Merlion - Chapel Hill (Singaporean) - ∆∆∆

This is the first of some archival reviews that I've written over the past nine months, revived because they remain fresh and relevant to the particular restaurant. While photos are lacking for each review, which I promise will be plentiful for new reviews, I believe the descriptions alone can be found quite useful. This particular review is the very first restaurant I tried upon moving to the Triangle from the Bay Area, on July 23, 2006:

Merlion-
Food - ∆∆∆
Atmosphere - ∆∆∆
Service - ∆∆∆

For my first dinner out, I took a group of four to Merlion in Southern Village, Chapel Hill, upon the previous high regards posted on this forum. Simply put, my expectations were surpassed. After sampling all of the acclaimed Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants during my residence in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can easily say that Merlion beats all of them by a large margin.
Stepping into this restaurant, one finds sophisticated and tasteful décor - white linens on the tables, dark wooden chairs and paneling, with an atmosphere that can probably best be described as “British influenced” with understated touches of Malaysian.

Our party ordered four dishes. The Roti Prata with Chicken Curry ($9.95) presented a sizeable dipping bowl filled with generous chunks of high-quality chicken breast and potato curry, into which a hot and fluffy paratha pancake is dipped. Although Roti Prata is pretty much a flagship dish of Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants, Merlion’s rendition was better than any I had tasted previously, mainly because of the perfection with which they prepared the chicken curry.
Singapore Hainanese Chicken ($9.95) again arrived with a generous proportion of quality chicken breast meat. I keep reiterating this because all too often one finds that Asian restaurants shortchange tremendously on meat quality to cut corners on cost. To the contrary, it seems that Merlion pays attention to the quality and authenticity of their creations over all else. They deserve major kudos for this, for Southeast Asian cuisine at its best is a beautiful thing, while at its worst can be outright atrocious.

I myself ordered the Sizzling Beef ($14.95) which arrived on a sizzling plate (surprisingly enough) with a black pepper sauce with broccoli and bell peppers. WOW. The meat was ribeye, and some of the finest and most tender I have tasted in any restaurant, across all ethnicities. Each piece was juicy and flavorful, and the sauce and vegetables complemented the disk wonderfully.

Our party split a Mixed Vegetables ($10.95) dish, which was stir-fried in a brown sauce and large enough to split amongst four individuals with some leftovers.

The owner greeted us on the way out and invited us back. She was extremely personable and obviously places a great deal of pride and care in her restaurant. After having lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, a mecca for Southeast Asian cuisine, I don’t hesitate to say that Merlion beats all such places I tried out there. Truly a gem for the Triangle area or any city in this country.