Hubby and I were on the way home in a taxi after paying respects to my late grandmother. We passed by Upper Thomson Road so decided to alight there to grab some brunch.
Had seen this prata place for the longest time ever and since we hadn’t tried before, we settled on this.
Here’s a quick look at the menu. (click on images to enlarge)
Once you’ve decided what to order, just gesture to the boss at the counter who’s carrying a notepad and a pen and he will come over to your table to assist.
Super hot day so we opted for Tea Ice (S$1.70) instead of our usual hot Teh Tarik. This was probably the worst iced milk tea I ever tried. I requested for it to be ‘less sweet’ but I wondered if they still emptied a whole can of condensed milk in it. Basically, I couldn’t taste any tea flavour and all that hit my tongue was just layers and layers of sweetness.
The Crispy Plain Prata (S$0.90) was supposed to be their signature prata because of its crispiness. Looked promising when served to our table but when we took a bite of this prata, we were disappointed by how cold and chewy it tasted like it had been left out for too long. Took one closer look at the kitchen in action and we noticed the plain pratas were all pre-made in advance and stacked on this metal tray which they would then plate up whenever someone ordered it.
The Egg Prata (S$1.60) was the same – what a shame. Taken from a pre-made batch and served cold.
While I didn’t mind my prata to be slightly chewy on the inside, I really didn’t expect the dough to be undercooked like this. Not nice to bite into.
The only saving grace was perhaps the accompanying curry sauce that was quite robust in flavour and not overly salty like some.
Thank goodness the Double Cheese Prata (S$3) was freshly made so it arrived at our table hot. I thought this was pretty tasty as it was light and crispy with a nice cheesy flavour inside.
Hubby wanted to try their Maggi Goreng (S$3.50) which we thought was alright. Not the best but at least spiciness and sweetness were well balanced. Would be better if the noodles weren’t that soggy.
We came back for breakfast the following weekend just to give ourselves a second chance to try other items on the menu before deciding if we should blacklist this place or not.
We had the Plaster Onion Prata (S$2) that came with crunchy diced onions and an egg plastered on top (hence the name). This was quite tasty as it was made fresh so the prata itself was crispy on the exterior and a little chewy in the middle which is how I like my prata.
This Coin Prata Chicken Set (S$6) was the main reason why we came back again. Probably the best dish we had tried so far. The coin pratas were a little heavy but I liked how crispy and crunchy they were on the outside. The chicken (whole leg with thigh) was deliciously tender and juicy. The gravy tasted robust and creamy too.
During this second visit, I ordered a Tea O Ice which again didn’t have any intense tea flavour but tasted predominantly of sugar syrup only. Even though I requested for ‘less sweet’, I had to get the boss to replace the drink because it was too saccharine sweet to be drunk. And when he came back with my cup, I think he merely poured away some tea and added extra water. Not worth getting tea drinks here.
Overall, I thought some of their pratas were not bad (like the plaster, cheese and coin ones) as long as they were freshly made on the spot and served hot. I was deeply disappointed with the plain and egg ones because we were given a very bad batch.
Service was also haphazard. The first time we were here, we waited very long for our food to come. In fact, about 3-4 tables around us had their food served even though the people ordered after us. We had to ask the service staff to check on our orders at least 2 times and were told in lukewarm manner that the food would come soon but of course that didn’t happen timely.
I’m on the fence about coming back again for a meal because obviously there is a lack of standard when it comes to serving up their so-called signature crispy pratas. The thing is, if you expect customers to wait like what we did, then at least give us freshly made pratas and not those that have been sitting out for so long. Tsk tsk.
The Roti Prata House
246M & 246K Upper Thomson Road
Singapore
Tel: +65 6459 5260
Opening hours:
7.00am to 2.00am (Sun-Thu)
7.00am to 4.00am (Fri-Sat)
Tried this store myself more than 18 months ago and had similar experience. Why go there where there are so many other Praba stores around ? Besides parking lots are very hard to come by. I would go Little India any time over Thompson.