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Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre at Hougang must be the most extraordinary Nasi Lemak stall in Singapore. Customers virtually clustered to form queues from 6pm to late nights everyday without fail.
I guess it is very easy for foreigners to think this is a die die must QUEUE stall but chances are, for many Nasi Lemak connoisseurs, the chilli here simply cannot make it.
Good chilli sauce that can go well with the rice is very important for me in a Nasi Lemak but at Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre, it is no better than what you can get from your Hup Lee Fried Bee Hoon stall in the market.
Ok there is definitely something about this Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre’s that makes people want to join the queue but what exactly is the X-factor?
For me, other than the ingredients in the spread are really fresh, there isn’t much to shout about. You see, Ponggol Nasi Lemak is using one side of the stall(which is made into a kitchen) to prepare the ingredients and then selling them piping hot over at the other side of the stall. The constant flow of customers make this chain a possibility.
Nasi Lemak $5+
It is true that nowhere in Singapore you can get a plate of Nasi Lemak fresher than one at Ponggol Nasi Lemak Centre but what is also true is that here is probably the only place in Singapore where you can get charged a plate of Nasi Lemak in a kopitiam for $8(if you are not careful with your selection). Well the thing is after queueing for 30 mins and then find yourself greeted by many freshly fried items, you can’t help but tempting to point here and there for a bit of everything and that is usually how it will cost you almost $10. Well usually I would just get the chicken wing and 2 other vegetables which will cost me something like $5 to $6.
With the price so steep, queue so long and quality of the chilli cannot make it, this can easily be one of those stalls that I would rather give it a pass. But for all the minus points, there is still something here that for all the money in the world, cannot get you a better version anywhere else.(I think).
Best achar in the world!
Achar has always been one of my favourite salads and it is only at Ponggol Nasi Lemak where you can get to eat one that tastes like freshly cut pineapples tossed in shiokadodo achar sauce. The sauce is very good with a mild curry flavour, acidic and a little spicy which goes really well with the pineapples which tasted as fresh as you can get from any fruits stall.
It is hard to imagine paying $5 for a plate of Nasi Lemak with a fried chicken wing and a few vegetables but the freshly made achar is so good that it can make you become forgetful to all the achar you have had in the past and possibily to all the achar you will have in the future. At the very least, it is enough to make me join the queue.
Price: $5+
Recommendation: Achar for me though all the items in the spread are really fresh.
Conclusion: Rice and chilli are disappointing but ingredients are very fresh here. The chicken wings are good but definitely not the best. Achar is what makes me come back again and again.
Likes: Achar, though other fried items are good too.
Dislikes: Rice, chilli not power enough. Very steep.
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Their brinjal in chilli is very good. I agreed that most of the fried items are frozen, nothing utstanding.
Ate there before, delicious but bit pricey, beside ponggol I think the other famous one is chong pang.
Ate once before. Don’t understand the fuss. Tasted very normal to me.
You could try this Nasi Lemak stall at Blk 17 Upper Boon Keng Hawker Centre, Mrs Chans’ Nasi Lemak.
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The nasi lemark stall is opened by Edwin John Chan?