This place here at Upper Thomson Road is known for its prata.
At another time I would have ordered a serving of egg prata and maybe one of their dessert pratas- they have got quite a few- but this evening I had just come from a meeting at Thomson Plaza not too far down the road, it was past 9pm, I was hungry, and I wanted something more solid in feel.
On the other hand, I too wasn't in the mood for what would have been a very substantial meal of briyani rice, so I decided to go local and order a plate of kuay teow goreng instead.
There're two kinds of kuay teow goreng they have here at The Roti Prata House.
One is kosong, basically just the kuay teow and nothing else.
The other is kuay teow goreng with meat, either chicken or beef (which is which I now suddenly can't remember) but this evening I didn't feel like having the meat and so ordered the kosong.
It was good.
Better than expected.
At first sight of the very red flat rice noodles, I had thought the kuay teow would be very spicy and very oily but to my surprise, it turned out to be neither.
That didn't mean that the dish was free of oil.
However it wasn't as greasy as I imagined it to be, and that, I liked.
I guess that is what makes eating out so interesting at times.
You never know if the chef in the kitchen that day leans towards one style, or another. You never know if the gauge of spiciness in the same dish ordered at different times is going to be the same.
One day you might have a dish that is literally non-spicy.
Another day you might order back the same dish only to find that the Chef for the Day holds a more adventurous version of spicy.
Best part, you never really know what's what until you take the first bite.
And that's it, you're stuck with whatever you've ordered all through.
I liked this kuay teow goreng.
Chances are I will have this next time I come again.
Perhaps one day I might make a special trip to this place- at a good supper hour- and have a combination order with kuay teow goreng, and dessert prata (they got banana) that I have had thought of trying- twice- but till now haven't had chance to try.