پراناکان نوونا

Home style Peranakan! taste wise they were all polite renditions of Peranakan fare, not explosive, so it may taste plainer than the modern Peranakan joints. But wow this is the closest fit to the flavour I had at Siglap 30 years ago. I slurped up the chapchye soup and didn’t get an MSG attack. The Itek Sio was nice and creamy too.

Importantly the buah keluak still comes in the shell (it irritates me when it doesn’t). The otah is also allegedly made in house and I liked it.

It was always empty all these years so we never came in, but today I was lazy so I called to make a reservation and our experience was fine. The boss uncle does indeed have a little bit of attitude - he tried to tell us we ordered a lot (we didn’t), and dissuaded one of us from ordering a fried rice as it wouldn’t go well. He was also affronted when I dared ask if the otah was pre packed. Well he’s still open… so….. my recommendation is to just call ahead and reserve, and be respectful because the food’s worth the humble pie.

Order the asam pedas fish... Really lovely curry... Babi pontek also v soft... Love the sambal long beans... Otah is very homely. Overall very nice dinner. Will definitely come back again.

Update: Came back to try the assam pedas curry fish head together with other different dishes! Kept the ngoh hiang though cause I liked it the first time around, unfortunately Babi pongteh was sold out.
Thing to note: rice is free flow refillable after your first plate.

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Delicious nonya food cooked by only 1 guy in the kitchen. Everything was nice and very much above average but not perfect. My favorite would have to be their ngoh hiang which had very crisp bean curd skin on the outside.
Service can be rough at times as uncle who is the boss and taking orders from you can get stressed or moody when you first enter. However, he lightens up and gets better as service progresses.

Will I come back? Yes because food is definitely decent

❌ surly and borderline disdainful service by the owner. But all smiles and as friendly as he can muster towards regulars. Other reviews are spot on.

✅ Home style food but not enough of a pull to return.

✅ A hard pass to ever return.

Very traditional local eating place. Seats only about 50 pax at max. Best to make reservations if your party is 8 and above. Fried prawn and squid dishes, very flavourful and seafood fresh! Other dishes were of home cooked goodness. Prices reasonable and servings more than sufficient.