Little Singapore has finally brought their signature Singaporean and Malaysian dishes to Brisbane’s CBD. Due to the inexplicable lack of half decent Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants in Brisbane (YAHOO is still number 1), this “Little” set of restaurants (there’s even a Little Hong Kong) have become the place to go for those of us starved of food from the motherland. Well… perhaps for some.

Their new restaurant attempts to recreate the aesthetic of Singapore in the 1950s and it actually succeeds, according to those who lived during that period. Lighting fixtures are the same, the photo montage wallpaper is actually that of Singapore in the 50s, white cushioned seating, faux red cedar panelling – an admirable effort overall. Service was average but normal for Asian restaurants and after ordering from their menu, which they’ve attempted to class up by adding wooden backing boards but immediately countered by using a really bad colour laser printer, we waited for the onslaught.

Little Singapore is known for one thing they do really really well… gigantic servings.

An attempt was made to convey the size of these meals using a 50c coin. Perhaps one needs to experience it in person but they were huge. I don’t even know where one would find such enormous bowls and plates. I’d imagine such dishes are normally reserved for serving hippos and whole watermelons.

So how was the food? The verdict of 3 people from Singapore and Malaysia, weaned on hawker food for decades (and thus biased)… vaguely authentic but overall very average.

The Seafood Combination Fried Hor Fun with Egg Sauce was probably the best of the lot but the best of average is still average.

The Wonton Noodle Soup had decent noodles, bouncy and of the right consistency, but the soup was not Wonton noodle soup.

Little Singapore Combination Curry Laksa. I love laksa. This was not Singaporean laksa, or Malaysian laksa, or Malaysian curry noodles, or any assam laksa, or something resembling anything I or anyone else at the table has ever had before. I guess that’s why they prefix it with their name. Being a Chef Recommendation, this was a real let down but it wasn’t all that bad, it just wasn’t what we expected. A miscellaneous curry with miscellaneous noodles and miscellaneous ingredients.

People come to Little Singapore because it is well priced, provides enormous servings and the food isn’t terrible. It is very common and I suspect expected that one makes use of their stacks of takeaway containers near the front counter.

Whoa… what is this? Lychee Drink with Pearls? Is this perhaps the most ill-conceived container and drink combination ever? Square blocks in circular holes? And that pink drink I had with my laksa (pictured above). Would you believe it was Red Bean Drink with Milk? It tasted like strawberry and it was impossible to drink with a straw. Confusing…

So it’s no YAHOO or Yum Yum but what it is is value for money dining and they pull it off very well. It’s just not something one would hanker for. The search continues…

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Little Singapore
42 Charlotte Street
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia