.com made an anonymous visit and paid for the meal at the cafe featured here.