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Despite being a short bus trip from my home, I’ve never considered Geylang Serai my go-to food place. But, my trip to eat at Gs Oli Thosei & Food Stall has certainly changed my mind.
Gs Oli, or Geylang Serai Oli, have been dishing out Indian-Malay cuisine since 1988. It is currently managed by a brother and sister duo. Their stall is quite the popular breakfast haunt; while I was there, there was no shortage of people coming up to order.
Speaking of breakfast, it is Geylang Serai’s peak hour and seats were nearly impossible to find. I ended up sharing a table with a small group of people. Turns out most people simply ordered takeaway.
Usually, my breakfast option is the typical Singaporean kaya toast set or chai tow kway. When I crave Indian food, I opt for prata. All I can say now is I must have missed out big time until I tried the menu here.
What I tried at Gs Oli Thosei & Food Stall
I started with something I was slightly more familiar with on their menu — the Thosai Masala Egg Sayur (S$3) Just on appearance, the masala thosai wasn’t the prettiest girl in the room, looking almost squished and didn’t seem all that crisp. Some parts of it were already broken with the masala peaking out.
It made me hesitate and think I should have gotten a plain version instead.
To be fair, it just shows how generous Gs Oli are with the amount of masala that’s been stuffed into the thosai. In a weird twist, while I would have preferred the thosai to be crispy, the state it was in made it easier to tear apart with the plastic cutlery provided.
Besides, one should never judge a book by its cover. Despite the look, the masala was packed with potato and egg. It also had bits of corn and carrots. The latter two give the masala a sweeter taste alongside the mildly spicy potatoes.
Together, it was a well-rounded explosion of flavour with every bite. The only shortcoming was that the masala didn’t seem all that warm even on the first bite.
On the side were the two chutneys and sambar. Personally, I’m not fond of sour flavours so the coconut chutney wasn’t for me. If I had to pick between it and the tomato chutney, I would go for the latter. I liked the taste of it together with the masala, adding a creaminess to the overall chunky curry. But overall, I prefer having the thosai on its own.
The next menu item I tried at Gs Oli was the Appam Cheese (S$3.50), which had orange sugar and shredded coconut on the side. The appams are for sweet tooths like me, as they also come in Plain (1 for S$2.50, 2 for S$3), Butter (S$2.50) and Chocolate Chips (S$2.50).
Although the appam I ordered felt slightly smaller than the thosai, it has a pleasant subtle aroma paired with thin outer edges.
There was a slice of cheese melted atop the soft and spongy portion of the appam, giving the soft centre a slightly savoury note to the subtle buttery sweetness of the treat.
It reminded me of min jiang kueh, albeit I have never eaten one with cheese filling so it was just in terms of the texture alone.
As a lover of sweet things though, I found the appam heavenly, thanks to the shredded coconut and orange sugar. The coconut gave the appam a nice nutty layer with the cheese. The orange sugar gave it a pleasant crunch and a strong kick of sweetness that I was deeply craving.
Final Thoughts
My feelings on the masala thosai are rather mixed. While I enjoyed the flavours of the masala itself, I felt that neither the thosai nor the chutney left a very pleasant impression. I would commend, though, that the portion size is well worth S$3.
That said, I would fully recommend ordering the appam, even if the portion feels less like a full breakfast. Perhaps you can get the set of two. I know that I will be dropping by again to get more cheese appams soon.
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