Annam

A set of neon letters signals this restaurant from Pho Nom’s Jerry Mai. It serves South East Asian hawker-style food in a space that fits somewhere between casual and fine diner.

There are various nooks in the 100-seater (including a private dining area with a mirrored disco ball) surrounding a large main dining space, with party lights and vintage kung-fu movies projected onto the wall.

You might catch a glimpse of the mohawked Mai in the large open kitchen near the Japanese-inspired rice-paper station, inspecting plates of soft, fragrant crab banh cuon, which come with fried shallots and a salty-sweet nuoc mam salad. Or maybe she’ll be flipping a whole hiramasa kingfish at the charcoal-grill station, where you can also see her meaty Chiang Mai pork sausages hanging before they’re served with slices of raw cabbage, pineapple and tiny-but-intense pickled green chillies. Mains include braised pork hock served with fermented rice and fennel salad. And Mai’s childhood favourite: Cambodian-style braised goat somm la curry with lightly cooked pea eggplants, pumpkin and green papaya.

There are two types of Asahi and Young Henrys beer on tap and special cocktails, such as the vodka and chocolate bitters Annam Iced Coffee, made with house-made condensed coconut milk.

The restaurant is also home to waffle-coated fried ice-cream with shredded coconut in the batter and warm salted caramel sauce drizzled all over.