Singapore Zing

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice presents authentic Hainanese and Singaporean flavours through its newest second branch in the heart of Jakarta. Edith Emeralda writes

ack in 1987, a father-and-son team opened a small chicken rice shop in Singapore. Almost three decades later with its family recipe perfected, Wee Nam Kee has opened four outlets in Singapore, six in the Philippines, two in Japan, one in South Korea and now another one in Jakarta. Located in the posh Grand Indonesia Shopping Town’s East Mall, one of the restaurant’s grey brick walls is decorated with black-and-white photos capturing Wee Nam Kee’s bustling kitchen scenes.

Lamps caged in red oval bird cages and wooden chairs in front of marble-topped tables give a warm, welcoming atmosphere to Indonesia Tatler’s distinguished guests one late sunny afternoon—madame Peck See Nayar and Madame Kayo Suzuki Tan. For their afternoon snack, the two elegant ladies opt to try Wee Nam Kee’s lighter bite of soft mantao bread with sweet condensed milk, savoury deep-fried bean curd, crullers with prawn and

crunchy spring rolls, plus refreshing dragon fruit and orange juice.

As for the chicken rice, the succulent chicken itself comes in its original poached version, or roasted, or specially cooked in dark soya sauce—all preferably eaten together with a delicious trinity of ginger, chili sauce and soya sauce. A side of chickenstock soup refreshes the palate after an intensely delightful pair of chicken together with fragrant, fluffy rice cooked in the same stock.

During their meal, Madame Tan, the wife of Singapore’s permanent representative to ASEAN, shares that one of her focuses nowadays is on the ASEAN Women’s Circle of Jakarta, with a role as one of the two vice presidents. The organisation had just held its annual bazaar early this November in the ASEAN Secretariat building. On the other hand, Madame Nayar, the wife of Singapore’s ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia, explains that her schedule of late has included preparing for the recently held Women’s International Club annual bazaar.

“Many people don’t know what ASEAN is,” says Madame Tan. “So our main goal is to help promote about what ASEAN is, along with its missions.” The participants in AWC’S bazaar are 20 embassies of ASEAN members and other countries—some as contributors only and others as vendors with proceeds

donated to schools in Flores. There are also non-embassy vendors from each country that help promote its unique culture.

Meanwhile, WIC, which took place from November 30 to December 1, covered a wider scope with participants invited from many of the embassies based in Jakarta such as Ghana, Russia, Indonesia, the US, Colombia and many more. People look forward to WIC because each country vendor brings goods from abroad so they don’t have to travel far. “Our chicken rice has been a constant best seller,” Madame Nayar tells us, “This helps the Singapore Embassy to be among WIC’S major contributors to charities.”

As the afternoon wears on, the two ladies contemplate trying the Singaporean dishes featured on Wee Nam Kee’s menu. The chef recommends the Slice Fish Curry, Seafood Sambal Noodle, Sambal Kangkong and a hot or cold barley drink. As tempting as the dishes sound, the two ladies are pleasantly full and instead decide to come back with their families and friends another time.

Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice

Grand Indonesia, East Mall, fl. 3A unit GD1-03 Jl. MH Thamrin Kav. 1, Central Jakarta Tel: +62 (21) 235 81 318

“The succulent chicken itself comes in its original poached version, or roasted, or specially cooked in dark soya sauce”