Ellenborough Market Café

Apart from classics found in Straits Chinese or Peranakan homes, there’s an array of other Asian and Western fare at Ellenborough. Locals usually go for the buffet lunch or dinner, which serves authentic dishes such as babi pongteh, chap chye and ayam buah keluak. In the last dish, chicken is cooked in a mild curry, with the bitter black nut paste served on the side, rather than mixed with the gravy, to cater to different tastes. The rotating menu offers an international repertoire, with everything from comforting pork rib herbal soup and creamy butter crab to tandoori chicken and Thai-style steamed grouper. There are also salad stations, as well as a selection of sashimi, soba and fresh seafood on ice. Drop by the live cooking station for la mian soup noodle, or make your own kong bak pau—steamed buns with braised pork belly—and kueh pie tee, where a crisp pastry shell is filled with cooked shredded turnip, prawn and egg.