The Coconut Club

If our Prime Minister deems this a worthy place to bring the Philippines President for a meal, it must be really good right? So we headed down to The Coconut Club, some 10 months after their meal- patience is a virtue as we immediately had a seat on a weekend afternoon instead of having to deal with snaking lines. 

The interior was modern, with seating spaces both inside and outside of the shop.

The menu is not extensive but it didn't bother us because we were really only here for the Nasi Lemak ($12.80). If you compare this to the hawker centre nasi lemak, this may seem way too expensive. But these are the reasons why I think their price tag is justified:

1) The rental here is probably a lot higher.

2) The Ayam Goreng Berempah is not your usual deep fried chicken- the big piece of chicken leg was very tender, and marinated with ginger, turmeric, galangal and lemongrass, giving a new interpretation to the usual nasi lemak deep fried chicken. The crispy bits of marinade were addictive.

3) Everything was XL-portion (whether the chicken, the sambal, the nuts or the ikan bilis)- I felt so full after having the Nasi Lemak that I fell into a food coma for the rest of the afternoon.

4) They use premium ingredients, such as young kampong chicken, mawa coconuts from Perak to extract the coconut milk and old jasmine rice from Thailand. Even the ikan billis is sourced from Pangkor, with the insides gutted for a cleaner and lighter taste. 

The rice was fragrant, but didn't have an edge over the good nasi lemak stalls.

We also ordered the Otak-Otak ($10.50) to share. Again, is the price tag justified? I guess I would have been more willing to fork out $12.80 for the plate of nasi lemak than to pay $10.50 for the otak otak, simply because there are more "sides" in the nasi lemak. The otak otak which is made fresh daily and cooked over a charcoal grill came in a large and thick slab with visible fish meat (mackerel) in it (not your usual blended-until-cannot-see-any-fish kind of otak).

For those with small appetites, you may wish to consider ordering one plate of nasi lemak for both to share, so that you save enough stomach space for their famous chendol.

The Coconut Club 
No. 6 Ann Siang Hill
Tel No: 6635 2999