Madam Kwan’s

Venerable Malaysian doyenne Madam Kwan Swee Lian, who is 80 this year, 1st made a name for herself and her nasi lemak running Sakura restaurant in Jalan Imbi from 1977 to 1997. The popular casual-dining restaurant, Madam Kwan's, started in 1999 as a shop in Bangsar and now has six more branches in Kuala Lumpur malls such as Suria KLCC and Pavilion. And its 1st overseas branch opened in Singapore on 19 May so you do not have to travel 5 hours north for your fix of swanky street food. Located on the 1st floor of VivoCity, the 4,000 sq ft contemporary-designed space decked in gold and lots of wood could sit about 200. Most often than not, there would be a queue outside so my dining companion and I considered ourselves lucky there were none (in fact, there were a few empty tables) when we visited on a weekday evening. Despite so, we waited very long to order but food was served fast enough. Chinese tea, a pot each for pouring into a cup or glass with ice – hot/cold, was refilled quickly.

Nasi Bojari, modified from an original Indonesia dish meant for royalty, had fragrant and fluffy tri-coloured rice. Was reminded of nasi biriyani, probably due to turmeric, but with an extra note of sweetness from dried shrimp and definitely good enough on its own. It came with a big chunk of deep-fried chicken drumstick – crispy skin full of flavour from the marinade, and tender meat that was not too dry. Nothing to rave about or fault on the tasting portion of shredded beef rendang while assam prawns (fresh sea prawns cooked in tamarind sauce) reminiscent of acar were sweet, spicy and tangy all at once. Cucumber slices and half a hard-boiled egg, instead of yogurt by the side in Indian cuisine, were good as palate cleansers so that the tongue would not be numbed by spiciness after a while. Sambal Belachan Kang Kong was too oily for my liking and more salty, maybe from the spicy dried shrimp paste sauce, than sweet and spicy.

Steamed rice in Nasi Lemak looked whole but had a texture reminiscent of broken grains in the mouth. Could smell a nice aroma of coconut but not taste it, unlike the tender curry chicken with an overwhelming taste of coconut milk in its thick gravy. Would have preferred more anchovies than onions in the sambal ikan bilis, which was more sweet than spicy. Loved the generous amount of ground peanuts in the crunchy acar (pickled mixed vegetables such as carrot and cucumber strips) – sweet, spicy and tangy at the same time. Portions were too huge for us to also try its Satay, thick Otak Otak or desserts. 2 more branches would open over the next 3 years and these, together with VivoCity's that saw 600 customers on its opening day, would be wholly owned by Madam Kwan's. However, expansion into emerging economies such as Indonesia and The Philippines would likely adopt a franchise model. Note that the restaurant is not halal-certified as beer is served.

Update: The restaurant has closed.