I accepted to a friend’s invitation to hangout one weekday evening and that brought me to a small Indian cafe along Syed Alwi Road, geographically smacked in the centre between Farrer Park MRT and Lavender MRT station.

Being a mostly-train commuter all my life, walking through the lane of shophouses in this Ethnic quarter was quite an interesting experience. After all, if you have been following the news; the area in Little India was still in the aftershocks of a recent social turbulence and I must say, walking down the road along Mustafa, I felt like a fish out of water.

At the intersection of Jalan Besar Road and Syed Alwi Road, right across The New World Centre (with an outlet of Sheng Shiong Supermarket on its ground floor) stands a small and modest Prata Cafe that aptly names itself as Jalan Kayu: The Prata Cafe. This was where we were going to hangout.

Jalan Kayu: The Prata Cafe

Although the prata cafe at Syed Alwi Road screams the colour green with coloured fluorescent lights, the interior is brightly lit, and very clean; very much to my surprise. It does not have feel like the regular oily-stained old coffeehouse that very much seen its days but a new, modern joint.

Menu

This prata cafe has a rather wide selection of pratas. You and I know the classic prata haydays were pretty much taken over by the current day updated version on the variety of flavours and types of prata offers. While I heard of tissue prata, plaster prata, Coin prata, roti bomb and Kotthu prata is pretty much alien language to me.

Star dish: Oats Prata

My friend told me that I got to try their Oats prata, which is one of their specialty. Since I was late, I pretty much got the last bits of whatever was left from the girls, but taste wise, the oats prata reminded me very much of that green coloured pan fried tapioca cakes (I absolutely love those) that can be easily found in our local makeshift Pasar Malams; sans the stickiness and oil.

The prata has some nice crusty sides which would then lead you to a chewy dough bite; then an introduction of that sweet gooey centre; which was, to me, quite an experience.

Classic Plain Prata

I ordered a classic plain prata, just to get some sort of a benchmark to compare with their other offerings. The classic prata, in my opinion, was nothing special, if you ask me.

It hits all the correct points of a prata, chewy dough, crusty sides, etc. However, it was what was on the plate after the prata was gone that made the difference.

And can you guess what was on it? Well, nothing!
Hahaha, well, to be specific, I noticed there wasn’t an “oily like kuali” plate after the prata was gone. I instinctively rubbed my thumb and fingers and didn’t felt much oil between them either.

Prata with less oil, who have we had guessed?!

The essences of that prata would usually start with ghee and that shiny silver surface they work the dough on would pretty much give it away, but not today. I didn’t see any of it.

Kotthu Prata

We also tried Kotthu Prata, which I found out later that it literally meant “minced prata”. Looks like fried rice in the distance, with all the minced meat, prata dough and the fragrance of the curry spice all in one spoon.

It, however, taste a little more like chopped up local fried carrot cake with curry chicken.

Making of the Kotthu prata

It’s quite a performance watching the Kotthu prata being made.It reminded me of the Japanese Teppanyaki Chefs where they will skillfully fry up their ingredients and making melodious clanking sound between their metal spatulas and the griddle.

Spicy Tuna Murtabak

While sardine murtabak are pretty common, it was my first time hearing tuna murtabak. (I’m a little mountain tortoise, I know :S )

Spicy Tuna Murtabak

The layers were spread evenly with tuna and other ingredients such as onions and the chilli padi. For someone like me who do not eat or rather intolerant to spicy food, this one just top the charts for me on the spiciness.

Each square was like a little parcel of dough packed full with ingredients. One or two squares was still tolerable, provided I pull out the chilli padi. For my friend, this was like a level zero for her as she adores spicy food.

Olive oil?!?!?!

These two bottles of olive oil caught my attention while we were enjoying the show the chefs were displaying, cooking their pratas. Upon enquiring with the boss, he explained he used only 100% vegetable oil and olive oil in all his pratas so to make his prata healthier; or less sinful, in my opinion. He seriously puts in the extra effort into this little details.

The owner and his chefs. Owner is the one in checkered shirt.

He also mentioned on his strict standards of hygiene and cleanliness. Staff who do not abide by his rules will be either fined, or on certain cases, fired from their jobs. I wonder why the strict ruling, but honestly, compared to a run-down prata shop fll or dust and dirt, I definitely pick his based on the hygiene standards.

Oh! And did I mentioned to you that I had my very first milo dinosaur??

Milo Dinosaur

Thanks to Michelle (aka Michhysaurous), I got my first taste of this extreme drink. Okay, I had to name it extreme cause I know how many calories this thing is, and for someone who falls ill easily — this drink is power-max “heaty”. So, I would not order this in the first place.

However, to just grab a sip, it’s heaven. It’s like the extra-extra-milo goodness and chocolate malt drink. But I felt it became easily too sweet with the additional powder. Nice drink, great experience, but no thanks.

Bloggers: Behind the scenes

Overall, we had a great time hanging out, had some dinner and catch-up on our latest happenings and gossips. Here’s a photo of Michhysaurous in action.

(Ah yes, in-fighting among bloggers is pretty real. lol~)

Jalan Kayu The Prata Cafe
202 Syed Alwi Road
Singapore 207735
Tel: 62293113

Thanks Carmen for the hangout!