Jalan Kayu

I’ve eaten here quite a few times now and now feel somewhat obligated to express my opinion on this nice prata café. Oh oh, I said ‘nice’ — did I already swayed myself into writing an above average review? Well, no convincing necessary as this place stands in its own. The food has always been yummy delicious whether I eat in or do takeaway. And I have not experienced Delhi Belly from my many meals from them so that’s always a plus for me to go back. I like what they’ve done to the place with the refurbishment.

I am trying so hard not to write an angry review, but I was furious about the way I was treated at this place.
I had a group of people join me for breakfast here, so there were a few different orders. When we finally got our prata, things did not look right. In fact he combined some of the different prata in to one. A mushroom and Cheese prata, and a hot dog and cheese prata were combined in to a hot dog and mushroom and cheese prata.
When I asked the lady who worked there which prata was which, because they all just came out combined together, she went to ask the prata boss. Who then came out and told me that if I wanted this fixed I would have to order more prata, and as he said that he started to elevate his voice. I told him calmly that I had explained my order very clearly, and if anyone was at fault it was the order taker. He then started telling me again, if I wanted it fixed I would have to buy more and at that point he just walked away.
Awful service, in fact one of those places where apparently, the customer is always wrong.

If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I go through «phases». There are periods of time where I just can’t get enough of one particular food item. I can eat the same thing for 5 days straight, in large quantities, and not get tired of it. These phases are so intense, some people have questioned whether or not I’m pregnant (and at this point in my life, it’s a valid question because all the food I’ve eaten here has given me a somewhat noticeable food baby!)
Back to what I was going for– my current phase at the moment is… roti prata! I was walking around United Square during lunch, and my food craving compass wasn’t really pointing in any direction. I was curious about Extra Virgin Pizza, but the prices were a bit much and it looked more like a place where you share dishes with someone. Then I saw Jalan Kayu next door and thoughts of roti prata popped into my head. I was then sold (even though there was this weird sign on their door that said «No passers-​by: only customers are welcome». Not sure if they were trying to be funny???)
I walked in a little before 12:30 and placed my order. 5 minutes later the work crowd rolled in and the queue was pretty long. I guess I just bring people in! Service was pretty quick and efficient. I enjoyed my plain roti prata, as it was very flaky and the curry sauce was not too spicy. The teh halia was also nice and gingery, but not too spicy and not scalding hot (temperature wise), which I like.
I took a sneak peek at what other diners ordered, and I liked what I saw. I’ll try to add this to my lunch rotation on my days off in Novena, as it’s very affordable!

Not what it used to be… But still not bad

only had their teh halia tarik kurang manis, $ 1.60.
or hand pulled ginger tea that is less sweet, for the uninitiated.
the pulling of the tea mixes it, cools it and gives it a good head!
the ginger was not overpowering, with just enough condense milk to give it the adequate sweetness and consistency, plus a final dash of evaporated milk for a richer taste and depth.
free wifi courtesy of united square and the signal strength is good from within the café.
be prepared, as you will probably leave smelling like a prata whether you had one or not at all!
funny thing was the staff tried to stop me from taking photos?!
not sure why but i just acted like a blur tourist and continued snapping away!:)