Singapore - The starch, bird and sauce in Kopitiam`s Chicken Rice would -- like the restaurant`s partners -- be common in isolation. As a team, however, they impress.
Thian Boon Leong, the quiet, hardworking chef whose seven restaurants in Singapore showcased Chicken Rice, is surely the "starch" -- holding the whole operation together.
"If he goes, I close shop," says Edward Soon, the restaurant`s "sauce." You`re likely to get a kick out of Soon as soon as you enter Kopitiam -- a warm greeting at 40 feet. "Hello! Welcome!" he shouted from the back of the restaurant the first time I arrived.
If not for Yshel Lok -- the grounding presence -- Soon might trip over his uncontained energy. Lok is like the mother hen, able to put others at ease by merely being present.
It`s fortunate this team forms a sturdy triangle, because there`s not much money in the bank right now for an extra pair of legs. Leong and Soon, who came to Lafayette from Singapore last year, have been paying rent at home and in this space -- formerly a Togo`s -- since November. It took them until July to navigate through all the codes and inspections.
It`s still very much a work in progress -- more like a baby with an unfolding personality. "Kopitiam" translates to neighborhood coffee shop, and the round, marble-topped cafe tables seem designed to hold a couple of espresso cups and maybe an egg or two (an old black-and-white photo of a kopitiam in Singapore captures the same-style tables and rickety chairs).
But breakfast hasn`t caught on here the way lunch has, and you`re likely to squirm in those small seats waiting for your food when the midday crowd keeps Lok, Leong and Soon scrambling to keep up.
As if Singaporean cuisine isn`t intimidating enough, the prettily but poorly designed menu all but ensures your first visit will be confusing. A loosely attached leaflet comes tucked inside a tiny, laminated cover made to resemble a Malaysian doorway. The first six pages list hot and cold beverages, another three of Roti (breads), a flurry of All Time Favorites and Lunch Favorites and a final page of breakfast specials (Ah! There they are).
And there on Page 12, under a profile of Chef Thian Boon Leong, is the famous Chicken Rice ($8.95; $9.95 for to-go orders until 6 p.m.). For Costco members, who are used to getting a plump, crispy bird for a couple of bucks less, it may not wow, but this is serious comfort food, Singapore-style.
Leong simmers the chicken in a garlicky, gingery broth, chops it into toothsome chunks and serves it over fragrant jasmine rice, steamed with grassy pandan leaves. The rice is splashed with sweet shoyu so viscous, it stains random grains black -- like chocolate chunks. Sides of ginger mash and hot chile sauce add as much spark as you can handle.
Many of the dishes here have a comfort quality, and after a visit or two, you`re likely to find one to call your own. The Silken Cloud ($6.25) -- a block of steamed tofu as delicate as panna cotta -- is as seductive as the name sounds. Underneath the cloud is a playful sweet-and-sour sauce, and on top are crunchy vegetables and peanuts.
Also soothing is Mee Goreng ($6.95, $7.50 with shrimp), thick noodles stained and spiced by sambal paste, its slick texture relieved by crispy bites of smashed tofu.
Comfort food doesn`t have to be familiar -- my first bite of ice cream went down pretty well -- but it does help to have taste and texture that tickles a memory. That might be why my initiation to Singaporean Sensually Soft Boiled Eggs ($2.50) was troubling. From the flowery menu description, you`d think it would be as intoxicating as a back rub: "Golden, runny rivers of yolk pulsing out of their white refuge, with a dash of pepper and soy sauce, its richness melts unto your tongue, slowly supplying a silken sensation. It`s a taste like no other -- the closest you will ever get to tasting sunlight!"
The eggs, which are slowly cooked to order (12 minutes for soft-boiled!) in what look like kiddy gum ball machines, arrive suspended in a milky fluid -- which turns out to be the barely set whites. My first bite, more of a slurp, really, took me back to the morning Big Sister helpfully informed me that my yolk was an unrealized baby chicken.
But my second bite, after injecting a jolt of inky soy sauce, was delicious. Provocative. Lovely. Unfortunately, having lived a life with eggs that chew, I couldn`t relax into the soupy texture. A table neighbor suggested I try it on Roti Prata ($4.25) -- a wonderful bread I fell in love with at Singapore Old Town Cafe, which opened in Dublin earlier this year.
The Roti Prata here is pancakey, much more dense (and pricey) than the flaky, almost puff-pastry-like bread at Old Town Cafe. But both are good, especially when dipped in the coconutty-curry sauce that comes on the side.
I tried two more roti on my breakfast journey: wheat toast stuffed with wildly chunky homemade peanut butter, and a bun spread with a lightly sweet, floral coconut jam (both $3.95). Both breads were ordinary and too-rich from a thick spread of butter, but they were still genuine comfort food -- reminding me of Dad`s deadly cinnamon toast on lightning nights.
Kopitiam makes much of its coffee, which is offered with sugar, evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk ($1.95). I had it black, and it was good and strong. The tiny cups are cute, but I was never offered a refill, despite an empty dining room (my water, however, served in awkward green Coke glasses, was dutifully replenished).
If service picks up a notch -- it`s often hard to even make eye contact -- I can imagine stopping by Kopitiam for a quick cookie and coffee, or perhaps a pick-me-up of Popiah ($3.95) -- wonderfully flaky rolls stuffed with a smidge of cabbage. If it doesn`t pick up, I might just settle for Chicken Rice to go.
Kopitiam`s facade is bold, and the fluorescent-green wall bolder still, but the food is surprisingly tame for such an exotic cuisine. Hidden Treasure ($4.25), a pork ball within a fish ball, was the only dish besides the soft, soft-boiled eggs that I found challenging.
Old Town Cafe, by contrast, serves a cuisine both dark and mysterious, using loads of toasted spice, ground dried shrimp and sambal paste. I`m a much bigger fan of the assertive, confident food at Old Town, but Kopitiam`s neighborhood feel, Soon`s energetic personality and the soothing dishes make it infectious.
Source: www.contracostatimes.com (25 Agustus 2007)
