Singapore Food Log: The Coconut Club, Ann Siang Hill
This week we have our big boss coming over from HQ and to my surprise, he’s the one who suggested the Coconut Club for the venue of today’s team lunch. My surprise came because I have been spending nearly 10 years in this country and I have not heard of a restaurant named the Coconut Club before. Everytime the name Ann Siang Hill is mentioned, I only know P.S. Cafe and its famous truffle fries. I guess it’s time I know another restaurant residing in this area.
The Coconut Club sign in many languages. The restaurant does not accept reservation by the way, so you have to reach early if you don’t want to queue for a table. They are surprisingly popular. Where have I been in Singapore?
I suppose partly the reason of why I seldom go to this part of CBD is because the restaurants here tend to be on the pricey side especially if you compare the fare to hawker centre’s food price which I know, I should not even start to compare. The Coconut Lemak adopts the simple style of design with everyone sitting on a stool kind of chair instead of normal chair. Since the table and seat can only cater around 40 people max, queue is bound to happen at peak hour.
I actually did a check 2 hours before lunch time to see what I can order at the Coconut Club and to my surprise, this restaurant only serves nasi lemak and some dishes for sharing. Oh my gawd, I really wonder how can a restaurant survive by selling nasi lemak solely? I suppose the answer lies on the cost of the nasi lemak. This is the most expensive nasi lemak to-date that I have ever eaten at SGD 12.80 price tag (excluding GST and service charge).
The Coconut Club offers cendol (local iced based dessert with gula melaka) and some traditional cakes but I don’t think I have space for these desserts and drinks. Since everybody else (except our visitor from the States who opted for iced milo) ordered tap water, I simply followed. Hahaha.
However, we did order some dishes for sharing such as Sayur Lemak (SGD 8.50), Assam Pedas (hmm, weird it does not appear on their website menu but it was available when we ate there), and Sambal Sotong (which also does not appear on the website menu, hmm). Both Assam Pedas and Sambal Sotong should be more expensive than Sayur Lemak, probably in the SGD 15-ish since they both involve seafood i.e. stingray for Assam Pedas and squid for Sambal Sotong. Sayur Lemak is just veggie cooked in coconut-milk-laded soup. I think the idea is that sayur lemak is supposedly close to sayur lodeh but for Indonesian standard, they are totally not on par. My colleague did enjoy the Assam Pedas but we were unable to finish the Sambal Sotong so one of us asked them to pack it for take-away.
Right, let me have a closer look at the most expensive nasi lemak in my life so far. The nasi lemak can be more fragrant but at least they are not so oily. The chicken is grilled perfectly but seriously how can all these ingredients add up to SGD 12.80++? I can only suspect this is because of the high rental for the shophouse in Ann Siang Hill. Overall, it was a pretty good nasi lemak though I still can’t accept the price tag.
Would I come again? Hmm, I think I’m pretty good with nasi lemak offered at Amoy Street Food Market cause I’m poor. Hahahaha.
The Coconut Club is located at:
6 Ann Siang Hill
Singapore
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday - 11AM to 3PM, 6PM to 9.30PM
Sunday - 11AM to 3PM