Nyonya Flavours – Authentic Nyonya Food at Golden Mile Tower!

Owners Zac and Cassandra first opened their flagship store in Toa Payoh Central Koufu Food Court. Seeing their success there, the couple decided to open a second outlet at golden mile tower. Their original concept of serving set meals changed when they realised that office workers around the area prefer a more cai png style. Hence, they changed the concept to suit the location. 

Both Cassandra and Zac are still quite young, so for them to be serving Peranakan food seems quite unusual. 

Turns out, after Cassandra and Zac got married, Cassandra learnt Peranakan cooking from Zac’s zor zor, a nyonya. The learning process was tough as Peranakan cooking is very strict. To add on the challenge, there are over 10 to 20 herbs and spices in each Peranakan dish. And zor zor always agak agak the ingredients required, making it harder for Cassandra to get the taste she wanted. So, when she was learning from zor zor, Cassandra had to stop her every now and then to measure the exact amount of ingredients she was using.

In the Peranakan culture, the guys normally wouldn’t step into the kitchen. Because both of them decided to venture into the food industry to share zor zor’s recipes, Zac had a chance to experience and learn Peranakan cooking too. Not an easy route as he claimed, especially when he has no background in cooking at all.

Peranakan food is near and dear to my heart, as I grew up eating my grandma’s nyonya food. So, you could say that I had high expectations before coming here. As you know, each family has their own recipes and versions of various nyonya dishes, and we will always say that our own recipes are the best. So, let’s see how Nyonya Flavours fared against this inherent bias. 

We started off with the Blue Pea Nasi Lemak. This is one of their specialties which is exclusively available at the Golden Mile branch. The nasi lemak was savoury, fragrant, and carried a distinct fragrance of coconut. It was definitely good enough to be eaten on its own, and even better when paired with the other dishes. The blue rice is really pretty as well, which makes it very instagrammable.

We got the Assam Pedas, another one of their specialties. They use only two types of fish, ang zhor (John’s snapper), and the ang koli (sea bream), which they get fresh from Jurong Port. The sea bream steak was tender, and the assam gravy had the right amount of acidity and kick. You can order the assam pedas with a bowl of rice as a set as well. 

Next, I tried the Sambal Petai, also known as stink beans. This was my first time trying petai and I was wary of its notorious pungency. However, that was not the case with Nyonya Flavours’s petai. I would say that it was fragrant even. I love its crunch and the distinctive flavours that it added to the mix of vegetables. The sweet sambal that the vegetables were tossed in was just perfect.

The Nyonya Curry Chicken is, of course, not to be missed! Think huge, tender, and juicy cuts of chicken sitting in a rich and smooth curry. They are certainly very generous with the amount of chicken, and I was really amazed at how tender the chicken was! The curry was a little on the sweeter side, so if you’re not such a huge fan of spicy food, this will be ideal for you.

Last but not least, my absolute favourite dish — Ayam Buah Keluak!! It is a must-have when you eat Peranakan food. To eat it, all you have to do is to scoop out the flesh from the inside of the nut using a small teaspoon. 

Nyonya Flavours’s rendition of Ayam Buah Keluah was savoury and a tad sour, making it more appetizing. The gravy was thick and super flavourful. Needless to say, it’s heavenly with just a bowl of white rice. The buah keluak flesh has a very sweet, intense flavour, and just a hint of bitterness. This was absolutely delicious and I relished every bit of it!

And the icing on the cake? It only costs $2.50 to add on buah keluak to your rice. Usually, in restaurants, they would charge a lot more than that. So, this is extremely worth it and a total bang for your buck. 

Nyonya Flavours has nailed the classic Peranakan dishes, and revolutionalize Peranakan cuisine. If you are craving for authentic, yet affordable, Peranakan food, or want to try Peranakan cai png, make a trip here! 

But be sure to be here on weekday lunch as they are opened till 3pm only. We asked them if they would consider extending their operating hours till dinner time or operating over the weekends. They told us they are considering these alternatives. Hopefully they will! 

This post was brought to you by Nyonya Flavours.

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