The Place Located in a heritage shophouse along Duxton Road, Club Rangoon is a 39-seater space inspired by Burmese teahouse and it is a concept to showcase modern Burmese cuisine and culture. The restaurant’s Burmese co-founder Nelson Htoo used to live in Singapore during his teenage days, and it offers a concise menu inspired by Nelson’s family recipes using authentic Burmese ingredients. 

The interior of Club Rangoon is cosy with an efficient layout – a large circular table at its entrance for bigger groups, regular tables fit for couples or small groups, and a counter seat fit for solo diners.

The Food You will find the key Burmese flavour pillars for the dishes at Club Rangoon — chin (sour), ngan (salty) and sat (spicy). I am not an expert in Burmese cuisine, but I understand that a typical Burmese meal features rice, two to three curries, relishes and condiments including ngapi, the fermented fish or shrimp paste that is similar to belacan, usually served as a dip with a platter of fresh vegetables. 

For a start, I had the Dirty Egg Bites (S$12) which comes in two halved hard-boiled egg topped with tomato curry, split pea fritter and caramelised red onions. A flavourful and appetising dish to start the meal.  

Next up was the Shan Htamin Jin (S$12.50) where the inspiration is a flattened turmeric rice snack commonly eaten in Shan state. The turmeric rice ball here is filled with fermented fish, then topped with a crispy rice pillow stuffed with tomato paste and garnished with caramelised shallots. 

For noodles, I had the Mohinga (S$34), a dish inspired from Myanmar’s national dish traditionally eaten at breakfast. You get round rice noodles in a lightly spiced catfish and lemongrass broth with tender pearl onion and banana stems. This dish is easy to resonate with for me as the soft noodles reminds me of ‘mee sua’, while lemongrass is quite a familiar ingredient. The surprise factor here is the grilled catfish which is somewhat akin to an unagi texture.  

For sharing, something light to have is the Laphet Thoke (S$17), fermented tea leaf salad with double-fried beans, shredded cabbage, cherry tomatoes and green chilli. 

Moving on to meats, the Wagyu Beef Cheek Dan Bauk (S$42) is a Burmese-style biryani with Australian Wagyu beef cheek curry, crispy shallot, pomegranate and homemade pickles. Very tender and flavourful beef here, along with rice which is very similar in flavour to biryani, but less oily.   

Alternatively, try the Wat Thani (S$34) which is also a familiar flavour for me as it reminds me of Chinese style pork belly. The braised pork belly here comes with distinct lean and fatty layers in sweet soy sauce.  

For seafood, there is the Pazun Kin (S$32) where the grilled river prawns are prepared with dry curry. 

And if you want to go for an authentic Burmese dish, try the Ngapi-yay Toh-Zayar (S$12). Ngapi is the core source of umami in Burmese cuisine and is a common chilli-spiked dip that accompanies the pile of raw vegetables central in every Burmese meal. Club Rangoon’s Ngapi-yay Toh-Zayar showcases fermented catfish ngapi in a savoury, spicy dip made with toasted dried shrimp, chilli and shallots. It is served with an array of greens such as cucumber, radish and lettuce. I personally find the dip quite spicy! 

Lastly for dessert, I had the Laphet-yay Ice Cream (S$15) which is a homemade Burmese milk tea ice cream with banana crumble and Jaggery crisps.

In terms of beverages, the Gin & Tonic (S$21 each) selection is quite a wide range, and it also leans into the flavours of Burmese cuisine, including Savoury with fish sauce and fresh ginger paired with a classic tonic, and Spicy with red chilli paired with a grapefruit tonic. Other types of cocktails like negroni and martini are also available.  

Rants It is visually difficult for me to imagine how each dish will turn out since I am relatively new to Burmese food (no images on the menu), but that is also where the surprise lies as well for the dining experience.

Will I Return Again? If you have been curious about Burmese cuisine and have not been exposed much to it like me, Club Rangoon is a good starting point with its contemporary lens on Burmese flavours. If you are Burmese, then this restaurant should evoke a sense of familiarity.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Club Rangoon 
76 Duxton Road 
Singapore 089535 
Tel: +65 8190 8827 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Thursday: 5:30pm to 11pm 
Friday to Saturday: 11:30am to 3pm; 5:30pm to 12am 
Closed on Monday & Sunday 

Ranted by The Ranter