The nasi lemak stall at Jin Hoe is a Pulau Tikus breakfast icon since the mid-80s. It’s currently run by the younger Mr Lee Khi Soon, whose grandmother started the business. His father, Johnnie Lee, was also a Pulau Tikus personality of sorts, famously loquacious, and the one responsible for making Jin Hoe Nasi Lemak the household name it is today.
Jin Hoe’s nasi lemak is the Penang-Nyonya style: very rich coconut milk-infused nasi lemak, accompanied by assam/tamarind-marinated fried fish and shell-on shrimps, some slivers of cucumber, and an indispensable dollop of super-spicy sambal belacan.
Jin Hoe is at 46 Cantonment Road, just round the corner from the Pulau Tikus Market. It opens 9am to 12 noon (unless they sell out earlier, sometimes as early as 10am) daily, except Fridays and Sundays. Mr Lee is notoriously lackadaisical about his operating days - his stall sometimes remained shuttered without prior notice.
