No matter who you ask, grandma’s cooking always tastes the best. After all, where else can you get food that’s well-practised with decades of experience, coloured with family history and laced with tender-loving care? Well, you might find a version of that at Nana Dolly’s, a newly opened cafe in Little India specialising in Peranakan-inspired eats.
The brain behind the recipes at the 40-seater establishment is nana Dolly Choo herself, a true-blue Peranakan grandma with roots tracing back to another nearby Nyonya haven, Malacca.
She’s been running the eatery with her clan since November last year, dishing out Peranakan flavours like mengkabo pork belly (more on this hard-to-find dish later) alongside local favourites like deep-fried prawn paste chicken wings and ngoh hiang.
Her culinary tutelage began, like many other Nyonya matriarchs of our generation, in the kitchen, when she was roped in by her Malacca-born mother.
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A Peranakan family affair
Dolly’s upbringing in the kitchen proved invaluable, as it inculcated in her “a duty to keep the family well-fed and happy during all festive occasions”. Classic Peranakan dishes like chap chye and Nyonya-style chicken curry were mainstays at every convivial family gathering, regardless of the time of year.
It was only natural for the entire family to join in when it came time for Dolly to venture outside of her home kitchen – chief among them, her grandnephew, Alvin Phua, a marketing specialist-turned-restaurateur.
"That’s because, for us, the food that’s being sold here is all very close to our hearts. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim it is authentically Peranakan, as it isn’t really from any cookbook. All are recipes from nana Dolly herself that we’ve adapted for a restaurant setting. It’s like inviting guests to share a family meal with us."
The cafe’s decor reflects this homey vibe. The tables are a riotous mishmash of bright colours, with kebayas – all Dolly’s — encased in glass frames on the walls.
Motifs reminiscent of Peranakan floor tiles can be found on the floor, bar counter and the very plates the food is served on. There’s even a shelf heavy with family antiques, including old-school tingkats (tiffin carriers), teapots, baskets and irons.
The cafe is located at a shophouse along Perak Road. There is limited parallel parking spots nearby, so we’d advise taking public transportation instead – Rochor MRT is just a quick hop away.
Nana Dolly’s serves hard-to-find Peranakan food
Nana Dolly’s signature dish is its mengkabo pork belly ($16, serves two), a sour-spicy stew laden with chillies and assam that’s difficult to find in Singapore, though it can more commonly be found in Malacca.
Like many Peranakan dishes, mengkabo pork belly – sometimes referred to as babi masak assam – is best had with a bowl of white rice to temper the fiery, tangy sauce.
Other Peranakan mains on the menu include Nyonya Chicken Curry ($16), Chicken Rendang ($14) and Sambal Brinjal ($7). There’s also the Prawn Paste Chicken Wings ($12), Ngoh Hiang ($8) and Kueh Pie Tee ($12) if you’re looking for stuff to share.
While daily food preparation won’t be handled by the Peranakan matriarch herself, Dolly says that the cooks in the kitchen have managed to score “95 marks out of 100” in terms of replicating her recipes. In any case, she pops by “almost every other day” to make sure the food’s up to snuff.
Adapting Peranakan food for the future
Like Alvin said, not everything is authentically Peranakan. Nana Dolly’s sells Dry Mee Siam, Dry Laksa and Carbonara pasta too (from $10).
It also offers croffles – essentially layered croissant dough baked in a waffle iron – laced with kaya and gula melaka or otak-otak, along with various soft serve ice-cream flavours, lattes, mocktails and cocktails to cater to the younger crowd.
Nana Dolly’s
Location: 10 Perak Road, Singapore 208131
Opening Hours: Daily, 10:30am – 10pm
Tel: +65 8068 0010
Website: https://www.nanadollys.com/
