Dickson Nasi Lemak - 320 Joo Chiat Rd

Last Sunday, we decided to try the famed Dickson Nasi Lemak for lunch only because we walked past and saw people waiting in line outside Dickson and remember that they are open for takeaways from 1130am … which coincidentally was 1130am then. We already had a home cooked lunch waiting for us at home but thought that since it’s 1130 now, the line should start moving with people going in to takeaway. And we told ourselves, let’s just buy a portion to try. Boy were we wrong! … We had about 20 people ahead of us and thought that it should move quite quickly … if you open for takeaways at 1130, you should have more than enough for prepared for people to pay and go right?! Our wait before we actually reached the counter to order took about half an hour. After paying, they told us it will be about another half an hour before you can collect your food! … It would be good if they could put a sign to inform everyone in line to expect about a half hour wait after you order and pay for your food. Had we known this, we would not have bothered to join the line. Yes a guy did come out to verbally say this but, he repeated this a few times and went back in … many people lining up later missed this message. A lady who patiently waited in line and had just reached the door to enter to order and pay, after hearing that she still had half an hour more to wait for her food exclaimed very loudly “what! Another half an hour!” Since we invested so much time in the line waiting, we decided to order 2 portions. They have a max limit of 5 portions that each person is able to order. We ordered the Ayam Goreng Berempah for $8.60 each. By the time we reached home, it was about 1245pm. We eagerly tried their Nasi Lemak with with very high expectations due to the crowds, the wait and the price. They claimed to be rated the best Nasi Lemak in Malaysia. I must say that their rice is really fragrant and yummy. The chicken was fried crispy and quite tasty. Peanut and ikan bills was quite standard. As for their sambal, it was quite spicy and a different form of sambal from say Punggol Nasi Lemak. I can’t quite say which sambal I prefer. To us, the best part is the rice. Would I get in line for an hour for this, I think not. Unless they can shorten their wait time to about half an hour, then yes, we will buy again.

Pretty decent nasi lemak though I have to deduct one star for the not-so-lemak rice and hard boiled egg. That said, the chicken and sambal chilli was spot on! Perfect ??

I have to say this is the best nasi lemak we ever have had in Singapore ? We also thought it was better than the Village Park Nasi Lemak that we had in KL years back. The rice was filled with coconut fragrance (on a sweeter side, but nothing too overpowering). Chicken was legit THE BEST - juicy, flavourful, very well-seasoned inside out. Those were the star ingredients. This place offers takeaways only, the staff recommended us to dine at the nearby dunman food centre. Queue time: we reached at 10:50am on a public holiday and there were about 20 people before us. Doors open at 11:30am, got our food at 11:47am (service was friendly and efficient).

An enjoyable Malaysian style Nasi Lemak where the main difference is the chili sambal. The Malaysian chili sambal is more watery with added tamarind, ikan bilis and chopped onions while the SG chili sambal is cooked down to a thicker paste with more robust taste. If I were to break down the components of this Nasi Lemak... 1. Rice - well executed and fragrant. Cooked just nice. 2. Sambal - taste ok but a bit too oily for my liking. 3. Chicken - this is the highlight. Very well marinated and fried to perfection with no pink parts. Can taste various spices including turmeric, coriander, ginger and fish sauce (I maybe wrong on this). The chicken include a drumstick and the thigh. 4. Hard boiled egg - half portion only, nothing special. 5. Peanuts and ikan bilis - again, quite normal. Crunchy and not over or under cooked. 6. Come with a piece of banana leave to bring out the fragrance when hot rice is placed on it, and 2 to 3 pieces of cucumber. Do note that it's takeaway only. I like the attention to detail. A small hole is trimmed at the corner so that steam can escape and help maintain the crispiness of the chicken. The dish probably won't taste as nice if you live far away. The queue is long, even on a weekday. Maybe it's new and there is some novelty factor. Dickson Nasi Lemak is one of the better ones, but at $8.60 and takeaway only with crazy queues, I won't be in a hurry to be back.

I went on two consecutive days but managed to buy it on only day 2. As a matter of fact, the nasi lemak looked simple, not cheap (S$8.60 before GST), halved hard boiled egg (not full egg or fried egg), no dine-in, could be sold out as early as 8:15am on non weekday. The picture of nasi lemak does not do it justice. The rice was fragrant and packed lot of flavour in each bite. The Ayam goreng berempah, the Malay style crispy spiced fried chicken looked unbelievably inviting. It was crunchy outside and juicy inside. The sambal chilli was spicy, and went well with the rice and chicken. However the chilli may not be to your liking if you prefer it to be without onion and less sweet. This is one of the better nasi lemak that I would recommend. If you can only buy it on weekends, I would recommend that you go to queue as early as 7:45am, as the shop opens at 8am. Also to note that there is a limit on the number of packets per person is allowed to buy. It was six(6) packets when I bought it today. I believe the number is not static as the ‘6’ was pasted on the notice, and the lady in front of us said that it used to be max 5 packets per person. Bon Appetite!

Enjoyed this after buying it for lunch. Rice and chicken were good, and I like this kind of sambal with the generous portions of onions. Only thing I would say that can be improved is the egg - a whole egg would be much appreciated as the half egg provided isn’t sufficient to last through the enjoyment of the entire meal

This is definitely a must try! Even though it’s not the most affordable nasi lemak out there, it is one of the best I’ve had in a v long time. The rice is fragrant and fluffy, the spiced fried chicken is juicy tender and flavourful + crispy. Their chilli is made with only the real stuff and it’s v tasty. Even the egg texture is v v v good. Will highly recommend!

Fabulous Nasi Lemak. Every component of this was spot-on. The rice had the perfect amount of coconut body and fragrance while remaining light. The sambal was flavoursome and while erring on the sweet side, had a mild spicy kick. And the chicken...goodness me. Imagine the best ever Malay-style fried Turmeric chicken. That's what this was. The skin crust was divine and the meat was moist and well a seasoned. A total winner. The closest competitor to this is Coconut Club at Frankel Avenue...but Dickson beats it straight down on price while keeping that high level of quality. The guy at the counter too is a really nice dude. ?