bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Joseph Koh

Nine months after Club Rangoon closed its doors in Hong Kong, it has returned – albeit in a different city.
The contemporary Burmese restaurant opened in Singapore’s trendy Duxton area in August, marking Hong Kong-based hospitality group Common Abode’s expansion into Southeast Asia.
The relocation feels more like a homecoming, however, to the group’s co-founder Nelson Htoo.
“I first moved to Singapore when I was 13 and spent high school and middle school here, before heading to London for university,” he says.

Htoo’s fondest memories of Singapore are of food, particularly eating chicken rice with his schoolmates at round tables in hawker centres. With his mother and stepmother living in Singapore, moving Club Rangoon means being closer to family.
The Singapore outpost marks a continuation of Htoo’s mission to modernise Burmese cuisine. But some tweaks have been made.

“There’s a big Burmese population here and people are familiar with Southeast Asian flavours, so we did not feel a need to stick to the classics, and could be more playful,” he says.
Together with executive chef Charrinn “Noom” Singdaechakarn, who has been with Club Rangoon since 2022, Htoo has injected fresh touches into the menu, including adding a grilled catfish fillet to the mohinga – an aromatic noodle soup that is the national dish of Myanmar.
The pair have also chosen to make the noodles from scratch for nangyi thoke, a curry noodle dish.
The thick rice noodles in the restaurant’s take on this popular breakfast dish are complemented by chunks of chicken, toasted chickpea flour and red onion. “We saw this as a good way to elevate the dish, rather than adding ingredients that we don’t typically use,” Htoo says.
Despite Singapore being home to around 200,000 Myanmar nationals, Burmese cuisine remains under-represented in the city, being largely confined to Peninsula Plaza – also known as Little Myanmar, a building with gothic and modernist features near the City Hall MRT station that is full of Burmese restaurants, thrift stores and speciality shops.
There’s a simplicity in the way the dishes are made, be it through the ingredients and spices used, or in the curries and the soups
Nelson Htoo
One of the reasons Burmese food has fallen under the radar, according to Htoo, is its funkiness.
“If you’re not acquainted with ngapi [fermented fish paste], it can have a strong smell that pushes you away,” he says. “With laphet [fermented tea leaves], they need to undergo a thorough fermentation process, and when it’s not done properly, it can smell.”
At Club Rangoon, Htoo has carefully chosen a variety of tea leaves with a gentle, earthy bitterness.
The restaurant spends a lot of time tempering the leaves’ mulchy texture and balancing their flavour by simmering them with cherry tomatoes, cabbage and chilli.

Although Burmese food is seen by many living in Singapore as different, there are links between it and Singaporean cuisine. Ngapi is similar to belacan, a shrimp paste commonly used in Malay and Peranakan dishes.
From Yunnan-style pickled vegetables to turmeric-steeped curries, Burmese food is influenced by the cuisines and ingredients of neighbouring countries such as China, India and Thailand – all of which are popular in Singapore.
Some of these influences can be found in Club Rangoon’s dishes, such as the Burmese-style biryani with Australian wagyu beef cheek curry, and the grilled red snapper stuffed with lemongrass and green chilli.

Other menu items with diverse influences include an umami dry curry with grilled river prawns and a masala with roasted aubergine.
Through Club Rangoon’s refined Burmese dishes, Htoo hopes to debunk misconceptions of Burmese food as unapproachable.
“There’s a simplicity in the way the dishes are made, be it through the ingredients and spices used, or in the curries and the soups,” he says. “Guests will immediately be able to draw connections with other cuisines, and many of our dishes are customisable to our guest’s palate.”
As at most Burmese restaurants, the spice and sour levels in dishes can be tweaked according to personal preference.
Sharing is a big part of the dining experience in Myanmar, and all our tables have been designed to accommodate groups of people
Nelson Htoo
The restaurant’s interior also plays its part in introducing Burmese cuisine to the uninitiated.
Htoo was steadfast in his search for a shophouse space with natural light; he knew a “day-friendly” restaurant would be an inviting one.
This vision diverges from the original Hong Kong venue, which had darker wood tones and moodier lighting.

For the Singapore restaurant, Htoo took inspiration from the convivial tea-houses found all around Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.
“At 7am, you’ll find many people eating their favourite Burmese dish with a side of tea, and everyone’s catching up with one another,” he says. “We wanted to replicate that energy here at Club Rangoon.”
Htoo enlisted the help of Siew Hui-lim of Singapore-based interior design studio Hui Designs to create a warm haven.
Green- and straw-coloured Cartabon-style tiles, meranti wood furniture and jute come together to create a grounded space.
A round table symbolising the communal character of Burmese dining at the entrance sets the tone for the restaurant. “Sharing is a big part of the dining experience in Myanmar, and all our tables have been designed to accommodate groups of people,” Htoo says.
Wall-hung images of the Club Rangoon team and of Htoo’s grandmother, the main inspiration for the restaurant, give it a homely feel. The photograph shows her smiling in her kitchen, flanked by condiments and holding a chicken drumstick.
“Grandma is always raring to cook for others,” Htoo says. “She would make sure everyone’s eating well and good, and when their bellies are full, then she’s happy. Her hospitable spirit is something that I’ve carried with me.”


How Shaoxing wine, once used only for cooking, has made it onto Michelin-star drink menus

Hong Kong’s obsession with ice cream is anything but chill

Your perfect week: what to do in Hong Kong, December 15-21

Japan bets on ‘fermentation tourism’ with visits to sake breweries and soy sauce factories

Food and Drinks

How Singapore Burmese restaurant Club Rangoon smashes stigmas with its ‘playful’ dishes

A selection of dishes at Club Rangoon. After relocating from Hong Kong, the restaurant is continuing its mission to make Burmese food better understood, through fun dishes with a range of influences. Photo: Club Rangoon

Club Rangoon’s co-founder Nelson Htoo. Photo: Club Rangoon

Club Rangoon’s mohinga. The addition of grilled catfish fillet to this popular Burmese dish is just one of the tweaks the restaurant has made to its menu. Photo: Club Rangoon

Club Rangoon’s laphet thoke – fermented tea leaf salad – made with a carefully chosen variety of tea leaves with a gentle, earthy bitterness. Photo: Club Rangoon

Club Rangoon’s Burmese-style biryani with Australian wagyu beef cheek curry. Photo: Club Rangoon

The now-closed Club Rangoon in Hong Kong, which had a darker feel compared with the new Singapore restaurant. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Asian brunch fusion food is on the rise in the US. Think fried chicken and pandan waffles

Resting Brunch Face, featuring a pandan waffle, fried chicken and Vietnamese coffee syrup, at brunch spot Breaking Dawn. Asian-American chefs are cooking up twists on traditional Western dishes to give the midmorning meal new meaning. Photo: AP

Breaking Dawn’s FO Sizzle. Photo: AP

Breaking Dawn’s pho poutine is a fusion dish featuring beef short rib, pho gravy and cheese curds over fries. Photo: AP

The interior of Taste and Glory. Photo: AP

Taste and Glory’s Tom Yum Scramble. Photo: AP

Breaking Dawn’s Ooh BAE Pancakes made with ube (purple yam) and topped with sea salt cream and coconut syrup. Photo: AP

10 new restaurants in Hong Kong, and 1 in Macau, to try in September 2024

Boiled fish balls with slippery water shield at the Hong Kong branch of Green Tea Restaurant. Photo: Green Tea Restaurant

Threadfin served three different ways at Hung’s Delicacies, a Chiu Chow restaurant newly moved from Kwun Tong to Causeway Bay and one of 11 in Hong Kong and Macau, plus a bakery, the Post recommends you try in September. Photo: Hung’s Delicacies

At Golden Blossoms, in Tsim Sha Tsui, regional Chinese dishes take centre stage – such as Zhejiang-style steamed dried hairtail fish with salted pork. Photo: Golden Blossoms

Rainbow fried rice layered with egg fried rice, and seafood is a new dish at the Causeway Bay branch of Hung’s Delicacies. Photo: Hung’s Delicacies

A double sea urchin nigiri at Udatsu Sushi, in Tsim Shui, Hong Kong. Photo: Nicholas Wong/Sixteen Photography

Minced pork pancakes, an exclusive dish at Green Tea Restaurant’s Hong Kong branch in Causeway Bay. Photo: Green Tea Restaurant

Chef Antonio Oviedo’s signature burnt Basque cheesecake is a favourite at 22 Ships, which will have a soft opening at a new location: PMQ in Central, Hong Kong. Photo: 22 Ships

Parkside@Nina’s “Wood Fossil” beef carpaccio is inspired by the fossils displayed just outside the restaurant, in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. Photo: Parkside@Nina

Southeast Asian delicacies at modern Singaporean restaurant JOM, which has opened its second branch, in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong. Photo: JOM

The interior of Casa Maquista in Macau. Photo: Casa Maquista

Seoul vegan restaurant channels Panda Express with plant-based dishes ‘for everyone’

Gosari Express’ signature pasta dish with bracken stems. The Seoul vegan restaurant is on a mission to change perceptions of “tasteless” vegan food with “addictive” dishes that can be enjoyed by all. Photo: Gosari Express

Gosari Express’ graffiti-adorned main entrance. Photo: Instagram / @gosariexpress

Gosari Express conducts an eco-friendly carbon reduction campaign, summed up by a slogan which translates as “One Noodle, one tree”. Photo: Gosari Express

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

After moving from Hong Kong to Singapore, Club Rangoon is elevating food from Myanmar through fun dishes with influences from China to India


Following its move from Hong Kong, Club Rangoon Singapore looks to put an end to Burmese food’s stereotyping as smelly by adding flavours from other Southeast Asian cuisines to its dishes.


Singapore

Asian diaspora

Myanmar