Novena Peranakan Cuisine - Review

We have been wanting to try the peranakan food for a very long time now but each and every time another temptation came to distract our appetite away. This time, we were determined to try the peranakan cuisine located near our home since we managed to get some time away when little Oscar was taking his afternoon nap.

The shop itself wasn't very big and we were the first customer to arrive for lunch.

Sign Entrance

There was a little touches on how Singapore has evolved from their independence to where they are today. The photos below showed the transition into a modern world over the years. This all while we were waiting for our food to come.

Photos from the 1960s

The menu was simple to read and the prices were decent. They even had a small/medium portion for those who are coming with only 2 person like us. We heard about a couple of rave reviews regarding some of their recommendation so we decided to try and order the Ngo Hiang, Ayam Buah Keluak and Assam Fish.

Menu

I wasn't a big fan of Ngo Hiang but this one is really good and is something for once that I like. The outside texture of the skin is crispy and the inside is filled with many various components of meats, vegetables and mushroom with minced pork and century egg. The sauce was extremely teasing as well as it provides a succinct taste of sweetness but not overly so. It gives a great companion taste to the Ngo Hiang.

1st Dish - Ngo Hiang

The next dish to come was the Ayam Buah Keluak.

For those who are not sure what this dish is, it is essentially a peranakan chicken dish cooked with nuts from the Pangium edule (black thing) which made the sauce a little curry black. The taste of the dish was pretty decent, and the broth has a bit of thick but sweetness curry attached to it. I would have liked it if the broth tastes a little more spicy but it was overall a nice decent authentic peranakan cuisine.

2nd Dish - Ayam Buah Keluak

The Assam Fish / Fish Head is the peranakan speciality dish and we came there to witness and savour the dish.

To my expectation, the dish stood out because I had actually liked it more than I imagined to be. The broth tasted sourly spicy but with a thinning of sweetness to it. They also included some of the toppings like lady finger, brinjal and pineapple to add to the overall presentation of the dish.

This was excellent, I mixed the broth to my plate of rice and finished them in quick.

3rd Dish - Assam Fish

While I was in the restaurant, I overheard the owner speaking to another customer saying that he is looking for a buyer to take over the restaurant. He was looking for around $200K to take over his restaurant which would include the brand name and also the capacity of the owner who would stay for 1 year as a consultant to give advise to running the business and recipe.

It was a decent dining overall, I would come back one day to eat their Assam Fish again.