Kampong Glam is the centre of Singapore’s Muslim community. At its heart is the Sultan Mosque. We have been there before and on this trip we made a return visit. Turns out it was a Friday, and it was Chinese New Year’s Eve, so things were hopping.
We wanted to re-visit a restaurant we had eaten at back in 2018. It is called Hjh Maimunah and it serves Malay food. It is a little confusing for us, as the food is served almost cafeteria style, and nothing is labelled. You tell the servers behind the glass what you want and they put a plate together for you. It is called nasi padang, and begin with rice. Since nothing is labelled and the servers have limited English it is rather a gong show as we try to ask questions and point at random items. The arrangement seems to be a serving of rice, two proteins and two sides. And then sauces.
Last time around we had acquired our food and settled ourselves at a table and were well on our way to eating our meal. Wilf had selected a small grilled fish that had sambal oelek on it (that’s fire in sauce form!). A woman was walking by and saw Wilf’s plate and she stopped. She pretty much took the fork from his hand and said ‘Oh no! this food is too hot for English people’, ignoring the fact that he had already eaten half the fish with the fiery sauce. We had a lovely chat, were introduced to her mother and answered many questions. I noticed that everyone around us had stopped eating and were listening to the conversation – they must have been wondering where we were from and how we found the place.
How could we not go back? So – once again we point and assemble a meal, including a grilled fish. I took the tray to pay and sent Wilf off to find a table. While I was at the cashier one of the waiters came and took the tray and said he would find us a table. By the time I got outside Wilf was ensconced at a table beside the street, the food was all organized and he had been joined by an auntie. Her friends were at a nearby table but she popped over to see what was up. When I arrived she was explaining to Wilf that he mustn’t drink milk after eating the meal because it would curdle in his stomach after eating all the hot spices. She asked me if we liked hot food and if we were okay eating it. I told her that we had been practicing by eating Korean food and thought we were up to the challenge. I’m not sure she understood that…. But once she was satisfied that we could safely eat the meal she wandered off.
You can see the bright orange sambal oelek on each plate – I guess the server figured we could handle it. (We could not……) And see the little limes with the fish? They make the most delicious lime drink with them. I’m working on developing an opinion about who makes the best version. So far the aunties at the Maxwell Food court are winning!
After our meal we wandered through the area a bit – the Friday service was in full swing at the mosque and attendees were spilling into the courtyard in front. There’s a big Turkish presence in the area, too – lots of Turkish restaurants and souvenir sellers. It was so blastingly hot and humid that we walked around a bit but when I saw a cab I looked at Wilf with a ‘I’m getting in – you coming too?’ expression and we headed back to our hotel.
We’ll be back – there is much to see and I think Wilf has a hankering for Turkish food…….
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