The Roti Prata House is always packed during late night and especially the weekends for those craving for *southern Indian street food cuisine. How do I know? That’s because I’ve witnessed it first hand on the few occasions I went there after my macro sessions since it is opened 24 hours during the weekends.
The Roti Prata House.
The Roti Prata House is one of the most famous and popular supper places for pratas of course! They have an extensive menu ranging from all types of crispy bread with various sweet and savouring fillings apart from the standard plain crispy layered dough. Although many deem pratas as unhealthy, I think it is okay to indulge in a couple of pieces once in a blue moon?!
This year’s Blue Moon fell on July 31, 2015. That’s the night Stanley, Steven and I went out for macro before supper. We had originally wanted to go to Casuarina Curry but The Roti Prata House was a safer bet since it was a weekend and they are open throughout the 24 hours.
A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: either the third of four full moons in a season, or a second full moon in a month of the common calendar.
The phrase has nothing to do with the actual colour of the moon, although a literal “blue moon” (the moon appearing with a tinge of blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions: e.g., when there are volcanic eruptions or when exceptionally large fires leave particles in the atmosphere. – Wikipedia
You can find out more info about Blue Moon here: http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/blue-moon-science.html
The Roti Prata House offers an extensive menu!
This is the order chit for most Indian prata operators.
Our drinks of Teh Tarik (pulled tea with milk), Bandung (rose-flavoured drink with syrup and evaporated milk) and Iced Milo.
I was on my way to the toilet to wash up after macro session and noticed the cook.
He seemed to be very focused and I decided to break his routine!
I asked if it was alright for me to take pictures of him while he performed his duty and he was very friendly and obliging :)
See the video I did on him below.
One is never enough and usually a diner would have two pieces each when ordering the standard (plain) bread.
I had a plain (round) and another one (rectangular) with onions.
The Onion Prata had lots of chunky sliced sweet onions.
Yama had the Cheese Egg and Onion (S$3.30) which he exclaimed, “Damn shiok!”
You can eat the standard (crispy plain – 90 cents each) roti with sugar if curry is not your thingy.
Or dip a small of the bread daintily into the Dhal (curry made of lentils)…
I have friends who would dip into curry first then sugar.
Or drown the flatbread with curry like me.
No sugar! I don’t like sweet curries :),
Also, I prefer Fish Curry to Dha but on both occasions, they ran out.
Jimmy had the Kway Teow Goreng which looked divine and I shall try it on my next visit I said to myself.
My first visit this year was on 21st February.
I have always equated fat with flavour which my mom and hubby would frown but roti prata is a good source of comfort food at night all day in fact! If it’s any consolation to my mom and hub, these pratas are semi deep-fried in “Vanaspati Butter Flavour Vegetable Oil” which means nothing to them actually, lol… After discovering The Prata House, I remain a fan of their freshly cooked crispy pratas and that of course meant waiting time but it is not long or at least not at the timing I went to (after 2am).
Eating at specialty prata houses are a different experience from those of kopitiams and hawker centres unless they are very popular, most would serve you mass cooked and left on the display cabinet so that their pratas would be cold, no longer fluffy and even soggy with oily mouthfeel with each bite.
During both visits this year, I found the food quality and service to be consistent; good food and efficient service! But be warned that during peak hours, getting a parking lot, a table and even service may be trying.
So I’m back again this Blue Moon, lol…
We had to park some where else as the lots in front of the shophouse were all taken.
I’m getting the feel of how they write the order.
1 NGMM (Nasi Goreng Mutton Masala)
1 KTG (Kway Teow Goreng)
1 Sardine Mur (Sardine Murtabak)
1 Plaster (standard roti prata with a sunny side egg).
We also had Iced Tea, Teh Tarik (pulled tea) and Teh Halia (hot tea with ginger juice).
I don’t know what the s in circle meant, perhaps for small portion?
We were seated at table 41 this time (last time was table 42).
So yup our orders were in order!
The Sardine Murtabak was way thicker and doubled the size of the Onion Prata I had in previous visit.
Unless you are a big eater, murtabaks are usually a shared dish.
See how crispy and fluffy the “pancaked-croissant” is?
There are many different fillings to choose from i.e. cheese with chicken, mutton, sardines and tuna for the savoury flavours and there’s also banana and chocolate, strawberries, etc…
Nasi Goreng Mutton Masala means fried rice with masala-spiced minced mutton.
I had a spoonful of it from Steven and they were quite yummy and heavy with spices so I did not feel too nauseous from the gamey smell (remember I’ve become more sensitive to lamb?)
Kway Teow Goreng – S$3.50.
Something is amiss here from the previous one that Jimmy had.
Can you tell?
Where’s the sweet chilli/tomato sauce on the cucumber?
I loved the texture and ingredients of the rice noodles but the dish was too peppery for my liking.
I was recovering fro flu, sore throat and cough and I did not finish the Kway Teow as I fear the pepper to irritate my cough and trigger another sore throat.
Stanley’s Plaster (S$1.60) which is the round disc of standard plain roti with a sunny side up.
The Sardine Murtabak was shared among the 3 of us but I had the most of it.
I do loved the crispy outside and thouroughly cooked through fluffy dough with generous fillings of sardine and cabbage.
The sardine had the “metal” taste, most probably from canning so I’ll either have chicken or tuna next time.
Murtabaks are also eaten with Dhal which Stanley did not like (I don;t know if he generally doesn’t like dhal or only from this shop) and we asked for fish curry which they ran out like the previous time.
Some standard procedures ALL my good friends know!
Pose for photo when food arrives.
Camera eats first then humans.
Acquire the habit eating cool foods.
Nah! I’m not that bad but they indulge me :)
The previous supper was a treat from Yama so I didn’t have the price but here’s the breakdown of this meal. The Nasi Goreng and Sardine Murtabak is in the S$6 and S$7 range but I am not sure which is which. The rest are for drinks.
Some considered it expensive but given the size portions and generous amount of ingredients plus good taste, I am happy with the bill.
If you are hungry for crispy hot fluffy roti, come to The Prata House!
The Roti Prata House
Address: 246M Upper Thomson Road,
Singapore 574370.
Tel:6459 5260
Operating hours: Daily
Mon – Thurs: 7am – 2am
Fri- Sun: 24 hours
Click here to see The Art of Flipping Parathas and my Dosai Meal.
*southern Indian cuisine have pratas and northern has naan. However, I am not sure if these food items are available in India itself. These are what offered in our Singaporean Indian fare which we considered as street food or comfort food. There are similar offerings in Malaysia, too.
Filed under: Curry, Fish, Food Reviews, Hawker Centre & Kopitiam Stall, Heritage Food, Indian, Lamb/Mutton, Meat, Seafood, Snacks & Miscellaneous Foods, Street Food, The Bonding Tool Blog, Uncategorized Tagged: Alaric, Blue Moon, jimmy, kway teow goreng, Macro Photography, Murtabak, Nasi Goreng, onion prata, Roti Prata, Sardine Murtabak, Stanley Only, Steven Hee, The Roti Prata House, Yama
