SANTAN, Air Asia's restaurant arm, is all about comfort food and regional staples. And since leisure travel is still not allowed, the only way for customers to savour its Nasi Lemak Pak Nasser is to get it from Santan.
It's a delicious staple, this one. When you have spent a week on holiday, trying different, unfamiliar cuisine, there's nothing like warm nasi lemak, served with chicken rendang as a welcome home sign on the way back to Malaysia.
But the nasi lemak is not the only dish Santan is known for. Its burnt cheese cake, tasty without being cloying, comes in just the right size and is another crowd favourite.
SPICY TAKE
Recently, Santan launched a new dish, Hot Chic Bites with Spicy Sambal, which is spicy, crispy popcorn chicken seasoned with paprika and cayenne, with fiery Indonesian-style sambal called sambal gesek.
The sambal is made from five types of chillies for maximum spiciness, served with white rice, fresh cucumber and fried egg.
Thankfully, it's not one of those spicy dishes that is just spicy and nothing else. This one is tasty and the sambal is full-bodied so the meal is wholesome. It also helps that the rice is starchy and that helps balance the sambal.
Best of all, the popcorn chicken is fresh and crunchy. Some restaurants, I have noticed, use less than fresh chicken when it's cooked in gravy, possibly to reduce wastage, but that's not the case here. As a customer, I appreciate this very much.
THAI FLAVOUR
If you are into Thai food, then the Thai Basil Chicken is a good lunch option. It's a common Thai dish made up of ground chicken, stir-fried in basil leaves and red chilies. I like Santan's version, although the Thai rice it uses makes me overeat. I mean, what's not to love with starchy rice?
If you like light dessert, its Onde Onde Cake is worth a try, a pandan-flavoured sponge cake, layered in cream with a tinge of brown sugar.
Meanwhile, the drinks, like Calamansi Tea and Teh Tarik, are great accompaniments to the main meals.
Follow @santan.asean on Instagram for more information and for the link to order.
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