Mrs. C and I took the usual weekend dinner gang for a meal at KSC hoping for some authentic Singapore cuisine. What we got was some good, some bad. The restaurant was simply (i.e. crappily) decorated and could be cleaner, especially the w/c. Service wasn't awful, but not attentive either. We had a few dishes including some rather stingy little satays, some creditable roti canai, good mee goreng, and some awful lemon chicken and eggplant with pork. There was also some tasty lamb curry. Like I said, some good, some bad. We accompanied the meal with steamed rice. As for value, it was not too expensive, but I would have paid extra to get better quality and consistency.

Considering that the place was almost empty at the Valentine's day dinner hour, I don't know how they can stay in business. And yet they endure. One of life's little mysteries...

We won't be back.

I lived in Singapore for a couple of years, so while I don’t consider myself to be an expert on Singaporean / Malay cuisine, I can usually tell when dishes claiming to be from those two countries don’t jive. Of course, I will not compare Kelong’s dishes to the ones I had in Singapore, because that wouldn’t be fair. However, I will compare them to the ones I have eaten in other Singaporean / Malay restaurants in the lower mainland. Restaurants such as Prima Taste in Downtown, Banana Leaf(s) on Broadway, Tamarind Hill in New West and even Prata-Man on Capstan Way in Richmond. They are all much better than what you get at Kelong.

I want to get service, value and ambiance out of the way before I delve into food. Service is more or less polite, but not attentive. The ambiance is what you can expect from a restaurant of this caliber: Not much. One of our plates was chipped and my fork had some crusty bits on it. The restaurant is spacious though, with quite a bit of natural light. The prices are ok. Since we ordered from the lunch menu, all the dishes were $6.95 each. This was our only consolation, as the way I figure: If you are going to eat bad food, might as well eat it for free, or if not, at least for cheap.

We ordered the Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mee Goreng (fried noodles), Egg Sambal, and Chicken Sambal. Few minutes later the waitress informed us that the restaurant has run out of chicken. This was a first for me. At restaurants I have had many things run out on me, never chicken. Anyway, so we ordered the Fish Sambal instead.

After a while the Egg Sambal and Nasi Goreng arrived. Now if you are familiar with Nasi Goreng or Mee Goreng, you will know that they both have a very distinct aroma. These did not have that aroma at all. They looked and tasted like brown sticky fried rice and noodles, and did not any have beef in it. Instead, they had two things I have never seen in these dishes: Hard, rubbery squid circles and chunks of potatoes! The Egg Sambal was more sour than spicy, the eggs were cut in half with broken yolks all over the place. Traditional Sambal Egg is not cut. The so called “Sambal” taste was just not there.

When the Fish Sambal arrived, we cut into it and found that the fish was still raw in the middle. It was sent back and arrived (spit-free, hopefully) almost at the end of our meal, but this time it was deep fried and was edible.

Not going back to Kelong. Cheap as it maybe, the food is just not worth driving all the way to Richmond. As I mentioned, there are far better places to go.

Just the other night my girlfriend and I decided we would like to sample some Malaysian cuisine Richmond had to offer, and was delighted when we came across Kelong. The menu was very comprehensive (if not a little overwhelming for a person who is terribly ignorant in what constitutes Malaysian cooking), our server was extremely attentive, and the food was absolutely exquisite. While I really enjoyed dining for two this restuarant is one I would definitely suggest for groups to visit as the portions they bring are of ample size and so great for sharing. Having never tried culinary the delights of Malaysian food, my first experience with it have ensured it won't be my last either.

I regularly went to Kelong for lunch over the 2 years that I worked nearby in Richmond. I just revisited it recently after 3 months away from it. Oh, how I've missed it. I've never been to Singapore, but I get the sense that this is pretty authentic. I'm a big fan of Malaysian and Thai food, but there's not too many places with specifically Singaporean food.

I've had the curry beef (brisket) with rice many times. The brisket was so tender, and the sauce had a great complexity to it. I've also ordered the curry fish with rice, which consists of a good-sized deep fried filet of fish covered with curry. The curry sauce with this is the same as the curry beef, but there are vegetables added to this dish for extra texture and contrast. You'll find cabbage, broccoli, carrots, onions and even eggplant.

One other favourite of mine that I crave now and then is the Sambal Chicken with rice. This dish is definitely not for anyone who doesn't like spicy food. I, however, LOVE spicy food, so this is right up my alley. Thank god it comes with plain steamed rice to cool off your burning tongue! The sambal sauce is unlike anything I've tried before, and the chicken is always juicy and tender. There are a few green peppers and onions that come with it, but this is probably the only disappointing element of the dish, because they look like they were thrown in the deep fryer to save time in cooking. However, one part of the dish that i found surprising the first time I saw it was a deep fried hard boiled egg covered in sambal sauce! Yep, that's right - I said deep fried egg! Strange indeed. I don't know if they do that in Singapore, but an egg never hurt any dish!

If you're into SE Asian food, I definitely recommend giving Kelong a try. And if you're not into spicy food, don't worry, there's plenty of non-spicy dishes to choose from.