Home / Ethnic Communities

Warong Nasi Pariaman

Warong Nasi Pariaman could be the longest surviving nasi padang stall in Singapore. The stall however is more famous for another reason - its authentic padang dishes led by its beef rendang. A family-run business, Warong Nasi Pariaman has been serving nasi padang since 1948.  It is located at a shopouse at 738 North Bridge Road, at the corner of North Bridge Road and Kandahar Street, near the Sultan Mosque.  Another famous stall located at the Padang stretch in Kandahar Street is Sabar Menanti.

History
Warong Nasi Pariaman began in 1948 when Mr Isrin set up a warong (coffeeshop) at the corner of Kandahar Street.  Pariaman is located in West Sumatra where padang food hails.  Padang food constitutes white rice which is eaten with a variety of pre-cooked dishes and condiments.  Padang dishes are richly flavoured with coconut oil, lime, fresh chillies, lemon-grass and lengkuas (galangal root). The coffeeshop has remained at the same corner of Kandahar Street but Isrin has retired.  The business has been passed on to his wife and children. 

In 1992, the stall was reported to prepare between 50 and 60 kg of rice a day.  The rice at this stall is steamed to perfection to ensure that customers have no complaints about it being too soft or too hard, or too raw. The shop also fusses over their ingredients, professing that the ingredients and the way the dishes are prepared remain true to the original recipe when the warong first started.  In fact, Hajah Rosnah who owned the stall in 1992 claimed that in her 47 years of selling padang food, she had never once let anyone else took charge of the ingredients.  In 1998, the second generation of the Isrin family ran the stall together with their wives, headed by Isrin's son, Sudirman.

Description
The preparation of the food in Warong Nasi Pariaman begins early at 4 am and all dishes are ready by 10 am. All cooking is done at their house nearby and the food is transported in a van to the stall.  Before the family acquires the van, the food used to be ferried over in a tricycle.

The signature dish of Warong Nasi Pariaman is the ayam bakar (barbequed chicken served in a mildly spicy thick coconut milk gravy), a must-eat dish at the stall. Other specialties are the beef rendang, ikan bakar (barbequed fish, usually ikan selar, marinated in tamarind-based sauce, grilled over charcoal and served with sweet black soya sauce, onion, rings, green chillies and lime) and the sambal goreng (a mixture of long beans, tempeh and fried beancurd).

Warong Nasi Pariamans has acquired a solid reputation for serving delicious but cheap padang food. One has to be there early to get a seat at the warong. By noon, all the tables will be taken as the office crowd swarms the stall. To get packed lunches, one may have to queue for at least 15 minutes. Families usually come for Saturday lunches.

Friday is particularly busy for the stall as Malays will visit in droves after their Friday prayers at the nearby Sultan Mosque. It is not uncommon to spot famous personalities at the stall including Malay Members of Parliament and celebrities like Singapore's former national footballer, Fandi Ahmad. Many of Warong Nasi Pariamans customers has been frequenting their favourite padang stall for two generations.



Author
Marsita Omar



References
Oon, C. (1998, September 13). Fandi Ahmad used to drop by on Friday. The Straits Times.

Salma Semono. (1992, August 23). Nasi kukus, ramuan asli - rahsia enak masakan Pariaman. Berita Harian, p. 9.

Ng, T. K. (1995 - 2004). Nasi padang with a difference. Retrieved August 5, 2006, from www.makantime.com/feature5.htm

Singapore Press Holdings. (2006). ST Foodies Club: On the makan trail. Retrieved August 5, 2006, from http://www.stomp.com.sg/stfoodiesclub/hawkerfare/33/index.html



The information in this article is valid as at 2006 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Ethnic Communities>>Food
Cookery, Singaporean
Coffee shops--Singapore
Cookery>>Food
Cookery>>International and regional cooking>>Malay

Librarian Recommendations
>> Sabar Menanti Restaurant


All Rights Reserved. National Library Board Singapore 2010.