A café society girl may not want to be seen there, but for ordinary patrons who want simple local breakfast, Jamal Restaurant provides a great option. It is a place where you can have breakfast for 2 for less than $5. Located along East Coast Road, the old style coffee shop serves Indian Muslim food. We went there for breakfast because it was one of the few places where you could get putu mayam.
Housed in one of the few remaining low rise HDB blocks along East Coast Road, opposite Siglap Centre, the restaurant will not win any prize for its decor or aesthetics. It is functional and just a place to eat. However, it has a pleasant relax feel and there is a nice green space in front of it just beyond the side road. It is near a bus stop and HDB surface carparks are just behind the restaurant. Carparks are also available in the buildings nearby.
Jamal Restaurant operates round the clock. They serve a wide variety of food including briyani rice, thosai, murtabak, mutton soup, fried chicken and nasi goreng. They even have set meals from $4.70.
We went there for breakfast and ordered a plain roti prata ($1) and two pieces of putu mayam ($1.50). A Teh Tarik was $1 and Kopi C was $1.20. It is a self service place. You order and pay at the counter and the food and drinks will be served to you at the counter. Food that may need a longer time to prepare, such as thosai, will be served to you at the your table.
At Jamal Restaurant the prata dough is handmade. The prata we had were light and fluffy and slightly crispy at the edges. It came with a light curry served in a small plastic container. It was a very enjoyable roti prata breakfast. We went to Jamal Restaurant primarily for the putu mayam and we were not disappointed. Putu mayam is a South Indian snack of plain white noodles made of rice flour mixed with salt and water. The steamed noodles are eaten with coconut shavings and brown or red sugar. At Jamal the noodles were served to us on a disposal plastic plate and we helped ourselves to the coconut shavings and sugar. It was such a simple dish but it was really delicious and enjoyable.
We had a very fulfilling breakfast for less than $5 at Jamal Restaurant. It is not breakfast at Tiffany’s but it is a great alternative to the usual kaya toasts places. For about the price of a latte, you can have a delicious breakfast with drinks included. The total costs for breakfast for 2 added up to the grand total of $4.70, with no GST and no service charge.
Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: NA
Value: 5
Atmosphere: 2
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs 
Jamal Restaurant
2 East Coast Road #01-882
Singapore 450002
Tel : +65 96915406
Open 24 hours
The Ordinary Patrons
a Singapore food blog by ordinary people looking for places to eat