Raul’s Cafe is a cosy, home-style cafe in Damansara Uptown run by Puan Sri Nisa Bakri. On 16 February 2017, I joined a cooking demo here with Singapore celebrity chef Siti Mastura, and it turned out to be a fun afternoon of cooking, tasting and swapping kitchen tips.
The People Behind the Kitchen
Puan Sri Nisa comes from a finance and business background, but cooking is clearly where her heart is. She opened Raul’s Cafe as a place to share the dishes she loves, and you can tell the menu is personal rather than built around trends.
Chef Siti Mastura has more than 15 years of experience in baking and runs her own cooking school, Siti’s Delights, in Singapore. Some of you may recognise her as the host of the baking show Vanila on Mediacorp’s Suria channel. She was warm and easy to follow, and happily answered questions from the crowd throughout the demo.
The Cooking Demo
The two of them cooked side by side, explaining each step as they went. What I liked most was how practical it was. These are recipes you can actually make at home, not restaurant tricks that need special equipment.
What I Ate: Signature Asam Pedas
The highlight for me was Puan Sri Nisa’s signature Asam Pedas. It is tangy, spicy and full of flavour, and made without coconut milk, so it tastes lighter than you might expect. I could easily finish it with a big plate of steamed white rice.
Final Thoughts
If you enjoy home-style Malay cooking, Raul’s Cafe is worth a visit, and the Asam Pedas is the dish to order. Do check the cafe’s latest opening hours before heading over, as this visit was back in 2017.