It's not exactly difficult to get a great meal in Chinatown but the recent reopening of Rasa Sayang is giving the rest of the area a run for its money.
The original incarnation of Rasa Sayang was opened by Ellen Chew back in 2008 and it became a firm favourite for Malaysian/Singaporean Straits cuisine, inspired by the region's street hawker food stalls. It's most recent tenure saw a stint in Soho, but it's now back on the original site and a whole new chapter.
This is gorgeous comfort food at its best; think dishes like a perfect wonton soup (it's honestly a bowl of joy, the ideal winter warmer) and indulgently hearty dishes of noodles, dripping with lashings of soy sauce. Ellen's recipes really explore Straits cuisine; with its myriad inspirations and flavours it's unlike anything else you'll find in Chinatown. As well a traditional dishes there are new additions to the menu, like Malaysian Hokkien Mee - a famous street dish within the Chinese community of Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Black Pepper Crab - a time-honoured Singaporean favourite, made with hard-shell crabs and fried with black pepper and Fried "Carrot" Cake - a savoury daikon-based breakfast dish served in the hawker centres, otherwise known as Chai Tow Kway.
We booked for a Thursday evening and the whole time we were dining there was a queue round the block. The food was fantastic, the vibe buzzing and the nostalgic interior transported us straight across the seas. If you can't make it to Singapore for real any time soon, this is the best alternative in town.
