Shan Cheng Kopitiam (Bukit Panjang Plaza)

Wow as close as it gets to the one in Ipoh. The horfun used was great, the chicken was thigh meat and not cheap shreds, and the soup yummy.

With fried turnip. Small plate but nice. Malaysian food is reliable. Topped with char siew and poached chicken.

With all the hype going around Nanyang Kopitiam-themed dining establishments that are serving up Malaysian fare, one of the spots that had become a little forgotten despite having established itself as a brand serving up Malaysian-style Chinese cuisine is Shan Cheng 山城. Being a brand name that one would likely associate with Ipoh-style fare, Shan Cheng has been around for quite a while — itself also operating a number of outlets around the island; think locations such as that of Compass One, Midview City and Ang Mo Kio Hub; just to name a few. It does seem that the brand is realising the hype around establishments such as that of NAN YANG DAO 南洋岛, The Hainan Story, Ipoh Town Kopitiam etc.; the brand had recently renovated their shop unit that they had been operating out of at Bukit Panjang Plaza, and the location has also rebranded itself as Shan Cheng Kopitiam instead. Whilst most Shan Cheng outlets tend to be decked with an old-school dining environment featuring dark wood acccents with simple stools and tables for a quick dining experience, Shan Cheng Kopitiam is furnished with a more modern look — the surroundings are much brighter and the space sports a mix of green and white accents with table of wooden and marble accents such still gives off old-school Nanyang Kopitiam vibes. Coming along with the re-branding and the renovations would be a refreshed menu; while Shan Cheng was more known for its Ipoh Hor Fun offerings, Shan Cheng Kopitiam has expanded its menu offerings to serve up Nasi Lemak, Egg Fried Rice and even Egg Tarts — just to mention a few.

Truth to be told, we hadn’t been paying attention to Shan Cheng’s offerings for quite a while — this is until we had chanced upon a social media post that they have shared about one of their new creations; the Ayam Varuval Rice. This led us being pretty intrigued — so much that we made this trip down to Shan Cheng Kopitiam to check it out. Whilst Nanyang Kopitiam-themed establishments around Singapore mostly serve up Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah, the Ayam Varuval Rice is a dish that we have yet to hear about here. Whilst Shan Cheng Kopitiam does not mention about the elements that come with their dishes on their menu, their social media accounts did describe the Ayam Varuval Rice to be a dish featuring Indian-style dry curry chicken — the rice here gets drizzled with a mixture of curry sauces as well. Other elements that came with the dish included a lady finger, a wedge of tomato, cucumbers and half a salted egg as well. They have also described the dish to have an alternate name, being the “Helicopter Curry Rice” as it is said to have a reputation of having a tycoon flying a helicopter to Ipoh just to have a taste of it. Considering how the Ayam Varuval is a dry Indian curry dish, the Ayam Varuval already stands out for carrying a deeper and earthier note with the typical hint of curry that one would expect out of the usual curry chicken. As opposed to the Chinese-style curries and Malay-style rendang, this definitely came a bit different from the brighter and tangier notes of the former, and the more “Lemak” flavours of the latter from the use of coconut milk.

Whilst the chicken chunks do come with bone-in and looked a tad dry, we were surprised with how the flesh came off the bones fairly easily — the meat being reasonably tender at the same time. Going for the rice next, the mix of curries was indeed what made the rice tasty on its own — we got a hunch that the rice is drenched with the curry from the Ayam Varuval that is coupled with something more akin to the sambal found in Nasi Lemak dishes. The sweetness from the “sambal” definitely adds another dimension to the hint of curry, with the “sambal” delivering quite a kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds even for those tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. Meanwhile, the lady fingers did deliver a soft bite and a slight crunch, while the tomato was plump, juicy and provided a refreshing tang when chewed upon. Even the salted egg was worth mentioning; whilst we were initially concerned whether the salted egg would turn out too dry, we were surprised with it being relatively moist yet delivering the saltish notes that went absolutely well with the already delicious rice here. During our visit, we had also given the Egg Fried Rice with Drumstick a go — the chicken drumstick that accompanied the dish turned out to be that of Ayam Goreng Berempah much to our surprise.

The Egg Fried Rice isn’t really anything too shout about — this felt a little short of the stellar Din Tai Fung-esque egg fried rice that some other establishments are dishing out; the variant here being a little dry and lacked the eggy fragrance that one would associate with such style of Egg Fried Rice. That being said, the chicken drumstick was worth going for; crisp on the exterior with flesh that is juicy and tender, one can get a slight hint of the spices used here though there is a clear lack of turmeric used in the cooking process here, while the drumstick also did not feel particularly greasy — the wok-fried curry leaves helped add another dimension of crispness on top of the crispy fried crumbs over the top, as well as a hint of curry leaf fragrance to the chicken. Was a pity that they were sold out of the Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng Berempah when we made our visit here; probably the better dish to try their Ayam Goreng Berempah with. Noticed that they had a display warmer that is stocked with some egg tarts facing out of the shop whilst walking into Shan Cheng Kopitiam and found ourselves being tempted enough to give them a go; turns out that these work Golden Egg Tarts that came with pineapple puree within. It took us a while to have them since we were busy with the mains, but we found the pastry to still be flaky, buttery and crisp; nothing too greasy there, while the egg curd was still soft and wobbly with an evidently eggy note. The addition of the pineapple puree does seem to be towards only a certain side of the egg tart; that being said, it does add a hint of sweetness to the entire item as well.

Seeing that they offer the Kopi Milo, we went for the iced version of the drink — the entire concoction here felt a little heavier on Milo than the coffee however. Whilst Shan Cheng had pretty much made its mark here for being a relatively reliable brand especially for its Ipoh Hor Fun offerings, the revamp of their outlet at Bukit Panjang Plaza into Shan Cheng Kopitiam does mark pretty exciting for the establishment; one that somehow manages to keep up to times for a brand that has remained quite at its own pace for a long while. We are pretty surprised with what their new menu has to offer; definitely hits the spot for those craving for Nanyang Kopitiam-themed fare. The Bukit Panjang neighbourhood does seem to be a fairly challenging spot for Shan Cheng Kopitiam to be in though, considering how there is already both NAN YANG DAO 南洋岛 and The Hainan Story located at Hillion Mall — that being said, Shan Cheng is quite a worthy contender considering how most of the individually-sized mains here are priced fairly reasonably at below $10.