Not counting the cluster of joints in Peninsula Plaza and Burma Social along Tras Street, proper Burmese food is hard to come by in Singapore. So it’s no surprise that the cuisine remains largely undiscovered and underappreciated, cloistered in our Myanmese diaspora.
Enter Club Rangoon, possibly the first contemporary Burmese restaurant on the island. If you’re not quite one to dive head first into an unknown cuisine, a visit here serves as a good preamble. In particular, the restaurant specialises in dishes well-loved in Yangon – the largest city in Myanmar.
Burmese co-founder Nelson Htoo leads the charge here, so you’re sure to get acquainted with the ins and outs of the cuisine. Having lived in Singapore in his youth, Nelson now brings his age-old family recipes as well as a thoughtful cocktail programme to the 39-seater in Duxton. His inspiration for the space? Burmese teahouses – a typical gathering place packed with people, similar to a local bodega or pub.
If we could use one word to describe the dishes here, it would be ‘uncanny’. If you haven’t had a taste of Burmese food, you might come in expecting completely distinct tastes and textures. But what you might find instead is a mishmash of flavours both familiar and unfamiliar, thanks to ingredients commonly found in more ubiquitous cuisines like Malay or Thai food.
The dirty egg bites ($12) see jammy, hard-boiled egg halves topped with flavourful tomato chilli curry. While it’s vaguely reminiscent of sambal eggs in Malay cuisine, it’s actually the restaurant’s spin on Burmese golden egg curry. Another unique starter is the Shan Htamin Jin ($12.50) where you’ll get turmeric rice balls rolled with fermented fish and topped with tomato-filled rice pillows and caramelised shallots. The raw chive root on the side is meant to be taken as a chaser. It adds a pungent kick to the bite, though we must warn that it isn’t for everyone.
Mohinga ($34), Myanmar’s unofficial national dish is simply a must-order at the restaurant, even though the noodle soup is traditionally enjoyed for breakfast. Club Rangoon’s version is based on a time-honoured recipe from the Htoo family, and has springy rice noodles swimming in a fragrant catfish and lemon broth. There’s also the wagyu beef cheek dan bauk ($42) which swaps out the usual mutton or chicken in Burmese biryani for a five-hour slow-cooked wagyu beef cheek from Australia.
To pair with your mains, order the Laphet Thoke ($17), which you’ll probably see present on every table in the restaurant. Club Rangoon does a milder version of Myanmar’s iconic fermented tea leaf salad than the ones you’ll taste at joints in Peninsula Plaza. Bits of broad beans, garlic chips, and roasted peanuts add a good, satisfying crunch to the mix. Ngapi-yay Toh-Zayar ($12) is another staple, featuring a fermented spicy catfish dip served with an array of greens – think of it as ‘Burmese sambal’.
For dessert, we recommend the housemade Laphet-yay ice cream ($15), made with Burmese tea leaves sourced from the Htoo family’s favourite brand. It’s similar to Thai milk tea but significantly less bitter and tannic.
On the beverage list, you’ll see a considerable amount of G&T variations ($21 each) — six to be exact. These range from a savoury tipple featuring Colombo gin, fish sauce, ginger and tonic, to a spicy blend of Kyro Napue gin, red chillies, and Indian tonic. The choice to spotlight gin is an intentional one, coming after Htoo returned from a trip from Yangon where he noticed the rising popularity of gin cocktails in the city.
Club Rangoon’s signature cocktails also deserve a shoutout – think a martini which incorporates fermented tea cordial for a touch of umami ($25), or a spin on the classic negroni ($25) using peanut oil-washed gin with coriander-infused campari. And while we are told that the drinks err on the sweeter side to complement the three key Burmese flavour pillars on the menu – chin (sour), ngan (salty) and sat (spicy), the cocktails all turn out nicely balanced and very drinkable.
Find out more about Club Rangoon here.
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