Club Rangoon on Duxton Road is a delightfully cosy modern diner that pays homage to the rich culinary traditions of Burma.
The name Club Rangoon may sound particularly dodgy, especially considering its Duxton Hill post code once home to some, let’s just say, unsavoury businesses this part of town. But it’s really a recently opened contemporary diner that looks to shine a spotlight on one of the more elusive of Southeast Asian cuisines – Burmese fare.
Located in a heritage shophouse along the Duxton Road stretch – right next to one of our favourite cocktail watering holes Cat Bite Club – the space that is Club Rangoon pays homage to the traditional Burmese teahouse but with heavy dashes of modern sensibility.
It’s familiar yet different. Comforting yet elevated.
Just like its food. Co-founder Nelson Htoo is keenly aware of the need to keep to his own Burmese roots, yet also understands that today’s more cosmopolitan diner is looking for authenticity, relevance, as well as nuance.
So yes, you’ll still find many Burmese classics on showcase here. The Mohinga, for example, is its take on the Yangon version of Myanmar’s unofficial national dish, drawn from Htoo’s own family recipe. The combination of lightly-spiced fish-based broth, slippery rice noodles, grilled catfish, and crunchy chickpea fritter makes for a riot of textures and flavours that will have you slurping right to the end.
Or Laphet Thoke (main picture), a umami-laden bomb of a salad made with fermented tea leaves along with cabbage, tomatoes and broad beans that’s surely good for the gut, while garlic chips and roasted peanuts add crunch. Club Rangoon’s take is more savoury than I remembered it to be, but nothing a bowl of hot white rice cannot fix.
Even funkier is the Ngapi-yay Toh-Zayar (pictured above). If you’re unfamiliar with ngapi, it’s the Burmese equivalent of belachan made by fermenting fish or shrimp that the Burmese love to eat as a dip with raw vegetables. It takes getting used to, but it may grow on you.
More elevated is the Wagyu Beef Cheek Dan Bauk. What is a Burmese biryani sees wagyu beef cheek slow-cooked for hours into tender submission and served atop rice scented with saffron and Burmese spices for rich, indolent mouthfuls. The Wat Thani too is a delight, the braised pork in a sweet-tangy-spicy sauce that demands liberal scoops of rice.
Yeah, order that rice.
Club Rangoon is also surprisingly home to a decent cocktail programme. And one that cleverly incorporates Burmese ingredients and flavours without overly assaulting one’s senses or sensibilities. The Rangoon Negroni (pictured below), for example, is delicately incorporated wtih notes of peanut and coriander, while Nway Ma is a fabulous Southeast Asian twist on the Margarita with hints of toasted rice, lemongrass, and chilli.
My personal favourite? The Laphet Martini, a twist on the Dirty Martini with the use of fermented tea leaves and a touch of cucumber oil.
I suspect the reality is that Burmese cuisine will always take a back seat to its more illustrious Vietnamese and Thai cousins here in Singapore. But it’s heartening to note that there are always those that champion the underdog, and here Club Rangoon flys the Burmese flag high.
Club Rangoon
Address 76 Duxton Rd, Singapore 089535 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 5.30pm to 11pm on Tuesdays to Thursdays; 11.30am to 3pm and 5.30pm to 12am on Fridays and Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays
Tel (65) 8190 8827
Web clubrangoon.sg
Facebook clubrangoon
Instagram @clubrangoonsg
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