Garuda Padang Indonesian Cuisine @ B2 Vivocity

Vivocity always has a wide range of interesting things to eat. Not many classy joints but mid-range, fairly priced and a wide assortment of different cuisines abound.

So we ended up at at Garuda Padang Indonesian Cuisine, #B2-28 at Vivocity. It is a halal restaurant and it caters to a wide range of palattes - spicy, non-spicy, vegetarian, meaty, seafood. Free flow of rice and lime juice for a fixed price.

We ordered a number of dishes to share.

Sambal sotong (Spicy Chili Squid). It was done just right, not to chewy, and quite tasty.


Kari Ayam (Curry Chicken). Not too spicy, but the gravy was delicious. I got a piece of breastmeat so it wasnt very tender.


Sambal Terong (Spicy Chili Brinjal). This was my favourite. I could have eaten it all. It was just delicious. The chili was perfect, the brinjal was tender and totally yums.


The most interesting dish of the day - Kari Nangka (Jackfruit Curry). I like jackfruit, its one of my favourite fruits, because it is so fragrant. In a curry however, they use the young green jackfruit, so it has a different texture. A little chewy, a little fibrous. But very interesting nonetheless.


A crowd favourite - Rendang Danging (Spiced Beef Stew). It's very fragrant and delicious and the meat, while tender still has a tasty bite.


And then to end off a delicious meal, chendol gula melaka (iced drink with jelly and red beans and brown sugar syrup)!

Honestly the meal was only so-so because i find the spices too tame and not rich enough. But the company was top notch!!

Typical Lunches these days...

... are tarpowed food from the hawker centre or food court, hastily gobbled up in between meetings. Sometimes, I dont even get to eat it when it is still warm.

It has been a string of busy busy weeks... months even. No break in sight.

Various Random Meals at Different Places

Porridge Breakfast

My friend from the office usually eats at Maxwell food market before coming to the office... and today he kindly bought chicken porridge for me... from the famous stall with long queues - Zhen Zhen porridge!

The porridge was smooth and slurpy and the preserved veg on top made this very tasty.

Lunch at Banquet Food Court, Harbourfront Centre

When I eat at Banquet, I almost always eat the nasi padang, which is the best stall there because of its wide selection, tasty and freshly cooked dishes and reasonable prices.

The above costs just SGD4.50. I usually eat the exact same thing: beef lung, chili eggplant and chili cuttlefish. It's spicy, but not overwhelmingly so and the gravy is different for each dish, so there is a variety.

Paktor Dinner at Old Airport Road Food Centre

DH and I went for a paktor dinner, but I cannot remember why. Maybe we just decided to go for an impromptu one. Anyway this was some time back, before the Tasmania trip, so I think it's high time we had another one.

Maybe this friday, but I am a little stretched at work right now, so I am rather grumpy and not very good company.
I couldn't decide what to eat because all the good / famous food stalls seem to have closed. I guess it's because their business is so good they are sold out by lunchtime.

This is Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow. Also rather famous I believe. I liked it but I really don't enjoy eating one plate of char kway teow to myself. I prefer to share it with a few others and eat something less heavy and oily but no choice. DH doesn't really care much for this.

DH queued up for wanton mee from Hougang.

I thought it was ok only. The sauce was sweetish and the noodles were not that springy.

He bought extra fried wontons (SGD2) which we couldnt finish. I don't like deep fried things much. These were very crispy, because there was little filling, and so the wonton skins were crunchy.

I bought ngor hiang (SGD2) gto share also. We both like the white cracker best, but didn't care for the sausage thing.

Minang House @ Lucky Plaza Shopping Centre

BA brought SF and I to the most famous nasi padang place in Lucky Plaza - Minang House. It's usually packed with locals and Indonesians.

He did the ordering while we girls sat down. We trusted BA to order some typically authentic Indonesian food for us!

Clockwise, from top left: egg omelette, fried chicken, fried tofu and cow's lung. He also ordered curry spinach and beef rendang (not pictured).

My favourite was the beef lung, it was tender and tasty.

Thanks for lunch BA!