Thursday 2 July 2009

Little Singapore

During my one hour of freedom at lunch I've been slowly working my way through the Asian eateries in and around the Elizabeth Arcade. My favourite spot so far is Little Singapore.

Little Singapore is on Charlotte Street, between the Elizabeth Arcade and George Street. I've been there twice for lunch now, and really enjoyed the food. On the first trip I ordered the crispy pork belly rice ($11.50). I'm an absolute sucker for pork belly, so it wasn't a hard choice. Although I found the pork belly a little on the cool side, there was plenty of it. The pork belly is served with a bowl of clear soup and a big mound of rice, which is topped with a sweet sauce that I can't put my finger on. I know it doesn't sound adventurous, but I enjoyed the pork belly so much I ordered it again on my second visit. I wasn't able to finish it on either trip.

If (unlike me) you can manage to look past the crispy pork belly, there are loads of other lunch choices. Particularly exotic sounding dishes include Assam cuttlefish with rice ($12.90), Nasi Lemak (rice with fried sole, fried peanuts, pickled vegetables, curry chicken & beef, cooked egg and sambal sauce - $11.90) and beef brisket & tendon rice ($10.50).

The interior of the restaurant has been set up to look like Old Singapore, around the 1950s. The room definitely has character, although the giant TVs obviously weren't around in 1950.

Don't miss the drinks menu - there are some wonderful sounding options like jackfruit moussy drink ($4.50), passionfruit punch ($4.50) and winter melon tea ($3.30).

Service here is the no-fuss variety. You walk in and wait for a table to become available. A waitress then shows you to a table, and you're left with food and drink menus. Once you've worked out what's for lunch, you wander down to the back counter, to order and pay. Take your number back to your table, and the meals come out pretty quickly. If you get a chance while you're ordering, have a look into the kitchen. I was amazed how many chefs were in there, bustling away.

For me, Little Singapore is a terrific lunch spot. The food is good, servings are very generous, it's cheap and meals come out pronto. Amazingly, until about 2 weeks ago I didn't even know it existed. I love stumbling across new places like Little Singapore. And if you live on the Southside, there's also a Little Singapore at Market Square, Sunnybank.

What does all this mean? Cheap, tasty Singaporean food served in a flash.

food bling ratings
Food - Good
Service - Good
Ambience - "Old Singapore" meets giant plasma TVs
Value for Money - Top Shelf
Vegetarian - Good

Little Singapore
42 Charlotte Street
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3211 1177
E - lsgc@littlesingapore.com.au
W - http://www.littlesingapore.com.au

Little Singapore on Urbanspoon

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I still haven't been to the one in the city, but I like the one in Market Square.

You might also like to try Nudo's on Mary - just on the next block from Little Singapore.

food bling, Brisbane said...

thanks Lara - I'll have to give Nudo's a try next time I wander up that way.

Sapphira said...

They stole Malaysian food and called it their own! Nasi lemak is undeniably Malaysian! :P But Little Singapore is also the only place I've been able to find fresh roti pratha (what may be described as Indian pancake?). I haven't tried much of Nudo's food but I remember that their portions are really large. Frankly, it's hard to find good Chinese food in the city. The Valley or Sunnybank would be more ideal. ;)

Nerfherder said...

I went there today - wow, what a great recommendation. One of the best reasonably priced lunch places I have been too in Brissie. I, like you, could not resist the pork belly but I will go back to work my way through a number of the other dishes, especially the roti ones....

That is the second food revelation for the week - the other being Sage on Ann (turkish eggs for breakfast are amazing).

food bling, Brisbane said...

Good to hear you enjoyed it Nerfherder. There's a new Little Singapore open in the building at 191 Albert Street too.

I haven't been to Sage yet, but have read some great reviews for it. It's a bit of a hike there from my work unfortunately.