Nana Dolly's — Restaurant in Singapore

The first time I visited, I had the Mengkabo rice bowl. The gravy was savoury and rich, and the meat was tender. I thought that the restaurant had potential.

But today, when I visited for lunch, I decided to try the babi pongteh rice bowl. Unfortunately, the pork ribs had a really funky taste, which was also transferred to the gravy. This made the dish rather unpleasant. And as much as I do like a strong tau cheo flavour in my babi pongteh, this was simply not it. The overall flavour of the gravy didn't quite capture the essence of babi pongteh. Now, onto the ingredients itself. The dish came with 2 medium-sized potato chunks and 2 small-medium pork ribs. There were no mushrooms, bamboo shoots, or green chillies. As for the ribs, they were not exactly the fattiest nor most tender - which is a big problem in a dish traditionally served with melt-in-your-mouth fatty pork belly. Thus, each bite didn't provide that unctuous savoury mouthfeel. But even then, my biggest issue isn't one of flavour or lack of ingredients. My main problem with the dish is that there is simply not enough meat on the bones. Given that it was bone-in, about half of the ribs were simply bones! This wouldn't be a problem if they gave say 3-4 ribs, but 2? For ~$17.33 post gst? Not substantial enough. Another issue worth noting is that the sambal served on the side was nearly ice cold - definitely just taken out of the refrigerator. But I still ate it because it helped to cut through the foul porky taste of the ribs. Last but not least, my food took 20 minutes to come. I ordered my food at 12:30 pm and it only arrived at my table at 12:50 pm. Granted, I visited during the lunch rush, and the restaurant was quite full, but I still don't think it should take that long to prepare one set of food for a table of 1. Overall, it was a rather uninspiring lunch.

Look, I'm all for restaurants doing fusion or modernising traditional recipes, provided that it is for THE BETTER. And to that end, I think the food this time round missed the mark, and the experience simply fell short.

P.s. Water is $2. Unacceptable no matter how...

Saw some reviews raving about this family-owned Peranakan eatery, and coincidentally we were craving the cuisine. Very homely ambience, with young-ish staff manning the counter and serving the customers. We ordered the:

Mengkabo Pork Belly ($17.90) in tamarind sauce but it wasn't as spicy/sweet/tangy as I thought. But as this was the first time we tried this dish, didn't know if the flavours were supposed to be muted. However, the pork belly was pretty tough and chewy which was a shame. Laksa Pasta ($17.90) which was pretty delicious with a rich laksa flavour. This was on the drier side which we preferred over the creamier renditions elsewhere. Recommended. Otak Otak ($13) came in a huge and thick slab, but this leaned towards the floury side although the flavours were there. I thought this could've been grilled to give it more smokiness. Ngoh Hiang ($11) was thick, chunky, and meaty and quite tasty on first bite (don't forget to dip it in the sweet sauce!). But as I took more bites of it I thought it was lacking some crunch - chestnuts or carrots would have worked - and in the end this felt more like a pure meatball with crispy skin. For the month of November they're having 1-for-1 drinks from 6-8pm so we got the Raspberry Honey ($8) and the Blue Pea Lemonade ($7). Both were refreshing and pretty to boot.

Overall, it was a good meal but some improvements could be made to make the food even better. Service was also just average. I also saw the leftover kueh being thrown into the trash which was such a waste - perhaps they could have been promoted to the remaining guests in the restaurant, and even better offered at a lower price so as to...

Enjoy a tasty & hearty peranakan inspired meal that is sure to tantalise your tastebuds!

We had the following:

Ondeh Ondeh Latte A refreshing start to the meal. U just gotta love the fragrant gula melaka with a shot of freshly extracted espresso 👌 oomph!

Rainbow Kueh Lapis One of my fav traditional kueh. I twirl these layers of goodness around my fingers before eating them when i was young. Who else did that? 😊

Mengkabo Pork Belly Braised tender pork belly in a flavourful sauce with hints of spicy and sweet tanginess. One more bowl of rice please 🙏

Assam Fish Loved the texture of the Barramundi Fillet which can be layered with the tasty assam sauce... Is this already my 2nd bowl of rice?

Nyonya Curry Chicken Aromatic spices with tender chicken..ooh so fragrant and oops 3rd bowl of rice already?

Chap Chye A dish of mixed vegs, super tasty and definitely too many bowls of rice at this stage haha 🤣

Kueh Pie Tee These dainty little poppers are a must have, but u have to eat them quick to ensure the shell is still crispy while enjoying the moist and sweet vegs inside with a shrimp on top.

Sambal Brinjal Stir fried to perfection, great soft texture that pairs well with the sambal sauce.

Ngoh Hiang Texture of meat is ok but somehow a tad bit dry, would have preferred a more juicy one but overall still yummy 🤤

Prawn Paste Chicken Wing Loving the shrimp paste flavour, well balanced seasoning which is not overly done.

So what are you waiting for, grab some buddies...