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The Wok & Barrel [CLOSED]
Maureen
August 25, 2011
August 25, 2011
This place is closed.
I was first introduced to Shen aka Madam Tan by the team of Hungrygowhere exactly a year ago. I was looking for interesting personality for my hawker column then and she agreed to be interviewed. Such a nice lady! Since then, we corresponded through twitter but have never met each other.
If “Madam Tan” sounds familiar to you, you must have tried Madam Tan’s Nasi Lemak at Maxwell Food Centre before. “But the stall is closed now!” you may think, actually it has been relocated to Duxton Hill and is called The Wok & Barrel.
“Wok represents Asian influences in the food, while “Barrel” represents a selection of imported artisanal beers available. Shen decided to move from the hawker centre to a shophouse because she wanted to present a more complete offering and so that she could cook everything to order.
When we were there in the beginning of August, it is warming up by running on a limited menu – namely nasi lemak with all the trimmings – before offering a more extensive bistro menu (featuring East-West elements) from September onwards.
Shen, who used to be an events director at Forbes magazine, quit to set up the stall in 2009. She is not a chef-in-training and she developed this Nasi Lemak recipe after loads of research to get the “Lemak” rice. Trust me, it is not as simple as what you see in the Channel 8 TV Series “Holland Village“, where the Nasi Lemak seller (acted by Chen Liping) happens to drop a can of soft drink into her pot of coconut rice to achieve the fluffiness.
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| Nasi Lemak Curry Chicken Set ($8.90) |
You know, when you have decided to indulge in a plate of Nasi Lemak, you want the BEST out of it. Forget those low fat coconut coconut because trust me, it will never taste as great. Shen’s nasi lemak is steamed with fresh coconut every day, instead of being thrown in a rice cooker with coconut milk.
Only the best Fragrant Jasmine rice is used and each grain of rice is distinct and fluffy but richly lemak and deserves to be called Nasi Lemak! It is so well flavoured that you will want to eat the rice on its own!
The 6 Nasi Lemak rice sets feature dishes such as crispy pork slices, chicken chunks, curry chicken drumstick, mutton curry, beef rending and 5-spice roast pork. Each set comes complete with the Nasi Lemak rice, omelette, cucumber, ikan bills, homemade achar and asian coleslaw, which is a refreshing mix of crunchy shredded cabbage, carrots in a tangy Asian-inspired dressing of lime juice, coriander and crushed peanuts.
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| Nasi Lemak Crispy Chicken Set ($7.90) |
You can choose between Madam Tan’s two different kinds of home-made Sambal: either your Nasi Lemak with the traditional Nasi Lemak Chilli or for chilli thrill seekers, you have to sample our Madam Tan’s extra spicy Sambal Belachan with its nuclear explosive kick. Shiok!
There are also Western-style sandwiches with Asian fillings (Otak-Otak Wrap) and desserts such as coconut panna cotta and sticky toffee puloh hitam pudding. From next month, Wok & Barrel will also offer an all-day weekend brunch of Western-style egg and fry-up dishes, plus local dishes such as carrot cake.
I totally enjoyed my dining experience there. Great food and great bistro! And there’s no GST & service charge, how cool is that!
The Wok & Barrel
Address: 13 Duxton Hill
Tel: 6220 0595
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