(CLOSED) Rusnah Cafe – Authentic Gado Gado Hidden in Sime Darby Centre

Rusnah, 74, used to be a cooking instructor at Community Centres. She is now the main chef of Rusnah Cafe. Her sister, Asnah, assists her in the cooking while her brother, Sallim, handles order taking.

They first started selling nasi padang at Forum The Shopping Mall in 1988, before moving to Wisma Atria, then Turf City. They moved once more and are now in Sime Darby Centre. Sallim proclaimed Rusnah Cafe to have one of the best nasi padang in Orchard.

At around 8am, the team will arrive and start cooking mee rebus, mee siam, lontong and nasi lemak to serve by 9am. The nasi padang dishes will be out by 11:30am while the gado gado and mee soto will be available from 12pm. By 4pm, everything will be sold out and they will pack up for the day.

Gado-gado (in Indonesian) is an Indonesian-style salad that consists of beansprouts, cucumber, hard-boiled eggs, potato, fried tofu, fried tempeh (fermented soybeans), lontong (compressed rice cake wrapped in banana leaf), and peanut sauce.

Rusnah Cafe’s Gado-gado ($3) has crispy and savoury fish crackers on top of the usual ingredients. Often the top choice at Rusnah Cafe, the gado-gado is blanketed with a thick and fragrant peanut sauce which makes this dish a winner. Too many gado-gados are covered with a diluted or watery peanut sauce.

Rusnah Cafe’s Mee Rebus ($3) sat in a moderately thick gravy which had a pleasant sweetness and spiciness. The dish gradually got spicier but I enjoyed the spicy kick very much.

The broth of mee soto is usually peppery. Interestingly, Rusnah Cafe’s Mee Soto ($3) was not, but it was still quite flavourful and sweet! Pieces of chicken which were already cooked with turmeric are added to the dish. Of all the dishes, this was the one that I loved the most.

We also had the Fish Nasi Padang Set ($4.50) which comes with your choice of 2 side dishes.The assam fish was really tangy and palatable, and super sedap!

First-timers to Rusnah Cafe will have a hard time finding the store. You may think that there is nothing else on the 5th floor, but this hidden eatery is waiting for you!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.