Taste of Sing Ma

Excellent food! Super friendly staff and they brought our food out really quickly. My family and I enjoyed it and we will definitely be back!!!

Excellent service. Patrica the owner is lovely she always knows I like «little oil «so she accommodates. Very friendly servers. Good tasty food .
I like the eggplant … Super tasty !!

A neighborhood restaurant, with pleasant setting. Sing Ma is short for Singapore and Malaysia.
Nothing to write home about it.

So terrible!!!
We got there right when it opened. The servers did not have nice demeanors, the service was slow even though we were the only people there, and the food was very disappointing.
The prawn mee soup noodle was made with very different noodles than I was used to, it was lukewarm instead of hot, and the portion was much smaller than other similar restaurants I’ve frequented.
Sorry, but I will never be back!

This review is for Takeout.
Service
I ordered pad thai and tom yum soup on a Sunday evening. They estimated a half hour for the food to be ready. I cam in exactly half an hour and everything was ready. The service was fine.
The pad thai had some weird meat in it.
Food
Pad Thai — It was suppose to be mixed with everything but the meat quality did not seem right (mystery meat like). There was only one piece of shrimp in the dish which had the tail still on. Other parts of shrimp tail were found throughout the dish. I did not like the potato they had added. It just seemed like filler. It also did not state on the description of the dish that there would be potato.
Tom Yum Soup — It only had a few medium size pieces of chicken but the chicken was of really good quality. There was a lot of other large chunks of oddities. it felt like filler.
Price — I thought it was pretty good for the location. The pad thai was not over $ 10.

I popped my cherry of eating Malaysian food at this place and I must say, it was delish! We ordered the Roti Prata, Fire Cracker Chicken and the House Special Malay Bee Hoon.
We asked for mild spice on the Fire Cracker Chicken and they accommodated. It was enough spice to accommodate my friend who’s taste buds are burnt off from all of the spice he eats and not too much spice to set my mouth on fire. Otherwise, it was a good balance for the mixture of preferred tastes.
The Roti reminded me of a super flakey, buttery croissant roll with an added bonus of a sauce that wasn’t thick or creamy.
The rice was very good as well. They included a good portion of chicken and shrimp compared to many rice mixtures. The flavor was enough to eat it independent and it wasn’t too oily to pair with the Fire Cracker Chicken.
For my first exposure to Malaysian cuisine, this was a very pleasant experience. I’d definitely recommend Taste of Sing Ma!

service was great — positive, able to make recommendations, eager to help
food was very good — tasty, nice variety of choices
setting as perhaps a little crowded but still comfortable
it’s worth another visit and I’m looking forward to it happening soon.

I’ve been here twice because the first experience was great!
I highly recommend the Rendang Beef lunch option as well as the pan fried Pomfret (fish).
The Rendang Beef is savory, the fish bits adds salty and sweet, and the egg is… egg. Altogether, the meal is simple and delicious.
On my second visit, with coworkers, everyone enjoyed their meals. The lunch menu options look pretty decent including vegetarian options.
Décor is nice and brings a somewhat fancy feel to it. Next door is the local brewery. Service is fast and friendly.
I can’t wait to come by and try the other items on the menu!

Great service
Good Food.
Great for families with young kids.
I’ve been to this place twice. 9nce with my 2 toddlers and the 2^nd time with my coworkers, who have some food restrictions. On both occasion, I was not disappointed.
Their Gado2x is delicious. I especially like the Beef Rendang. The meat is tender and the sauce is flavored just right. The dish goes very well with white rice.
This place has great service. Everyone is polite, helpful, and efficient.
For lunch, they get a good crowd from working professionals. But on weekend, we saw a lot families with young kids.
Love the ambience.

After seeing a great reviews and rating from Unilocal,my family and I decided to come here for dinner on a Sunday night. Expecting it to be busy, we actually came around 7pm and the restaurant was completely EMPTY.
Honestly, I dont understand how people rave about the food here. Its just decent food. It actually all tastes exactly like Chinese Food… Does not taste like authentic Malaysian food at all. It was missing all the spices and flavor of malaysian food I’ve had in Malaysia.
The Roti Prata was the best thing here, I highly recommend this dish because of the FLUFFY PANCAKE! It was very fluffy and crunchy at the same time. the curry sauce was a bit too salty for my liking. It wasn’t that flavorful like other places i’ve tried. However, I actually really enjoyed this dish compared to everything else we ordered here for dinner.
Something else that was worth getting was the Mango Sticky rice !!! ITS A MUST GET !! I love how it comes out warm. However, the sourness of the mango did not compliment the sticky rice so well… But the sticky rice was very flavorful and delicious.
We also ordered the House Special Fried rice, which was very flavorful as well, however it did not taste anything more than regular chinese fried rice you get any at chinese seafood restaurant. We also got the Redang beef, curry prawns, char kueh teow, hainan chicken, and mango shrimp.
Redang beef was alright, I wished the beef was cooked more, because it came out pretty chewy instead of the slow cooked soft beef i was expecting.
The Curry Prawns actually tasted very much like Indian Curry. It was salty… not sweet which took me by surprise. Actually, it was very salty…
The Char Kueh Teow was DRENCHED IN OIL. It was very tasty, however, all the oil that it came with in the dish was a huge turn off.
The Hainan Chicken was literally just … boneless chicken with soysauce. I was very disappointed with this dish. I was expecting more flavor and juiciness. The chicken was moist, which was good, but it was sort of cold when it came out.
The Mango Shrimp was alright, not bad but not great either. It was actually sour and sweet than any kind of savory.
Coconut rice on the side is $ 2.00 extra, and white rice is $ 1.00 extra. Just a heads up for any one who was considering to get rice on the side.
Service was alright. The servers were chatting and messing around behind the counter most of the time instead of checking up on us. We had to flag them a few times to get napkins/​straws/​extra bowl/​plates etc.
Parking is sort of small here since it is located in downtown.
Overall, I wouldn’t come back.

A generous 3 stars even though Malaysian cuisine has always dazzled my taste buds. A friend who is a Malaysian food aficionado invited me for lunch since we were in the area and we both hadn’t tried SM before. It was hard to resist the cuisine, as I am a huge fan. Tucked inconspicuously in a nondescript row of shop houses, the exterior looked divey and uninviting. But if you have been to Malaysia, many of their best eateries are unglamorous like this. So, no biggie! We walked in unperturbed by what we saw. The inside ambiance was more exuberant and exuded a clean, cheerful vibe with a generic décor. The server was friendly, authentically Malaysian from listening to her accent and obviously knowledgeable in the cuisine. Good start, I thought!
My enthusiasm was short lived. I was soon underwhelmed by the uninteresting menu and later to some extent by its uninspiring execution. While I was impressed by the diversity and richness of Malaysian food culture, SM failed to impress.
I wouldn’t say it was completely SM’s fault as US chickens are not easy to cook well just to get the right juiciness and flavor without over or under cooking the poor bird! In today’s lunch, the overcooked chicken spoiled two of the dishes.
The first one was Nasi Lemak ($ 8.95), a well-​known dish in Malaysia. It had all the goodies I love in a rice plate. There were 2 outstanding ingredients in nasi lemak that I ought to single out. First, you gotta love the aromatic rice cooked in coconut milk. Second, a dollop of sambal (a kind of chili sauce made from shrimp paste) with some sweet, savory and crispy anchovies nailed it. Their anchovies seemed different, as these were not as salty. Everything was wonderful so far if SM hadn’t added a protein to make this dish more substantial. Right! The dreaded chicken! The curried dark meat chicken was dried out and tasteless. I would have enjoyed this dish more sans the chicken and it took up half the space in the plate. (³⁄₅)
The next was Laksa ($ 9.95), another well-​loved dish in Malaysia. This wasn’t a taste of subtlety but of bold, robust flavors. Laksa consisted of noodles in a coconut based curry broth with usually chicken or seafood. We didn’t know better then and opted for chicken and it killed the laksa. SM’s curry broth however tasted fine and I discovered much to my chagrin, it was more than just a coconut based noodle concoction when I tried to make it at home! So kudos to SM for at least getting the broth right as I learnt the hard way that using cheap ingredients or conveniently skipping a step can indeed turn the laksa into some insipid noodle concoction! (³⁄₅)
Hurray! The last dish had no chicken! It had some seafood although nothing special like shrimps, squids and some unidentifiable fish filets. Hua Dan Ho Noodles ($ 10.95) is the «Malaysianized» version of the well-​known Cantonese Runny Egg Chow Fun. It was perfect if you were not in the mood for stir-​fried or soupy noodles. Cracking a raw egg just before the noodles were done gave the noodles a wet slippery texture. A commercial stove with high BTUs can fire up the heat to generate good wok hay. You can see a good wok chef has very little eyebrow or hair in his forearms but I didn’t get to meet him. SM had a good rendition. (⁴⁄₅)
The sweet server comped us a sweet dessert Mo Mo Cha Cha. This is not a new dance but a sweet coconut based soup made with sweet potatoes and yam and a sprinkling of pearl tapioca for a textural difference. Diabetics beware… it was over the top sweet!

When my favorite Thai place in Pleasanton closed, I was afraid I wouldn’t find anything to compare. Lucky for me, right down the street, this place opened up. While its not Thai, Sing Ma provided a similar satisfaction with their Malaysian food. It’s also a family run restaurant which is really great and I’m more than happy to support.
I’ve tried a couple of their dishes in the two times that I’ve been there and here are my thoughts:
–Roti Prata: Not bad, but not the best either. The sauce was different both times that I got it; the first time it was too watery, but the second time it was perfect, the right consistency and the right taste. The prata was a miss for me since it is a thick version rather than the thin version I like. It reminded me of Puff Parathas that I get in the frozen section at the Indian store.
–House Malay Fried Rice: Definitely my favorite dish so far. Theres a healthy portion of it, which is always good, and it was loaded nicely with shrimp and chicken. Other places I’ve been to try to skimp on the shrimp, but not here. Plus, there’s just something home-​y about this dish. I would probably come here to eat this on its own.
–Rendang Chicken: I personally did not like this dish. I didn’t like the texture of the chicken and since the menu says it’s a dry curry, I was expecting less liquid. The taste of the curry was good, but I kept getting pieces of chicken so I didn’t eat too much of it. My boyfriend, on the other hand, thought the dish was decent and ate about three quarters of it.
Firecracker Chicken: We tried this dish because my aunt was raving about it, and it was decent. I probably would get it again, but ask for more heat to really live up to its name. So i guess the jury is still out for this one.
Seafood Noodle Soup: This dish was an adventure for me since I don’t typically order all seafood dishes at Asian restaurants because I find the fish flavor to be overwhelming. That was not the case in this dish; the soup flavor still shined through as the main component. One note: the noodles do make this dish a little hard to share and transfer into separate bowls.
–Sticky Rice with Mango: I almost don’t want to spoil the surprise, but there’s already pictures of it, so what the heck – the rice is green! This was the first time I’ve ever encountered green rice, so I was a little apprehensive about the dessert, but I loved it. It was different than any other time I’ve had the dish; the rice is a little bit more sticky and chewy and the milk on top is a little sweeter. The mango on my first visit was sour and on the second it was sweet, but that is dependent on the fruit. I could eat this all day.
On my second visit, we did spend a while waiting to order and for our food to come out, but it being a family business with a small crowd present, we didn’t mind. The one thing that did bother me though was that we ordered the fried rice and the rendang chicken, but the rice came out a long time before the chicken. My boyfriend and I had almost finished all of the rice before our chicken came out and then we were left with chicken curry and no vehicle to eat it with.

After Saturday’s Oaktoberfest (and after searching and failing to find a suitable Hagrid-​like mate for the potato farmer), the potato farmer and I were tired. Neither her nor I had eaten very much since our brunch at The Press, and therefore, decided it best to eat dinner before ending the night. This restaurant, due to positive Unilocal reviews, has been on my radar for quite a while (although generally, I tend to be skeptical about the few Asian restaurants in downtown Pleasanton). I’m fairly certain the potato farmer was equally skeptical but she didn’t make any outright objections (probably because she was just grateful that once again I had decided where we were to eat).
The potato farmer and I parked several blocks down in an (almost) empty parking lot. As we walked over to the restaurant, both of us were drawn to the lively music playing across the street at the Blue Agave — *almost* changing our minds. The outside of Sing Ma looked pretty dingy in comparison, but I convinced potato farmer it was best we follow through with our original plan.
Inside, the restaurant was fairly packed, although not completely filled to capacity — really, the PERFECT amount of people to feel as though the food is good enough to attract a crowd on Saturday night but NOT overwhelmed to the point of suffocating exhaustion (*ahem* OAKTOBERFEST). Neither the potato farmer nor I are very familiar with Malaysian food but we both knew we wanted NOODLES.
I ordered the Hua Dan Ho Noodle while the potato farmer ordered the Char Kueh Teow. I expressed my confusion over «egg gravy» and the waitress (bless her heart) tried to explain it to me, but I was unable to fully grasp what she was saying. After receiving our dishes, the potato farmer and I began eating. The thought of «egg gravy» kept coming to mind — and it wasn’t until we had almost finished the meal that I realized the potato farmer was eating MY dish and I was eating HERS. Stunned, we quickly switched meals but by that time, we were both pretty much finished with the other’s dish. Both dishes were very good and match their descriptions given on the menu — however, for those unfamiliar with Malaysian food, this understanding may not come until AFTER the dish has been consumed.
To help out my fellow Unilocal friends I’ll try to explain the distinctions I made while eating both dishes. Hua Dan is more of a soupy, mild noodle. The flavoring mostly comes from the EGG GRAVY and consists of seafood, chicken, bok choy and other vegetables. The Char Kueh is MUCH more flavorful. It comes in a pan and has a sweet, spicy (akin to Thai noodles) flavor and contains shrimp, squid, and other assorted vegetables. Additionally, the Char Kueh is a *dry* noodle dish.
Overall, the potato farmer and I were pleased with our food and consider Sing Ma a unique, reasonably-​priced, and delicious dining location in the heart of Pleasanton.

Time at the Restaurant: 6:30 on a Monday
Party: 2
Seated: Inside, Near the Window
Traffic: Slow
Spent: $ 63
The SERVICE:
When we approaced the door, someone was there to open it for us and greet us. Once we ordered our food, it came out right away. I want to say within 15 – 20 minutes. We were so surprised. But, we were only one of two tables there. They didn’t come around too much to bother us while eating. Yet, we were taken care of to the point that we didn’t have to ask for anything, if we had a question they were attentive to us and answered.
THE FOOD:
Roti Prata: Thin fried bread and spicy curry sauce. I wish it came with more bread. But, enough for 2…
Seafood Curry Laksa: Spicy curry noodle soup with seafood and green beans. The squid was SO TENDER. Packed with lots of seafood. Although the tofu was pretty tough. This was my favorite dish out of everything we ordered. Personally, I didn’t like the noodles that was used. It was a flat rice noodle. I am more used to the round noodles. But, I guess that’s all preference.
Home Style Ribs: Large fall off the bone ribs. Cooked to perfection. Tender, not dry. Was cooked in a sweet sauce. Sat on top of sweet sauce and cabbage. The boyfriends favorite dish if the night.
Pinapple Fried Rice: Pretty standard fried rice. It was served in a pinapple. Had lots of big shrimp in it. I could have done without the raisins.
Mango and Sticky Rice: I have had better. It was topped with cranberries, which I didn’t care for. It also tasted a little salty.
IN THE END: The boyfriend and I was very happy with the food and service. Overall I would give this restaurant between a 4 and a 5. I wasn’t blown away by the food, but it was really good. Next time I will have to ask for things spicier. I can’t wait to go again and order different things off the menu. We had a great dining experience.

Nom nom nom! We were super excited to try this place out since we love SingMaThai food!
Upon arriving, we were promptly seated since it was just after the lunch rush. The place is really huge with seating both indoors and outdoors. The servers were plenty but we weren’t given too much attention, unfortunately…
We ordered a roti, satay beef, and pineapple fried rice. Both the curry sauce of the roti and peanut sauce served with the satay beef was good. BUT the food itself wasn’t too great. The roti was kneaded/​rolled messily and the satay beef was too rough/​chewy. The pineapple fried rice partially redeemed for the downfall of the other two ’cause it was flavorful and packed with ingredients. However, it was a bit wet in texture, perhaps due to the pineapples.
Would I come here again? Not likely, since I’m not necessarily from the area and both service and food was just so-​so. But it was a good experience nonetheless~

Came here two days ago as we thought the restaurant was cute and the Unilocal stars were sufficient enough to pay a visit. So after my workout, we went in and hoping for a good meal.
First the décor is really nice and the restaurant is a place where I’d definitely feel good about bringing an out of town guest. The service as others have said is really top notch. We were greeted by warm, genuine smiles throughout our dining experience. We ordered the roti appetizer, the house curry soup with seafood, and Hainan chicken.
Unfortunately we had a few gripes about our meal, but my gripes are more about Tri Valley ethnic food in general. First about my curry: the curry had so much potential. I believe the taste is watered down. I’ve had Malaysian food once before and the curry I had at that time was very savory and had viscosity. The curry I had was weak and a little listless. Just like my experience at Ramen Hiroshi: almost there but just sleek flavor. Perhaps if I let them know I want it cooked as a regular Malay would eat it, it would satisfy my palate.
Now the Hainan chicken was a whole different story. My Unilocal friend Kari also reviewed this chicken and I had the same opinion: it’s been Americanized just too much. First my frame of reference for Hainan chicken is Savoy down in LA. Should you ever make it to the San Gabriel Valley, brave the crowds and line and get Hainan there. The Hainan here had an inexplicable brown marinade to it that made it sweet. Plus it was served with a spicy sauce. The Hainan I know is it’s own natural color and served with an oil based garlic accompaniment. Perhaps this is how Malays do Hainan. But if so, why not call it Malay style Hainan chicken?
The roti in my opinion was the best part of the meal. The curry was flavorful but a little too thinned out.
Perhaps this is how Malay food tastes and I’m really off base here, but for the both of us, it’s a weak 3.5.

One of the best in the area! Delicious food! I loved every ordered I’ve gotten from them :)
Friendly service and a clean place!
Must try !!

Taste of Sing Ma opened about 1.5 years ago and took over a Vietnamese place. The interior is roughly about the same. There were some hits and misses on the food.
Good:
Indian Mee Goreng Noodles were outstanding
Nasi Lemak beef was good.
Pineapple Fried Rice comes in half a pineapple.
Misses:
Hainan Chicken Rice. The chicken was swimming a soy based sauce. the rice was just plain rice. Hainan Chicken Rice (rice) should be cooked in the chicken broth.
Mango Sticky Rice was pre made. The rice was luke warm almost cold and the texture was like rubber. I ordered early thinking it would take some time. Nope, it came out right away like they just took the saran wrap off of it and dosed it with some warn coconut milk.
Parking on the street.

The short: decent Malaysian food with wonderful service
This place is at the end of Main St (or at the very beginning depending on how which direction you’re coming from). We went in to a very hot, stuffy, noisy restaurant and requested to sit outside with the breeze. They looked at each other funny and then proceeded to take us out there. We later thought, «Does this outdoor area belong to them or the restaurant next door?» We shrugged our shoulders and enjoyed the beautiful Pleasanton day. I think as a result of having us outside, they checked in on us constantly, making sure we had refilled waters and were satisfied with everything.
As for the food, we decided on the:
+ Nasi Lemak with chicken: my friend could not get enough of the sweet coconut rice. I think that might be one of her new favorite foods. The chicken was overcooked. I like anchovies, so I don’t mind and the egg was a nice touch. This was a rare Asian dish where the ingredients are separated from each other and not combined.
+ Hua Dan Ho Noodle: flat rice noodle dish with chicken, seafood, and vegetables, covered in goopy sauce. This dish was missing some flavors, like salt, and looks as unappetizing as it tastes.
This place is great to get some Malaysian flair if you’re in the area.

Rendang beef. Just order it.
I lived in Singapore for a couple of years and miss the food soooo much. After coming to the U.S., I tried so many supposed Malaysian/​Singaporean restaurant, and they don’t come close to what the real thing tastes like. I’m so glad Unilocal led me to this place, and it’s super close to my work!
I’ve been here a couple of times, first time was with a Malaysian friend. On a Wednesday night, the place is completely empty. But I suppose that’s how it is with most places in Pleasanton on the week days. When we returned again on a weekday during lunch, it is still very empty. The nasi lemak is very tasty, like how I remember it being in Singapore. If you get it with rendang beef, the beef is incredibly tender. A couple of the fried noodle dishes I tried here are also really good. The price is cheaper than what I would expect, but the portions are not huge like most Asian restaurants around here. I can’t wait to come back here with friends who want to try out Malaysian/​Singaporean food.