Old is Gold: 7 Heritage Restaurants To Celebrate Mother’s Day At
If you’re thinking about where to go for Mother’s Day and your TikTok FYP is an endless stream of aesthetic cafes with mid food and overpriced waffles, then take a step back… in time. ‘Cos while new restaurants and cafes are all the rage for a hot minute, some legends have been serving up fantastic food for decades.
Red House Seafood, for example, hits the big 5-0 this year. Probably about the same age as your mummy, and she’ll tell you that old is gold. A half-century in Singapore’s cutthroat dining industry is proof that while Dubai cookies and dumpling lasagnes may go viral, the real flex is solid food and flavours that stand the test of time.
So, if you want to impress the lady of your household and satisfy your family’s bellies, hit up these heritage restaurants whose staying power tells you all you need to know about how good they are.
Banana Leaf Apolo
A Little India staple since 1974, founder S Chellappan built Banana Leaf Apolo from a small thosai stall on Cuff Road. According to the restaurant’s lore, he learnt his craft from his father, who was a chef for the famous philanthropist P Govindasamy Pillai. As its name implies, the restaurant was among the first to popularise the banana leaf dining experience. To make your meal extra shiok, lose the cutlery and eat with your hands.
What to order: Apart from the fish head curry, get the crispy onion pakoras and gobi 65 (spicy deep-fried cauliflower florets). You can’t go wrong with the butter chicken and garlic naan too.
Hua Yu Wee
IMAGE: HUA YU WEE
Located in a sprawling 1920s colonial bungalow along Upper East Coast Road, this place is essentially a time capsule. While the surrounding area has been transformed into a modern neighbourhood, Hua Yu Wee has remained unchanged since the 1970s. Back in those days, restaurants like Spring Court, Red House, Palm Beach and Long Beach plied their trade here. Hua Yu Wee is the only one left. Guests can dine in its echoey air-conditioned dining room or in the expansive backyard that was historically the front yard, because before land reclamation in 1977, the house actually faced the sea.
What to order: The feng sha ji is like a Chinese ayam penyet — a super-tasty, flattened roast chicken served with a moreish sambal and garlic dipping sauce. The chilli crabs with mantou are steadfastly old-school, slightly sweet and tomatoey. Also get the olive fried rice or lala hor fun, both of which come heady with wok hei.
Red House Seafood
IMAGE: RED HOUSE SEAFOOD
Established in 1976, Red House Seafood officially enters its golden era this year. From its humble beginnings in a red seafront bungalow along Upper East Coast Road, the restaurant has stayed within the Chang family and is now headed by the founder’s grandson, Christopher. Under his helm, the family has three outlets at Esplanade, Grand Copthorne Waterfront and Clarke Quay, where they continue to dish out iconic seafood dishes like chilli and black pepper crabs, mee goreng and barbecued sotong.
What to order: Prawns or lobsters in creamy custard sauce and crab meat pao fan. The latter’s superior stock base is irresistibly good, especially counterpointed with the crispy grains of rice. Fun fact: The pao fan trend began at Red House’s now-defunct outlet at Robertson Quay around 2007.
Rumah Makan Minang
IMAGE: RUMAH MAKAN MINANG
In the early 1980s, Hajjah Zubaidah, the youngest daughter of the Sabar Menanti founders, branched out and opened Rumah Makan Minang Sabar Menanti Siang Dan Malam along Bussorah Street with her husband Zin Haron. As business burgeoned, they took over the adjacent unit and eventually shortened the name to Rumah Makan Minang to carve out their own distinctive identity while continuing to serve authentic Minangkabau food.
What to order: You can’t leave without tucking into a serving of their beef rendang, slow-cooked to melting perfection in a rich mélange of spices. Also get the paru belado (chilli cow’s lung), ayam bakar Padang (Padang-style grilled chicken) and gulai nangka (jackfruit curry).
Sabar Menanti
IMAGE: SABAR MENANTI
Odds are, you’ll have to sabar menanti (wait patiently) when you dine at this time-honoured restaurant. It all started with Haji Athar and his wife Hajjah Rosemah Binte Mailu, who sold food from a pushcart in the 1920s before moving to a stall in Kampong Glam. At one point, the family operated six different stalls across the city, though only this one remains. Now run by third-generation owner Iszahar Tambunan, Sabar Menanti’s offerings remain authentic to the family’s Padang roots.
What to order: The smoky, piquant ikan bakar and the irresistible stack of tahu telur. According to Iszahar, the restaurant’s beef rendang is widely regarded as “the best”. Other signatures include the ayam kalio (braised chicken in a spiced coconut gravy), ikan bakar (grilled fish) and sotong hitam (squid cooked in its own ink).
Samy’s Curry
IMAGE: SAMY'S CURRY
Tucked away in a verdant corner of Dempsey, Samy’s Curry is yet another window into the bygone past. The restaurant was founded by M Veerasamy, who came to Singapore from Southern India to work for a group of Indian merchants. An avid cook, he experimented with new recipes in his spare time and shared his dishes with his neighbours. Before long, they began asking him to cook for them, which inspired him to start his own food business. Mr Veerasamy started his first stall in Tank Road in the 1950s, before moving to Pearl’s Hill. He eventually moved to its current Dempsey Road premises in the 1970s to cope with a larger clientele. The rustic, airy décor hasn’t changed much in decades, and that’s exactly why people love it. Today, Samy’s Curry is run by Mr Veerasamy’s granddaughter, Nagajyothi Mahendran, who works alongside her brother, M Veerasamy, and their parents.
What to order: There’s so much that’s good here, it’s hard to say where to begin. Our go-to dishes are the fried fish cutlets, fish head curry, masala chicken and tandoori pomfret. We love the cabbage dhal that Samy’s friendly staff ladles generously onto banana leaf-lined plates.
Spring Court
IMAGE: FACEBOOK/@SPRING COURT
You think your parents are old? Spring Court, originally called Wing Choon Yuen, started at Great World City Amusement Park 96 years ago in 1929, when your great-grandparents were probably toddlers. Founded by former lorry driver Ho Loke Yee, it is Singapore’s oldest family-run restaurant. His daughter-in-law Soon Puay Keow took over the business in the late 1970s when Mr Ho felt ready to retire. She now runs it with her son, Mike Ho. Spring Court pioneered Singaporean-Chinese food by adapting Cantonese dishes to include local spices that appealed to the multi-ethnic migrants of early Singapore.
What to order: The OG version of Hokkien popiah, far more loaded than the simple snack served at hawker centres today. Each roll heaves with a filling of bangkwang (jicama), bamboo shoots, dried shrimps, Chinese sausages and shredded omelette, among myriad other things. Also get the roasted chicken with prawn paste tucked beneath its crisp skin. It’s a taste of old Singapore that you won’t find anywhere else.
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