Delicious bowls of lontong since Nineteen Sixties that’ll get you prepared for the day

Despite breakfast being touted as essentially the most essential meal of the day, I simply can’t carry myself to eat meals within the morning. The 4 hours of sleep (or much less) that I sit up for is sufficient to type cobwebs in my digestive system. However, once I heard that Queenstown Lontong, an insanely fashionable breakfast spot situated at Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, is normally offered out earlier than closing time (2pm), I simply needed to make it my uncommon breakfast meal.

Queenstown Lontong isn’t simply your run-of-the-mill lontong stall, it truly has been in enterprise since 1960 and even makes use of the identical signboard from the yesteryears. When I arrived at round 8am, there was already an enormous queue forming.

It had individuals from all walks of life — the company man together with his tight-fitting shirt and waxed hair, the jogger together with her Bluetooth earpiece and solar defend cap, the retired uncles and aunties who most likely ate right here throughout their youth and a few idiot in floral shorts carrying a comically giant digicam (me). 

What I attempted at Queenstown Lontong

Queenstown Lontong served almost the whole lot you’d anticipate finding in a stereotypical Malay hawker stall, a lot so that you simply’d suppose it’s from a major faculty oral examination image. 

I in fact ordered their Lontong (S$4) and Mee Soto (S$4). I used to be actually tempted by their Mee Rebus (S$4) however I assumed the Lontong would already be a wealthy dish as it’s, so I opted for one thing lighter in distinction. They additionally offered Nasi Lemak (S$4) and Soto Ayam (S$4). There was rumour a couple of coveted Laksa dish nevertheless it wasn’t on the menu.

The Lontong was as normal because it comes. It had a beneficiant quantity of sliced rice muffins with boiled egg and a chunk of tofu accompanying it. Layering it was smooth sayur lodeh with a spoonful of sambal stacked atop the carb mountain. It’s completed with sprinkles of ikan bilis adopted by showers of grated coconut flakes. This island of elements was surrounded by an ocean of milky and yellow broth. Behind the bowl was a salivating particular person.

Instinctively, I had a sip of the broth first. What hit me was how ridiculously creamy it was regardless of being watery. You can actually style the santan (coconut cream) with hints of spiciness. There was additionally a contact of sweetness to it, one thing which I’d by no means anticipate in a lontong dish.

After an excellent mixing, my first correct chew had me nodding in settlement to the lengthy queues (which went on all through my breakfast there). Everything in my bowl labored in tandem to ship a spoonful so good it’ll get anybody prepared for the day. I particularly beloved the fried anchovies and sayur lodeh due to their contrasting textures and style to the creamy broth.

The rice muffins had been effectively cooked and when coupled with the broth, the intermixed sambal and grated coconut, it made for a satisfying breakfast… at the least initially.

As the variety of bites grew, I discovered the sweetness to be barely overwhelming, particularly for somebody who wasn’t used to it. Apart from the coconut broth, I discovered the sambal and the grated coconuts to be the prime suspects of the profound sweetness. Before I may end my bowl, the sensation of jelak was on the horizon.

In dire want of a palate cleanser, I turned to my bowl of Mee Soto. Again, it appeared nothing out of the unusual with yellow noodles, hen bits, some greens on the facet and a lightweight sambal ending it. 

I used to be initially frightened in regards to the sambal because it was approach too gentle than I used to be accustomed to and appeared just like the Indonesian sambal you get in dishes like ayam penyet. That distinctive tartness that comes with that sambal simply wouldn’t work with the soto broth.

The soup had a welcoming subtlety to it and my worries in regards to the sambal had been for nought because it supplied a well-known spiciness that I really get pleasure from. The hen items had been nearly melt-in-your-mouth tender and the yellow noodles couldn’t have been cooked any higher, retaining their softness and chewiness regardless of sitting out for at the least 10 minutes earlier than being tasted.

It wasn’t fairly Warong Pak Sapari good, missing in depth because of the absence of a powerful hen flavour, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly a few steps above common. And after the richness of the Lontong, the fragile flavours of the Mee Soto had been simply what the physician ordered.

Final ideas 

I could not absolutely agree with the quantity of sweetness that may be discovered of their Lontong, however the lengthy strains and the truth that the stall has been run by 3 generations most likely means I’m most likely the odd one out. Despite this, my uncommon breakfast expertise was a nice one, particularly in regard to their Mee Soto.

I’d simply advocate Queenstown Lontong to others solely on how fashionable and inexpensive it’s. It undoubtedly screams weekend breakfast with the household. Me? I feel I nonetheless favor my sleep, chou chou and cobwebbed abdomen.

Expected injury: S$4 – S$8 per pax

Other articles you may like:

Sinar Harapan: Shiok dry lontong & nasi ambeng at Haig Road Food Centre

10 stalls it’s essential to strive on the new double-storey Margaret Drive Hawker Centre

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