Chinese-Muslim hawker who abruptly closed popular nasi lemak stall after 3 months reopens in new location
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But just three months in, Aishah (pictured) abruptly shut down her business. She had been sharing her stall with another hawker, which resulted in disagreements over rent. “After going through a period of great sales, then shutting down just like that — it takes a mental and emotional toll. I really put a lot of effort into the Maxwell stall and seeing it go down the drain... It’s quite sad lah,” Aishah told 8days.sg in an earlier interview. 
Reopened in Ayer Rajah
After closing her stall, Aishah went back to selling her nasi lemak from home and at pop-ups. Her menu at Maxwell was rather unusual due to her Chinese-Muslim background — her nasi lemak recipe came from her Peranakan Hokkien mum, and she also offered relatively uncommon Muslim-friendly prawn noodles.
She searched for a new stall to relocate, and eventually settled on a unit at Ayer Rajah Food Centre which she opened on Aug 2. “Every place I went to was really secluded and didn’t have much of a crowd, but then I saw this and immediately bidded for it,” she shares.
No more cafe-style cakes and prawn mee
As her Ayer Rajah stall is much smaller than at Maxwell, Aishah had to whittle her menu down. She had no space to install a chiller, so she stopped selling her popular cafe-style cakes that were supplied by her friend’s bakery. “It’s quite sad that I can’t bring my cakes with me lah. It was something I wanted to sell. Maybe when things stabilise, I’ll think of ways to sell the cakes again,” she says.
Prawn mee is also no longer offered. “My nasi lemak menu is really the maximum I can do at the moment. For prawn noodles you need space to keep the pot of broth and different ingredients like prawns, tau geh and kangkong,” Aishah points out.
But she rules out opening a second stall just to serve her well-received prawn noodles. “My dream was always to sell nasi lemak, so prawn noodles were a supplement for me, something extra to put on the menu,” she says.
She also did not want to specialise in selling prawn noodles as being Muslim, she had never tried a traditional bowl of prawn mee which is cooked with pork. “So I can’t tell you what Chinese prawn noodles taste like,” laughs Aishah.
Added chicken cutlet nasi lemak set to menu
Customers can still get Aishah’s nasi lemak in the same sets she offered at Maxwell, like Chicken Wing ($5), Fish ($5.50), Sambal Prawns ($6.50) and Sambal Sotong ($6.50). She has also added a Chicken Cutlet Set ($6) with boneless chicken thigh. “That’s the most popular set now. Previously my chicken wing set was the most popular,” she says.
Despite her relocation, Aishah shares that her business at Ayer Rajah is still good, with a few of her old customers showing up. “There are days when I sell out before my closing time. On National Day, I sold out at 11am, and some days it’s 12.30pm,” she recounts. “It’s quite heartwarming that people are willing to travel to my stall, and I’m thankful that they still come and support me.”
Ah Lim Nasi Lemak’s new location is at #01-22 Ayer Rajah Food Centre, 503 W Coast Dr, S120503. Tel: 89254892. Open daily except Sun. Mon-Fri 9am-3pm, Sat 9am-1pm. www.instagram.com/ahlim.nasilemak
Photos: Aik Chen/ Aishah Lim
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