3. Nasi Goreng

Malaysian fried rice. The one I had been dreading. Nasi Goreng, or as I call it "Nasty Boring."If it were a colour it would be beige. Not a tasteful Chanel beige that goes with everything, rather an insipid Ezibuy hue that flatters no-one. A mountain of rice, a pittance of meat and those naff Watties frozen mixed vegetables. Yippie...

Or so I thought...

Full disclosure, I went with a friend, made them order #3 and had a few bites of it. And you know what? Maybe it was a testament to my hunger at the time, but damn was it half tasty. As the picture shows, the rice was much darker than the stock photo used on the picture menu. Savoury flavours of dark soy perhaps with a hint of kecap manis. Dispersed throughout the mountainous mound of rice were little nuggets of marinated chicken, flavourful and tender. I was spared the horrors of mixed veg, with only a handful of peas dotted throughout like little verdant jewels.

I had my obligatory two bites, then a third. Then attempted a fourth only to have my date tell me to sod off and eat my own damn food. Touche. I could have demolished the whole plate. A hint of spice too, which is nice - reminiscent of its Indian cousin the Biriyani.

We dine at peak dinnertime - it is a zoo. Manage to grab a little table by the door. There is a veritable wall of takeaway patrons waiting in eager anticipation.

After attempting to snaffle half of my companion's dinner, I wolf mine down. We are sated but still have room for more. If the wait for our food hadn't already been so long we may have ordered dumplings for dessert. It is always a good time for dumplings. But that is a post for next time.