Hidden on the third floor, and open on Saturdays

Honest, generous, local nasi padang at a price that feels like a different decade.

This is a sample review so you can see how the site looks. Edit or delete it once you have added your own.

You will not stumble on Kreta Lembu by accident. It sits on the third floor of People’s Park Centre, past the travel agents and money changers, in a corner most tourists never reach. Follow the office workers around noon and you will find it.

How it works

Rice or nasi goreng as the base, then point at what you want from the trays. Portions are generous to the point of being unreasonable. The plate in the photo, with fried rice, kangkung, sambal fish, a begedil and a heap of serundeng, came to well under ten dollars.

The good stuff

The sambal ikan is the star: fish in a sweet-sour, chilli-heavy sauce with soft onions and peppers, and the sauce goes everywhere on the rice, which is exactly what you want. The rendang is dark and tender. The begedil is crisp outside and fluffy inside. The kangkung is stir-fried plain and fresh, a welcome break from the richness.

The plain rice with gulai gravy, ayam masak merah and brinjal curry is the more traditional plate and just as good. The brinjal soaks up the curry and collapses on the fork.

Worth knowing

It opens early and closes by late afternoon, so this is breakfast or lunch, not dinner. Open Monday to Saturday, closed Sunday. It is a stall, not a restaurant, so expect shared tables and a bit of a scrum at peak lunch. Go at 11.30am or after 1.30pm and it is calm.