NangLen

The set lunch is such a steal! I ordered Basil Pork with Rice and Egg ($9.90) and it came with a drink of your choice and mango sticky rice.

The basil pork is really good - I opted for non-spicy because I heard that it can quite spicy, but the stir-fried minced pork, basil and long bean was still very fragrant and tasty nonetheless. I had a generous glass of Thai milk tea and though the mango sticky rice was quite small, it was still nice to end lunch on a sweet note. Can’t wait to come back again!

A new kid on the Tanjong Pagar stretch lined up with Korean restaurants serving up comfort Thai food. The Tom Yum Mama is a signature dish served in a bubbling pot filled with prawns, mussels, minced meat, noodles and runny eggs simmered in a tom yum broth. The 1 person portion was just nice for two ladies. It was warm and comforting for a rainy day though the broth could be spicier.

Sadly, we didn't get to try the Thai fishcakes which were OOS but we enjoyed their Moo Ping, which comes with sweet savory marinate over the lightly charred and tender pork! Will definitely be back for more!

Pork lovers 🐷-- you got to order the Grilled Pork Jowl. While this is commonly found in most Thai places, NangLen's version stands out from the rest with the smoky flavour, qq texture and the sauce.

Hard to pick a favourite here but if there's one dish you MUST TRY, it's their Tom Yum Mama Regular - this SLAPS so hard that it feels like a mini Jeh O Chula experience! 🔥 We ordered the one person serving and were shook by the generous portion! It's huge enough to feed the two of us with a generous helping of noodles, roast pork slices and seafood! The soup is more zesty than spicy and kicks harder than Tony Jaa. Super drinkable and the staff will TOP UP YOUR SOUP TOO.

Got to know about the new NANGLEN whilst scrolling through social media randomly — NANGLEN is one of the latest F&B additions to the Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood; definitely not the area’s first tenant to be serving up Thai cuisine, though they are still considered a minority considering how Tanjong Pagar has always been known to be a spot that is filled with Korean dining establishments for quite a while now. Occupying the ground level of the shophouse at 20 Tanjong Pagar Road, the space which NANGLEN occupies is actually the same spot that the now-defunct Soi Candy Thai Noodle & Seafood Bar used to occupy. Whilst we do remember that Soi Candy Thai Noodle & Seafood Bar had a very bright and colourful look with a yellow signboard that is a stark contrast to the other establishments located along the same street, NANGLEN could be said as an establishment with a less striking look — the signboard for NANGLEN comes with a blue background, while the interior space features wooden-esque vinyl flooring that matches well with the cement-esque walls and the wooden furniture; the dining chairs featuring a mix of wooden chairs and benches, as well as cushioned seating they provides some level of comfort for the diners here. NANGLEN is an establishment that seemingly has a focus on their Tom Yum Mama dishes — there is an entire section of the menu that actually dedicates itself to their Tom Yum Mama offerings. That being said, other items served up at NANGLEN includes dishes that are segmented into “Starters”, “Som Tum & Yum”, “Mains” and “Dessert & Drinks”. There is a separate menu which lists the various types of alcoholic beverages available at NANGLEN — this would include various types of beer, Soju etc. which they have to offer.

Tom Yum Mama Pot have been pretty much popularised in the past couple of years — the dish can be pretty much found in some Thai establishments around ever since the rendition of the same dish by Jeh O Chula in Bangkok, Thailand has been made known to Singaporeans that had travelled to Thailand several years ago. NANGLEN actually serves up Tom Yum Mama in several renditions; this includes the regular-sized variant, a large-sized variant, as well as those that features seafood such as crab, crayfish and river prawn — just to name a few. For our order, we went with the Tom Yum Mama Regular (1 Pax); despite so, the portion of the dish does seem to be good to be shared between two pax at the bare minimum. The menu does state that all Tom Yum Mama dishes served up at NANGLEN includes seafood, pork and milk — elements which we found in our order of the Tom Yum Mama Regular (1 Pax) includes instant noodles, roast pork, two squids, two prawns, two mussels, two chunks of fish, minced pork, two egg yolks and egg white; other components include lime and chili amongst many others which are included for the flavour.

The broth of the Tom Yum Mama Regular is being poured into the pot from a kettle only at the table, with the fossil fuel only being lit on fire thereafter. Digging into the Tom Yum Mama Regular, we were already pretty much taken by the flavours of the Tom Yum soup here. Whilst there is milk added to the Tom Yum soup here, one thing we note about the Tom Yum soup here is that it came with the right balance of flavours; tangy without being overly spicy, this was one Tom Yum soup that is likely to do well for those whom have lower than moderate tolerance to spiciness. We also liked it that the Tom Yum soup did not feel particularly heavy and was easy to have despite the addition of milk. All seafood elements came really fresh here; the mussels being meaty without being sandy; the fish free from any muddy flavours and the prawns delivering a good bite — nothing “old” or mushy. Meanwhile, the roast pork does come with a browned crust all over the exterior; almost akin to that of being fried — the way that it should be as though it would be served in a typical plate of Stir Fried Kailan with Roast Pork as opposed to do the Cantonese-style / Malaysian-style that we would be more familiar with. There was also quite a good portion of instant noodles served up with the Tom Yum Mama Regular; all being hidden at the bottom of the pot and for a while, felt like a bottomless pit of noodles that was pretty impossible to finish. Overall, the Tom Yum Mama Regular just felt like an item that is worth its price tag of $15 — quality seafood items in a flavoursome broth that we cannot get enough of with a portion size that would easily satisfy two hungry souls; definitely does resonate with the slightly steeper price tag that it asks for. We also quite liked the Thai Omelette with Pork that we have had; not a crispy omelette by any means (not that they promised it either), but come with enough slightly charred bits for some extra flavour, while the Home-made Iced Milk Tea and Home-made Iced Lemongrass Drink were pretty satiating — did not taste anywhere being diluted to say the least with a balanced sweetness. Needless to say, a spot that we look forward to returning to, with the Tom Yum Mama being a highlight for us for sure!