$4.50 for ikan bilis? Man stunned by price of nasi padang

How much would you pay for a side of ikan bilis (anchovies) with your nasi padang?

Stomp contributor Alamak Ikan was shocked when he was charged $10.20 for his meal and that the ikan bilis alone was $4.50.

He paid $9.18 after a card discount.

"I visited Padang Lezat at VivoCity's Kopitiam for lunch on Wednesday (Feb 22)," he said.

"I always eat curry chicken drumstick with ikan bilis.

"Just two dishes on white rice and that's it.

"At the Kopitiam today, I ordered white rice for $1.20, a curry drumstick for $4.50 and maybe 10g of SMALL-SIZED fried ikan bilis."

He added that there wasn't even much ikan bilis and that the chilli covered most of it up.

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"When I got back to my desk and was shocked when I saw the receipt," he said.

"I went back to the lady saying that I only have one meat, a chicken drumstick.

"I was not sure if she charged me wrongly for my 'second meat' as I didn't order more than a drumstick.

"She told me ikan bilis is meat and that $4.50 was correct.

"I am totally shocked with this pricing, I mean this is just a food court.

"The ikan I am ordering is the small common ikan bilis we can get inside a pack of nasi lemak or any ordinary HDB kopitiam mixed rice stall.

"I really think this is way overpriced.

"I understand those bigger ikan bilis do cost more as I have paid $3 just for one big ikan bilis in Chinatown before but definitely not the small-sized ikan bilis from this stall."

The Stomp contributor said he wanted to share his experience to check if stalls are pricing their food correctly.

"VivoCity is popular with tourists who pass through before entering Sentosa," he said.

"I see so many Indonesian and Malaysian tourists inside the Kopitiam lining up at this halal stall for food.

"It is important that certain dishes are priced correctly so that tourists don't make negative comments about Singapore at all."

He added that he found other comments online regarding the price of the nasi padang from the same stall.

He even shared with Stomp how much ikan bilis is selling for on Shopee: Starting from $10.50 for 300g of small ikan bilis.

"A look at the raw ikan bilis currently selling in Singapore, it is just inexpensive," he said.

"I really don't understand how this spoonful of $4.50 ikan bilis is priced."

ALSO READ: $24 for nasi padang? Woman's meal gets Singaporeans discussing how much fish eggs cost

This article was first published in Stomp. Permission required for reproduction.