1983 – A Taste of Nanyang

I actually prefer this smallish food court to the main one which is next to the fake ice skating rink. One of the shop staff told me about this place and said this is a halal food court so now they have more options for food, instead of relying on others to bring in food or 7 – 11. So kudos to Marina Bay Sands Shoppe for that. Plus staff working there and in the area get discount too, making the pricing similar to what you get in other areas.
So far I have only tried the food from the Chicken rice stall, Thai stall, Indonesian stall and the Nanyang stall.
The chicken rice set was surprisingly good. I did not expect much but the chicken was tender and the rice was flavorful and was a generous serving in the bowl. It was quite a fair bit for the set (include veggies and soup).
The ayam penyet from the Indonesian stall was average, you could probably get better ones from those specializing in it. Chili was spicy though. You could ask for the kecap manis to drizzle over your chicken and rice.
The Thai stall was decent. I like the chicken basil rice set. The tom yam soup was spicy but not overwhelming so like in the real Thai restaurants. The tapioca dessert was average.
From Nanyang stall, I like the nasi lemak with its pretty big fried chicken. The assam laksa was not fantastic, don’t bother with it. The flavor was mild. The chicken curry with rice was quite good, very lemak and rich. Plus the perennial favorite of kaya toast. There were 3 options (bun, french loaf or regular toast). The tea and coffee were ok, maybe not in the same league as Toastbox or Ya Kun but still acceptable.

Located in the first basement level at MBS, close to the SW entrance, down the first escalator. This hosts a variety of cuisines, all at reasonable prices.
I opted for the Italian Seafood Marinara ($ 7.80) which was a decent-​sized portion of pasta with squid, mussels and prawns in a delicious tomato sauce. Overall, very good value for money at a place that you would expect mains to be in the $ 10+ price range. However, the mussels were terrible — rubbery, overcooked and probably not fresh.
Props for the cute paging system, and the other options available. If you are in the MBS area, this is worth checking out.