Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food: Super yummy mee siam with even nicer lontong at Chinatown
I’ve never been a fan of mee siam, I mean it literally tells you to go away.. ba dum tss. On a serious note, I can’t even remember the last time I had one. I took that long lapse of mee siam in my life as a sign to head over to Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food, which is located at Chinatown Complex. They are known for their mee siam and have been around since 1968.
Whilst Chinatown MRT station is the nearest stop, Outram Park MRT station is a good alternative for those staying in the North-East side of Singapore, requiring only a few minutes of walking before reaching Chinatown Complex. Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food is one of the few Muslim-friendly foods available there. Some good stalls include Mum Daughter Kitchen and Bamboo Nasi Rendang.
What I tried at Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food
The food choices at Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food were equivalent to a Malay food starter pack. It had almost every classic Malay dish, like Nasi Lemak (S$3.50), Mee Rebus (S$3.50), Nasi Sambal Goreng (S$6) and of course, Mee Siam (S$3.50).
It even serves nasi padang with different lauk (side dishes) such as Asam Pedas (S$3.50), Sambal Fish (S$3.50) and Ayam Merah (S$3.50). But my mind was already set on the Mee Siam and got myself an additional order of Lontong.
The Mee Siam was served with bee hoon noodles covered in a watery reddish gravy. It was topped with cubes of fried tofu, chopped chives and of course, a boiled egg. There was also sambal and lime on the side.
It only took me one spoonful of Mee Siam to remind me why I’ve never been a big fan of it in the first place. It had this savoury and spicy taste that I really couldn’t put my finger on. A quick search online will tell you that it’s supposed to taste sour and spicy, but I thought there was more sweetness than tanginess.
As the spoonfuls grew, I became more accustomed to its flavours. That, coupled with the well-cooked noodles and extra chewy tofu bits, made it surprisingly easy to eat. The spiciness, despite being moderate at best, was enough to offset the sweetness of the gravy. It never came to the point where I felt jelak.
However, even as I finished my plate, I still couldn’t pinpoint the exact flavours of what I ate, which bugged me.
Having eaten at Queenstown Lontong, my expectation for Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food’s rendition of this popular dish was high. And I think this was possibly better than what I had.
There was no subtlety to its creaminess and I appreciated it for that. You can clearly taste the coconut milk at work, full-time.
The cabbages were also cooked to near melt-in-your-mouth perfection. Unlike, Queenstown Lontong, there weren’t any sweet undertones which made it a perfect dish to have after my Mee Siam. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of the sambal as it was a little too tangy for me and didn’t go well with the overall creaminess of the dish.
Final thoughts
I think it’s a great injustice to recommend Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food solely for its Mee Siam as their delicious Lontong means the other dishes are probably good as well. I mean, they have been around for 55 years after all!
This a definite must-try especially when you’re around Chinatown and have had one too many mee pok or roasted duck rice dishes.
I’m glad that I chose this spot to end my decades-long of ghosting mee siam and admittedly, it will probably be a few years’ time before I have mee siam again, but at least I know where to do so.
Expected damage: S$3.50 – S$7 per pax
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