Nanyang Tea Club is one of the last restaurants to take up residence in Market City’s 1909 Dining Precinct, serving up traditional Malaysian cuisine. The restaurant is fitted out to the recall the British colonial days of Singapore. Bak kut teh (a pork rib dish cooked in broth) is their signature dish.
It’s difficult to pass up the Seafood Wat Tan Hor ($14.90) on any menu, and the small selection of individual dishes available here makes it an even easier choice. The seafood component is a sizeable selection of prawns (4), mussels (2) and calamari (3), which are complemented by the usual greens.
The noodles have a very healthy smokiness from the wok hei, while the egg gravy does a good job of helping the noodles slide down with ease. The gravy is less rich than the one we’re used to from Albee’s (Kitchen or Secret Recipe) and the overall dish is smaller, but there’s a more generous serving and wider variety of seafood and vegetables with a similarly tasty flavour.
This is H’s Malaya Quinoa Goreng ($17.80). This is a modern twist on traditional fried rice, and H praises the smokiness delivered by the wok hei, as well as the flavourful use of spices in the rice, the perfectly oozy egg and tender skewers.
While the menu at Nanyang Tea Club is rather limited, the dishes that they do serve have flavourful and delicious. For a more extravagant meal, they also do the quintessential Singaporean favourite of chilli crab.
Nanyang Tea Club is located at Shop 3, 1909 Dining Precinct, Market City, 9/13 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000.