Nov 1, 2004
Yes, Seri, to racial harmony
BY WONG AH YOKE
RECENTLY, I asked a Malay friend who had just visited Kuala Lumpur what her favourite Malay restaurant there was. Her reply was that she did not eat Malay food at all during her trip.
With so many halal non-Malay restaurants there, she was too busy trying out things she had never been able to eat before.
She should be happy to know about Seri Kampung Restaurant, which opened in Geylang Serai in June.
Though located inside the Malay Village, its hefty menu is made up of mainly Chinese dishes with just about a dozen Malay dishes. All halal, of course.
Many dishes are familiar Chinese restaurant fare such as seafood in yam pot ($15). But some, such as seafood tom yam soup ($16) or prawn curry ($20), are borrowed from other cuisines.
The result is a hotchpotch of popular Singaporean dishes that are now available to Muslims as well.
The cooking is good, especially when it comes to spicy dishes like the prawn curry. The gravy, which is flavoured with dried shrimp, is delicious. It tastes like a cross between a rich curry and a laksa, and goes wonderfully with white rice.
The oyster omelette ($10) is another dish that will have you reaching for the rice. It comes drenched in chilli sauce and has plenty of plump baby oysters dotting the fluffy egg.
The non-spicy dishes tend to be more run-of-the-mill. The seafood in yam pot looks professionally done but needs a bit more flavour to leave a stronger impression. Ditto the steamed broccoli with crabmeat ($16), which tastes like a standard issue from your average zhi-char stall.
I did not get to taste the Malay dishes from the a la carte menu as they are not available during the current fasting month. Instead, the restaurant has a dinner buffet at $18.90 per person which incorporates some of these dishes, which include rendang and seashell fried in sambal.
The racial harmony in the menu is reflected in the restaurant's staff as well. In the kitchen are both Chinese and Malay cooks, and the Chinese waiter - who was dressed in traditional Malay costume - took my order in fluent Mandarin.
What is also commendable about the restaurant is that it keeps its prices reasonable. Those quoted for the dishes mentioned here are for medium-sized servings, which are enough for six to seven people.
Earlier restaurants inside the Malay Village have failed to attract local diners because they were perceived as tourist traps. It's a label that Seri Kampung does not deserve.
It caters to local palates at reasonable prices. And for tourists, it offers an example of how many Singaporeans eat at home - mixing and matching dishes from different races at the dinner table.
SERI KAMPUNG RESTAURANT
1 Engku Aman Road, Malay Village #01-01, Tel: 6846-9401
Opening hours: For the fasting month, the restaurant opens only for dinner from 6pm to midnight. After Hari Raya Puasa, the hours are 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch and 6 to 11.30pm for dinner
Price: Affordable at around $20 per person
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