RS Deli

C says:

We only intended to drop by RS Deli along Upper Thomson Road to pick up some snacks - namely, their sweet garlic emping. For lovers of emping, the bitter Indonesian cracker made from the belinjo nut, this is a heavenly version of it.

As M would say (albeit in a different context), the normally one-note bitter emping is now really complex and layered, due to a coating of caramelised sugar and garlic. I admit that this can be an acquired taste, but I grew up with this so I'm thrilled that it's now readily available.

We ended up staying for dinner because the menu looked interesting. A ordered a nasi lemak burger - essentially an all-in-one nasi lemak, with rice cakes for the buns and a patty of fried chicken and otak. Great concept but it could've been executed a bit better. The rice lacked the coconutty punch of proper nasi lemak rice.

I ordered a chicken curry rice set, which came with sambal eggplant. This was a bit disappointing as the chicken thigh pieces were a bit overcooked. The curry, being thick and sweet, also wasn't my thing.

The sambal fried chicken wings were better, with the chicken still tender and juicy. Again the sambal had a bit more sweetness than I normally like, but I suspect that's more of an issue to do with me.

The Pisang Saleh dessert was good - chargrilled bananas served with coconut ice cream and drizzled with gula melaka. A would've preferred the bananas battered, a la goreng pisang, but I liked the cleanness of the plain grilled banana.

We definitely won't come all the way to Thomson just for the food, though I definitely would for the emping, so whenever we return for another emping fix, maybe we'll try some of their other food offerings.

A says:

The quirky menu attracted me with the nasi lemak burger. Unfortunately, the rice wasn't coconutty. Other than that, I liked every other element. Overall though, the place is generally a cheap and good Indo-fusion bistrocafe. The only thing stopping me from more frequent visits is the horrible parking and traffic in the area.

RS Deli
244R Upper Thomson Road
Tel: 6455-1242
11:30 am - 10 pm; closed Mondays