The Coco Rice
The Coco Rice which debuted March 25 at Tiong Bahru Food Centre marks homepreneur Aries Chan's maiden foray into brick-and-mortar, her three-year-old online business (Nasi Lemak Indulgence) having thus far drawn rapturous acclaim for purveying various catchily confected nasi lemak-themed “cakes”. Decked out in luminescent turquoise, bedizened with antiquated knick-knacks cum framed prints of fawning media coverage its tiddly stall despite receiving the corner treatment is unmissable, even more so Aries herself who cuts a pixeish figure and can be seen constantly flitting between cooking and serving.
Open daily from 10am-3pm, The Coco Rice does only nasi lemak, that said its nasi - christened an eye-popping cerulean blue courtesy of butterfly pea flower extract shall most certainly tug at curiosities as well as appetites. Anyhow, customers may pair said dish six ways till Sunday, with tempeh + tauhu goreng + lady's finger (set A), fried chicken thigh (set B), Selar fish (set C) or sambal petai prawn (set D).
Sampling and thoughts:
We gave the signature set B a whirl for starters; rice chaperoned delicately fragrant, kacang ikan bilis asseverated pertinently crispy while sunny side-up made us feel mirthful. Then again, what truly set hearts aflutter was the sheer corpulence, utter flavorbomb of a chicken thigh which bulldozed whatever expectations held prior: airily battered, evocatively spiced plus alacritously fried......this just couldn't get more impeccable.
Set B ($7.90)
Set A didn't leave us similarly agog, still we gotta profess taking to one accoutrement in particular: toasty, nutty tempeh when dabbed with punchy-sweet sambal tasted pretty dope. Au contraire, paltry affection was reserved for the fried bean curd and lady's finger, fundamentally because both lacked gaiety, joie de vivre if you will.
Set A ($6.90)
Overall picture considered, The Coco Rice weaves together scrupulously a quasi-perfectionist ethos, creative verve, not least culinary spunk. But whether it can parlay these into a palpable gastronomic legacy remains, perceptibly, unwritten in the stars. Carpe diem, Miss Chan.
Note: Prices subject to change without prior notice. Kindly clarify with stall before visiting or ordering.
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Score: 8.2/10
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Editor's Note: Another outlet at One Punggol Hawker Centre subsequently opened on 6 January 2023; both however shuttered in March 2024.
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