PS. Cafe Petit at St. Martin Road features some excellent takes on local favourites: Sup Kambing, Prawn Noodle, Rickshaw Noodle, Nasi Goreng among others. These are not on the menu but written on the board above the ordering counter. We also tried a new peanut butter chocolate cake – absolutely sinful.

My cousin told me that the new local items have been available for the past few months but while I tried to test it out my last trip there in July, I ended up in Chop Suey thinking that these dishes were found there. So they are strictly only available in the adjoining PS. Cafe Petit St Martin and also not yet fully on the menu at other PS. Cafe branches. Co-owner Philip Chin indicates that he’s testing out these local dishes to see if they do prove popular. I like the concept because finding good local food in comfortable surroundings to enjoy with some wine is almost non-existent. Hotel coffee houses have some items but they are generally not that great.

We started with some cocktails, which I sorely desired since I just returned from a busy ten day business trip. PS. Cafe Petit has various varieties of gin including Gin Mare, a Spanish gin that I like that has an infusion of olives, thyme, basil and rosemary. As I nursed my gin & tonic, my cousin ordered the hot lychee margarita – also very refreshing. Naturally, we couldn’t resist PS. Cafe’s excellent french fries to go with our drinks.

We pretty much ordered all the local specials. The portions are large by Asian standards so we shared everything – but it’s still a lot of food for five of us. In addition, we also ordered a pizza and the vietnamese beef pho, both of which are on the standard menu.

The rickshaw noodles are egg noodles served with barbecued pork (char siew) and crab meat. The twist at PS. Cafe is that they used a taglierini – a thinner version of tagliatelle – which provides a springier finish that the traditional local egg noodle.

My favourite was the Sup Kambing, which is traditionally a mutton soup. But PS. Cafe used chicken broth with lamb ribs as its base and this reduces the gamey taste that can be found in using mutton. In addition, the lamb ribs are a meatier and more tender option. With the sup kambing accompanied with grilled toast, the dish becomes a great stand alone meal.

Another local dish made better was the Nasi Goreng. Instead of using white rice, PS. Cafe is frying coconut infused rice such as that found in Nasi Lemak instead. This imparts a really nice fragrance to the fried rice. The fried egg on top of the rice is still soft on the inside so that when it breaks, the egg yolk runs over the rice. This is perfect for those of us who like our eggs slightly runny. Chicken satay and a fried chicken drumstick along with acar (pickled vegetables) are the traditional accompaniments.

Also very good were the pork spare ribs. Obviously we got carried away with the ordering because in the midst of deciding what to eat when we arrived, we also decided to have a pizza from the menu. So we probably had enough food to feed another three people.

Finally, despite the copious consumption, we found a little space for dessert. We tried PS. Cafe’s newest cake – a peanut butter chocolate cake. Essentially the peanut butter is mixed in the frosting. The dark chocolate cake is served slightly heated with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Wow! I’ll definitely have this again. We chased this down with a very good Spanish sherry, Don PX 2010.

While reservations are not absolutely necessary, I’d still recommend making a booking especially during peak times. PS. Cafe Petit is open daily from 9:30am until midnight. The local specials highlighted above are available for lunch and dinner.

PS. Cafe Petit website: http://www.pscafe.com/pscafe-petit-at-martin-road/