Sumptuous And Super Filling Nasi Ambeng at Ambeng Cafe by Ummi Abdullah

It was a very humid Tuesday afternoon, my wife and I had a meeting with one of the renovation contractors for our new home. It was a long meeting and it ended about after 2pm. By that time, I was famished.

Since my wife said she wanted to drop by East Village to buy her favourite red velvet cookies, I thought it would be a great idea to drop by the famous Ambeng Cafe. 

Ambeng Cafe is well known for sumptuous Malay food and of course, its long queues. Every single time I visited East Village, I would see a long winding queue at the entrance of this eatery.

This time, it was different. Before I parked the car, I looked at the area; No queue. My wife thought probably they were closed. We decided to walk over anyway. It was open for business! Looks like I am fated to have Nasi Ambeng for lunch!

When we walked over, we saw that the place was already crowded but we managed to get a table. We realized that it was already 3pm, way beyond the lunch hour. Probably that was the reason how we managed to get in. 

We sat at the table and start to browse through its menu.

My wife and I decided to go for the Classic Duo Set. My wife loves the varieties and we were very hungry. So when you have a hungry couple ordering a late lunch, you can expect a little excess purchase.

About 5 minutes after ordering, the drinks arrived.

Red Date Tea

Iced Lemon Tea

I went for a cup of Red Date Tea. It's a little too sweet for my liking. Should have told them less sugar. My wife, as usual, got herself Iced Lemon Tea. 

About 15 minutes later, a waiter arrived with a tray of nasi ambeng..

Nasi Ambeng

The first time I saw this was on a facebook post by 19Chef owner, Benny. A few months later, he went there again to have the same meal. I always asked myself what was so special about this Nasi Ambeng at Ambeng Cafe. I have had Nasi Ambeng before but this one, really stood out.

The Food

Nasi Ambeng consist of fragrant white rice, with a range of dishes from dried salted fish to curry chicken to beef rendang to fried fish to 3 or 4 different type of vegetable dishes. Traditionally, it is served during special occasions on a tray where it would be enjoyed together by a group of 4-5 person. 

For this particular set that we had, it consists of;

1.  White rice
2. Ayam Kalio(chicken)
3. Rendang (beef)
4. Sambal Goreng (vegetable dish that is mainly tofu, tempe and long bean)
5. Urap (vegetable dish made up of fresh bean sprouts, winged bean and coconut grating)
6. Terung Garem Asam (Brinjal))
7. Ikan Sambal Bali (Fried Fish with Sambal)
8. Sambal Kacang Ikan Bilis (fried anchovies with peanuts, fried with sambal)
9. Begedel (A type of potato ball)
10. Telur Belado (Hard boiled egg fried with chilli)
11. Paru (Beef Lung)
12. Ikan Kering (dried fish)
13. Serunding (Fried coconut grating)
14. Sambal Belachan (Crushed chilli with dried prawn paste)

Will I Be Back Again?

You bet! 

Where is it located?

Ambeng Cafe is located at 430 Upper Changi Road #01-65 East Village, Singapore 487048. 

If you intend to go during lunch hours, be prepared to queue. the queue for lunch and dinner starts to form at 11am and 5pm respectively. 

It's opening hours as follows;

Mondays: Closed

Tuesdays to Thursdays: 11am to 10pm

Friday: 3pm to 10pm

Saturday to Sunday: 11am to 10pm