This is a small shophouse located at the corner of North Bridge Road and Kandahar Street. It’s A’s kampong cos he works in the area, so after always making comparisons whenever we eat at River Valley Nasi Padang, A finally brought me here for brunch on Saturday morning. We had to go for brunch because the place gets packed closer to lunch time, and they pretty much sell out by 1 to 2 pm.
When we got there at about 10.45, the restaurant was already packed, and there was a sizeable take-away queue as well. If you are dining in, you queue at a separate, shorter queue to place your order. The take-away queue is mammoth in length, mainly because each person probably orders enough to feed their entire family. You can see all sorts of people, from Malay makciks to coiffed tai-tais, waiting patiently in the queue. The queue got even longer as we were eating, numbering more than 20 by around 11.30 am.
In order to make as fair a comparison as possible, we ordered almost the same things as we do at River Valley – the beef rendang, sayur lodeh (with tofu, because the cabbage one wasn’t cooked yet), squid and their specialty, Ayam Bakar – a grilled chicken served with a light korma-like coconut gravy.
The rendang was very flavourful and tender, but the squid was just passable and the sayur lodeh was quite watery. The highlight was the Ayam Bakar – order the ‘paha’ and you get a chicken thigh and drumstick portion. The chicken is pre-grilled, and when you order it they just douse it in the korma gravy. The gravy is no where near the richness of the River Valley one, but I must say the charred smoky flavour of the grilled chicken is unparalleled.
Next time we’ll just have 2 portions each of the rendang and the chicken, and not bother with any other dishes. I do think, however, that overall, I’ll probably still go to River Valley for the convenience and the curry gravy.
A says:
This place is just chaotic. Even though the taste of the chicken and rending are better here, I’d rather go to the River Valley just because it’s more organized, easier to order and you can just park at Great World City.
Warong Nasi Pariaman
738 North Bridge Road
Opening hours: 7.30am to 3pm; closed on Sundays
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