With a name similar to one of Madonna's hits of the 1980s, True Blue piqued my curiosity when I fi rst heard of it. From being curious, I was then impressed when I walked into the nostalgia-invoking place located in a restored prewar shop-house in one of Singapore's historic neighborhoods.
It just felt like walking into a house of a Singaporean friend. My aching hunger that afternoon was soon joyfully relieved by quite a range of home-cooked Peranakan dishes. After quenching my dry throat with a nice and sweet Longan Tea, I was fi rst invited to try the Ngoh Hiang, which was fried meat rolls wrapped in bean curd skin. It didn't take that long for the Beef Rendang to arrive. Stewed in a thick, mildly spicy coconut gravy, I found it so rich and delicious with such an appetizing dark color. Accompanying my Beef Rendang was tender Chap Chye. A bit different to what Indonesians call Cap Cay here, this one was a plate of brown-looking braised mixed vegetables with bean strands, mushrooms and cabbage. What was light and nice was the Bakwan Kepiting Soup. This is a bowl of rich soup with a couple of crab balls. Despite its simple look, it was something that could tempt me to have another bowl.
But the moment of truth for me was the arrival of the famous Ayam Buah Keluak. Having heard of all the popularity of this dish, I couldn't pretend that I wasn't holding my breath for this one. So there it was, landing on my table with its dark challenging look that made me drool instantly. Swimming in a thick black nut sauce that reminds me of Indonesian rawon, the chicken stirred me with another rich taste perfected with a bit of hot spicy kick. I lost count of how many pieces I took. My hunger shifted to a full pleasure. And yet, I still managed to make space for the dessert, the Pulut Hitam. It's a serving of sweetened black glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and adorned with "longan leci" pieces.
Now that's what I called an afternoon delight.
True Blue 47/49 Armenian St Singapore Tel: (+65) 6440 4548
| 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|