Despite food delivery apps making our lives easier than ever, there is still great food worth journeying to the very ends of the island for. Sembawang’s Woody Family Cafe is one of those places, and it serves both authentic Nyonya dishes and Peranakan dishes with a twist. At this eatery, you’ll also find tons of vintage knick-knacks and quirky decor on display. Take your time to look at vintage lanterns and sparkling lights, and beautiful portraits of legends from yesteryear.
Adventurous diners will find it interesting exploring the menu section where they serve buah keluak (black nuts) omelette and nasi ulam, which is rice mixed with herbs including wild betel leaves and turmeric leaves. Other dishes include Spicy Peranakan Buffalo Wings, Squid Ink Pasta in Seafood Chilli Crab Sauce, and Lamb Shank Rendang.
A must-try dish is the Tom Yum Prawn Pasta, where fragrant Tom Yum spices such as kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass are pounded into a delicious paste. Combined with coconut powder and paired with fresh prawns and flat pasta, the dish is well-executed.
Another innovative Peranakan dish is the Duck Rendang. The duck is cooked in a blend of rendang spices, making the dish fragrant. It is also topped with a dash of red wine which offers a subtle brightness to the overall offering. If you are a spice lover, Woody Family Cafe serves Buffalo Wings in varying levels of spiciness, with the highest level called the “Towering Inferno.”
Many of these dishes are traditional Peranakan recipes passed down from the owner's mother. She then refined and reimagined these dishes to make them modern yet still undeniably Peranakan.