On the taste trail: A Southern Ridges hike that leads to a hawker feast of mee rebus, gado-gado and satay

There’s nothing better than capping off a scenic walk with a well-earned meal, so I recently decided to explore the Southern Ridges with the promise of mee rebus (and more) as delicious motivation.

From Kent Ridge Park to Labrador Nature Reserve, the Southern Ridges stretches 10km in total, with architecturally arresting bridges and verdant footpaths linking nature parks of varying terrain and scenery.

Taking on a short yet rewarding section, I began at Telok Blangah Hill Park, heading in the direction of Mount Faber, crossing Henderson Waves along the way and stopping to soak in its panoramic harbourfront views. Fun fact: Henderson Waves, with its iconic 274m undulating structure, is Singapore’s highest pedestrian bridge at 36m above ground.

From there, I continued to Mount Faber Park, which offered yet another vantage point of colourful cable cars, Sentosa and Keppel Bay. The approximately 2.2m walk took almost 40 minutes to complete at a steady pace, with a mix of paved slopes, wooden walkways, and a final staircase descent via the Marang Trail.

Winding my way down the 700m route, the ache in my legs and the rumble in my belly grew exponentially. A final dash across the Marang Road Carpark and I arrived at Seah Im Food Centre where I quickly located Daliman’s Corner – a family-run stall that’s been dishing out traditional Malay delights for three generations.

According to Muhammad Siddiq Bin Shafrudin, 35, the stall is named for his grandfather, who started out as a street food vendor but eventually found a permanent home at Seah Im around 1986.

Today, Siddiq, alongside his brothers and sister, each help to manage different aspects of the family business, including Farasha by Intan (ayam goreng with rice and noodles founded by their mother) just next to Daliman’s Corner and another stall at Alexandra Terrace. Their father, Shafrudin Bin Daliman, 61, often pops in to make sure things are running smoothly.

“Actually we are trained from young,” Siddiq said with a laugh. “At 15, 16, we were just lying around, he’d say, ‘Hey, go help at the shop!’ It went from forcing ourselves until now we love it.”

That love translates into the food, made fresh daily from precious family recipes. Daliman’s Corner isn’t just serving meals – they’re serving nostalgia on a plate. Case in point, their mee rebus (S$4.00).

Siddiq modestly claimed theirs isn’t anything special, but their kuah (gravy) is unlike most. Instead of the usual sweet potato base, their golden gravy is made from peanuts, curry powder, chilli powder and a major flavour booster.

“The main one that gives our mee rebus its taste is the ikan bilis. To flavour the gravy, give the aroma,” Siddiq revealed. “Some use keledek (sweet potato), but we have our own recipe.”

The two may not have always been served together (especially not during his grandfather’s time), but seeing how much customers loved the combination, Siddiq’s family made it a menu staple. Available in beef, mutton, chicken and babat (tripe) options (90 cents per stick), their satay is marinated in-house and flame-grilled for smokiness and succulence.

For Daliman’s Corner, the quality of their skewered meats is key. “Because when I eat at other places, like I feel like the rempah (spice mix) and the seasoning overpower the meat. So our satay is more like if you eat chicken, you taste chicken. If you eat beef, you know it’s beef,” Siddiq explained.

This was also true for my order of mutton satay. Neither heavily spiced nor seasoned, its natural flavour was enhanced by a minimal yet effective marinade. Enjoyable on its own, a dunk in the mee rebus gravy gave the satay extra dimension, as did the more conventional drizzle of peanut sauce. That same sauce was the main highlight of another best-seller at Daliman’s Corner – their signature gado-gado (S$4.00).

“The gravy, the peanut sauce is the star ingredient,” Siddiq shared. “Because we do everything from the rempah, to the roasting of the peanuts, to the QC (quality control) of the sauce. And we do this every day, fresh in the morning by six.”

Blanketing the deceptively simple salad of potato, tauhu, tempeh, beansprouts, hard-boiled egg and lontong (steamed rice cakes) was said peanut sauce, painstakingly made from scratch according to Grandpa’s recipe.

The luscious sauce sang in a choir of deeply nutty, lightly spicy, sweet notes. Keropok (fish crackers) provided crunch and doubled as a handy scoop for all the sauce-drenched goodies. The lontong deserves special mention. The tender, melt-in-the-mouth cubes were incredibly moreish heaped with peanut sauce.

Beyond the food, what makes Daliman’s Corner special is the passion to continue their eponymous founder’s legacy through his recipes and signature dishes. When asked if it was an easy choice to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, Siddiq didn’t hesitate.

“It's easy because I love what I do,” he replied. “I like cooking and I like also to serve people good food. And if they come back with good feedback, it motivates me even more.”

Indeed, repeat visits to Daliman’s Corner is recommended for begedil, mee rebus, satay and gado-gado drowned in peanut sauce, the magic ingredient that brings everything together.

Daliman’s Corner is located at #01-32, Seah Im Food Centre, 2 Seah Im Rd, Singapore 099114. It’s open daily from 7am to 8pm.

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