Warong M. Nasir

Boy, it is indeed a great joy to dine with people who share the same passion for food. You're able to eat freely and peacefully without having anyone whine about how fattening a certain dish is, or have someone exclaim, "eeew, are you really going to eat that? That's like a million calories!". It's comforting to know that no one is going to judge you because we're all here to have a good meal.

Dining with fellow food bloggers is one such affair. No one will look at you weirdly just because you want to shoot that chilli crab at an angle that makes it look irresistible. Also, you get really good advice on which places to avoid or frequent. The bunch of food bloggers I know are pretty genuine and they are really fun, and humourous. We're never short on laughs!

So some of us have been meeting up and we're now on a conquest to savour as much good local food as possible. That's because Umami is leaving for Paris in January and we want to help her store all the delightful tastes and smells in her memory banks so that she won't miss the food here so much. It's a fun mission to embark on!

Yesterday we went to Warung M. Nasir because some of us were craving for Nasi Padang. The five of us, Sam, Ivan, Umami, Superfinefeline and myself dropped by during lunch and guess what? I can really go on and on about the food. The place sell Indonesian dishes that are mostly spicy and we got some really good stuff like these potato wedges:



Do allow me to rave about them for a while.

We almost didn't order this. But thanks to Umami and her sharp eyes and nose which spotted the lady who just came out of the kitchen holding to a plateful of freshly cooked wedges, we were pleasantly delighted. These wedges seem to be cooked with dried shrimp and chilli. It wasn't really spicy, but it just had that Mmmmmm... after effect - the kind you get after you bite into something that is just so satisfying. I think it's the dried shrimp. Anyway, I like potatoes so ya.

The beef rendang was the bomb. I found the colour a bit stand-offish at first but totally changed my mind after one mouthful. It was so good that I kept taking the gravy. Didn't manage to snap a shot of it, but let me just say that it's almost black in colour and tastes heavenly. The spices used gave it a sweet yet savoury edge to it. Quite different from the other beef rendang I've tried. We also had the chicken rendang, which was quite ordinary:



I find the colour rather appealing. Don't you think it looks spicy and rich? Ate quite a bit of the gravy with my rice. Somehow I think I have an especially high tolerance for all things hot and fiery. I attribute it to my Peranakan heritage. Dad certainly fed me a healthy dose of curry, chilli and sambal belachan while I was growing up. Thanks to him, almost every meal I eat has to have chilli! :)

There were other dishes we tried, including sayur lodeh, tahu telor, spinach, tapoica plant and this weird thing that we thought was ox tongue. Well they told us it was tongue. But it certain tasted otherwise. I tried to act brave and took a piece. One small bite and that was it. It tasted weird. I think it was the texture that put me off more than anything else. It was spongy and dull. I immediately passed the rest of it to Ivan. Normally I'm game for most interesting foods but this one was ....hmm... special, in a different sense of the word.

If there's one thing I like about eating at Indonesian or Malay stalls, it's the availibility of the essential peanuts and ikan bilis combi:



Sounds really simple but gosh, I love it. It adds more bite to the meal. Love having it with nasi lemak too. The sambal version is just as fine. Yum.... Oh, I think the crucial thing is for the ikan bilis to be crispy, or else it won't be much fun eating it.

Warung M. Nasir used to be at Liang Seah Street but have since relocated to Kiliney Road and yesterday was my first time there. Do I like the place? Yes I do. The warm yellow lights make it very welcoming, and the layout is clean and simple.



The place also sells kuehs and stuff. I'll definitely patronise this place again. Am going to be recommending it to all my spice-loving friends.

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Warong M. Nasir
68 Kiliney Road
Tel: 6734-6228