PU3 Restaurant
Remember 195 Pearl Hill Cafe (195PHC)? Located atop Pearl’s Hill in one of the longest pre-war civic buildings in existence, the now-defunct 195PHC used to serve coffee, pasta and the famous Tiong Bahru Hainanese pork satay and had a 6-month long waiting list. It used to be one of my favourite hang-outs with friends over smokey pork satays and BYO wines. Besides the food, I really liked the cafe’s philosophy and emphasis on staying true to our heritage, community empowerment and family times. To our disappointment, the cafe closed its door in February 2022 due to rental and operational challenges.
I still stay connected with the founders of 195PHC and recently had a catch-up with one of them. Benjamin suggested PU3 Restaurant at TripleOne Somerset, which is next to his new workplace, when we were deciding a good place to have lunch.
“If not for my Muslim colleagues who highly recommended and brought me here, I would never have thought that a Malay Nasi Padang restaurant, not a foodcourt stall, would have opened in such upscale Orchard area,” said Benjamin. “The staff and owners are very friendly and playful at times, that makes the whole dining experience more memorable and meaningful,” he added. Coming from someone who advocates community empowerment and whose main goal when setting up 195PHC was to strengthen local communities with opportunities for social interaction and family time through food, I began curious and looked forward to having lunch with him at PU3.
The restaurant is located on the second floor of TripleOne Somerset, directly above FairPice Finest supermarket. A long glass counter, with an array of delicious-looking and colourful Nasi Padang dishes, greets you at the entrance of the restaurant. The restaurant is famous for its Nasi Ambeng which is part of traditional Javanese cuisine and a long-standing favourite in the Malay community here. Nasi Ambeng is literally Nasi Padang on a platter - a mountain of rice surrounded by various types of meat and vegetable dishes. It is traditionally eaten by hand and the usual practice is to sit around the platter on a mat – which is why the communal element is a huge part of the dish. Food unites everyone and it cannot be more true when it comes to Nasi Ambeng. A standard Nasi Ambeng platter would be enough to feed four people and more. Since it was just 2 of us, Benjamin and I decided to just order some of their signature dishes to share instead of the gigantic platter.
I am really impressed with their intensely flavourful Beef Rendang. The meltingly tender beef sits in a rich and flavourful lemak sauce. There are varying consistencies of the curry gravy when it comes to Beef Rendang, here it is served wet which is what I prefer as I like to mix and enjoy the delicious gravy with steamed rice.
Another very palatable dish is their Asam Pedas fish curry which is tangy, spicy and appetizing. I like that they cook it with lots of laksa leaves which release an exotic and aromatic flavour to the dish. I can “drink” the sour and spicy fish curry on its own! Or simply mix with the beef rendang curry gravy and rice. Heavenly!
Their Tahu Telor gets my approval too. They are spot on with the ratio of egg and tofu, and the humble ingredients are deep fried to perfection with crispy edges and yet it is still soft and eggy within. Dip each spoonful of the tofu omelette into the delicious sweet and savoury peanut dressing, similar to rojak sauce, mmmm, you will love this dish. Trust me.
Complete your meal with a glass of cold pink Bandung. The rose milk drink not only looks pretty and tastes good, the sweet and creamy delight helps to reduce the heat from the curry too.
It was a good catch-up with Benjamin over such a satisfying meal. Looking around the restaurant we could see couples, families, colleagues and friends talking, laughing or just to see each other while enjoying their lunch, just like us. That brings us back to the topic that food builds community, no doubt about it.
PU3 Restaurant
TripleOne Somerset
111 Somerset Road
#02-20
Singapore 238164
Open Daily
11:00am - 9:00pm
