NALE The Nasi Lemak Company: Is this spot’s “best nasi lemak in the world” worth the price?

NALE The Nasi Lemak Company is what you’d call an “atas” nasi lemak spot — featuring premium proteins like wagyu, salmon, and lamb shank. Their star dish is nasi lemak served with ayam bakar doused in their special NALE sauce.

While the brand only recently caught my attention, many of my friends discovered it through their viral Nasi Lemak Bakar — nasi lemak wrapped in pandan leaves and grilled over fire. Sadly, it’s a seasonal item, so I couldn’t try it when I finally dropped by their Mid Valley outlet.

Let’s be real — no sane person (read: me) would spend over RM17 on a plate of nasi lemak unless it’s absolutely worth it. Naturally, I was skeptical. But after scrolling through Google reviews — an impressive 4.7 stars from over 2.5K reviews at the time — I started to warm up to the idea. I mean, that many people can’t be wrong, right?

According to their official website, NALE’s mission is to serve the “best Nasi Lemak in the World to the World.” Bold claim, if you ask me. So, what are we waiting for? Time to see if their nasi lemak lives up to the hype!

What I tried at NALE The Nasi Lemak Company

I kicked off my little taste test fair and square with their signature dish: the Nasi Lemak Ayam Bakar NALE (RM21.90). It came with your standard nasi lemak and a grilled chicken thigh generously coated in their signature NALE sauce. First impression? The presentation was clean and appealing, but the portion was much smaller than I expected.

To give you a better idea, here’s a picture for reference. Fun fact: my hands are small (less than 14cm long — don’t ask why I have that info at the top of my head), so I’ll let you decide if this chicken is worth the price!

I started with the rice, which crumbled beautifully from its neat little fort. Fluffy and perfectly cooked, it had just the right richness from the santan, balanced with subtle aromatics that didn’t overpower the essence of coconut rice. A solid win for the rice — it passed with flying colours.

But let’s be honest, no matter how premium your nasi lemak ingredients are, bad sambal is an instant dealbreaker. At first glance, the sambal looked promising — perfect consistency, just the right amount of oil, a sign it was well-cooked. But after one bite, I sighed in disappointment. The tamarind paste completely hijacked the flavour, overpowering everything else and leaving my taste buds wrapped in an overwhelming sourness.

Now, I’m not one of those old-school purists (looking at you, Mom) who refuse to accept tamarind paste in nasi lemak sambal. If it’s done right, I’m all for it. But NALE’s sambal? It completely threw me off.

Hoping to shake off the disappointment, I turned my attention to the ayam bakar. While the chicken thigh was served chopped, the cuts weren’t clean, making it frustrating to pull the pieces apart. The chewy strands were another letdown — a clear sign it had been overcooked.

The smokiness in the ayam bakar was there, but nothing worth raving about. What did save the dish, though, was the NALE sauce — a take on ayam percik gravy. Perfectly seasoned with a thick-but-not-gloopy consistency even after cooling down, it worked so well that I ended up pairing it with the rice instead of the sambal.

Being a spice lover, I decided to order the Sambal Hijau (RM2.90) on the side for an extra kick. Unfortunately, it was yet another letdown. The chilies had a pickled tang, similar to the ones often served with Malay-style char kuey teow or wonton noodles, leaving the sambal with an unpleasant sourness. And to top it off, it wasn’t even spicy.

I managed to finish the rice, thanks to the NALE ayam bakar sauce, but overall, the dish fell short for me. Hoping for redemption, I dug into my dining companion’s choice — the Nasi Lemak Beef Rendang (RM24.90).

The rendang leaned on the dry side, with just enough gravy to lightly coat the sizable chunks of beef. Topped with fried shallots, sesame seeds and red chili flakes, the presentation was undeniably appealing.

Cutting into the beef with a spoon was tricky, so I ended up shoving an entire piece into my mouth like a lady. To my surprise, the texture was melt-in-your-mouth tender. The rendang flavour came through nicely, but if you’re the type who loves drenching your rice in rendang gravy, NALE might not be your go-to spot.

Final thoughts

Their nasi lemak wasn’t bad per se, but given the price and all the hype surrounding it, I expected more. I’ve had better nasi lemak at a fraction of the cost, so I left feeling a bit let down. Apart from the overly sour sambal, the other components, like the ayam bakar, were not really memorable to me.

Would I go back? With so many other options at Mid Valley Megamall, it’s a hard “nope” from me.

Expected damage: RM9.45 – RM59.25 per pax

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