McDonald's Nasi Lemak Burger Meal - Nasi Lemak without Nasi?! (Promo Over)

While this isn’t the first that one of the famous fast food restaurants innovated local flavors (e.g. Kiasu, Rendang beef and salted Egg burgers). In conjunction with Singapore Food Festival 2017 and upcoming National Day, McDonald has decided to recreate one of Singapore’s most iconic dishes which is nasi lemak.

Commonly eaten for any meal, Nasi Lemak is a fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and accompanied with a range of side dishes such as egg, cucumber, anchovies and most importantly sambal chili.

Their promotion includes Nasi Lemak Burger, Bandung McFizz, Criss Cut Fries, Coconut Pie and Chendol McFlurry, which we are going to review all of them here!

So let's start off with Nasi Lemak Burger, their box is a picture of the banana leaf which normally acts as a tray for Nasi Lemak, let's open up the box!

The burger consists of fried chicken coconut marinated meat patty, fried egg, two cucumber slices, bits of caramelized onions with sweet and spicy sambal sauce in between the semolina buns, but something is missing out from Nasi Lemak - Ikan Bilis, peanuts, and rice! It is just not nasi lemak without them.

Our favorite parts of the burger were the chicken and fried egg, they taste just like the ones you would get from any hawker stalls that sells Nasi Lemak. However what we could not taste is the sambal chili and the egg as the cucumbers and chicken had overpowered them. But the first few bite of the burger will make you think of Nasi Lemak! Must try! but a precaution to share with a person as it might get a bit too full cause of the oiliness of the chicken.

Next is criss cut fries, it is not a stranger to Mcdonald fans, Despite being thicker and larger than normal fries, the Crisscuts had a crispier texture which is sure to please those who preferred non-soggy waffley chips.

This was supposed to taste like Bandung that rose syrup added with Sprite. And it was really spot on, Bandung with Sprite, and it's quite refreshing and new to me! The only con is this is a small cup! Not enough to share around. 

Moving on to Chendol McFlurry, this dessert contains cendol green jelly bits with brownish Gula Melaka sauce with the returning vanilla soft serve! To me it was not cendol-y taste to be named cendol mcflurry, all I tasted is Gula Melaka sweetness, but it was a decent dessert.

Last is coconut pie, my first thought that it might be filled with nata de coco jelly inside the pie like how their apple pie is.

The coconut cream with bits of nata de coco was warm and smooth, you could even bite on coconut meat slice even! So overall, Mcdonald did something right with this promotion. We will look forward to more fancy creations in the future!

Lai Heng Fried Koay Teow (來興炒粿條) - One of the most underrated food!

• Operating Hours: 11 AM to 8 PM
• Operating Days: Closed On Monday
• Address: Shunfu Mart Food Centre, 320 Shunfu Road, S 570320 #02-20 
• Food I had: Char Koay Teow ($2.50) & Otah ($1)
• Total Cost: $3.50

ShunFu Mart Food Centre honestly is not a destination for lots of good food, it was built in 1980’s, the Market and Food Centre has become a little run down, but one particular stall attracted me to come all the way here is this Char Koay Teow (or Char Kuay Tiao).

The only place that serves Char Koay Teow with an Otah in this hawker centre. Finding this stall is easy, once you reach ShunFu Mart Food Centre, look for a queue, it’s this stall. 

Every customer was greeted by this smiling uncle taking orders, as I was queuing and search about them, something surprised me, they are using prawn and chicken stock instead of water during their cooking of the char kuay teow.

The first impression I had of the fried kway Teow was very wet and oily. It was a generous amount of koay teow, fresh cockles, eggs, fish cakes with a handful of beansprouts and Chinese sausage. Be take note this was $2.50 portion.

When I've had the first bite, it was moist with strong fragrance yet not too much of wok hei and not overly greasy feeling. The healthy part is that no pork lard is added in but you could request for it if you like to have them. It was surprisingly good!

Good amount of cockles and Chinese sausages was given. 

The Otah here is made in a bigger portion that is spiced just right. It was quite a unique to pair with Fried Kway Teow, but the Otah has the right texture with generous mackerel meat while not having too much of seafoody taste. I love it!

This is one of the best and one of the most underrated foods I've had in Singapore and you ask "Will I return?!" Confirm a YES when I craved for any Char Koay Teow! Fans of Char Koay Teow, you definitely do not want to miss this. 

Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodle (海南星洲牛肉粉) - Dark Thick Beefy Tasty Gravy all over!

• Operating Hours: 8.30 AM to 3.30 PM
• Operating Days: Tuesday to Sunday
• Address: Toa Payoh Food Centre, 22 Toa Payoh Lorong 7 #01-06, S 310022
• Total Cost: $4

Seems like this stall had lots of media interviewed them before, this name has been around for more than 60 years operated by two elderly Hainanese uncles. He was previously from Cuppage Centre before decided to reside in Toa Payoh about a decade ago.

I always chose the dry version as it will be mixed with dark thick beefy tasty gravy with white thick bee hoon noodles and bits of salted vegetables. 

The generous portion of beef slices was fresh, tender and not tough which they cut and cooked themselves. Most importantly, it was not marinated so you could taste the beef in its original form. The sauce itself was good, but maybe my expectations were too high, it did not give me shockingly delicious factor. The beef soup was a lot better than I expected compared to the noodle, it was sweet and not so beefy as all, just nice for me. 

Overall, I enjoyed my bowl of beef noodles and I am willing to revisit. But queue? No thanks. I dun think it was that good to queue. The craze had died down as I do not see any queue anymore for this, so for those who are longing for it, here is your chance.