Good Malaysian and Singaporean food is not very common in the Bay Area, so I was impressed by a meal at Taste of Sing-ma Pleasanton:
Roti prata : A few months back, Roti canai/prata was the Chowhound dish of the month. The main result was that nearly every Malaysian, Thai, and Burmese place that serves this layered flatbread makes it from pre-made frozen dough (think of it like puff pastry). Yet, there is still wide variation in the price and how well they can cook it.
Taste of Sing-Ma’s was frozen, but they do a very good job. The outer-most layer was crisp and translucent in part. The inner layers were soft and their lamination was less well lamination. Just like they do in Malaysia, the chef here scrunched up the toti, which both looks pretty and prevents the layers from staying too glued together.
Penang poh-piah, kind of a Malaysian style spring-roll with a thin crepe-like wrapper, was tightly-wrapped and had the requisite amount of crunchy insides and dried shrimp.
Curry laksa was really good – – the spicy soup had depth of flavor and heat with a background of coconut milk instead of the lame coconut soup with some spices that is more typically served
Nasi lemak did not have strong coconut or pandan leaf flavors, but I enjoyed the mixture of the rice with the large portion of anchovy sambal. We got it served with a side of feef rendang, which tasted of burnt mustard seeds that mellowed out in leftovers.
The Kangkung (ong choy, morning glory) can be cooked with shrimp paste, but we opted for garlic sauce. Very good-- crisp and not overcooked.
What else is good to eat there? I’ve never eaten chicken rice that impressed me, so please let me know if that, other soups, or the black pepper crab is worth seeking out.
Taste of Sing-Ma
824 Main St, Pleasanton, CA 94566
(925) 249-9448
http://www.tasteofsingma.com/contact-us.html
