Makko Teck Neo

Makko Teck Neo is a small Peranakan cafe and Nyonya kueh shop at Block 35 Telok Blangah Rise, a public housing estate in the HarbourFront area. It cooks home-style Nyonya dishes and sells a wide range of traditional cakes, snacks and festive cookies.

The name tells its story. Makko means aunt in Peranakan culture, and Teck Neo is the lady who runs the shop. The business began with pineapple tarts baked for Chinese New Year. When those did well, she opened this cafe, which she runs with her family. It has served the estate for well over a decade.

What to order

Dry mee siam is the dish most regulars come for. It is rice vermicelli fried with a spice paste instead of served in gravy, and it has a name for selling out early. It goes well with chap chye, a braised mixed vegetable dish.

Other Peranakan dishes on the menu include:

• Ayam buah keluak, chicken cooked with the black keluak nut
• Beef rendang, slow-braised in spices
• Babi pongteh, pork braised in a soy and bean paste sauce
• Assam fish curry, sour and spicy
• Kueh pie tee, crisp pastry cups filled with a vegetable and shrimp mix

Nyonya kueh and festive treats

The kueh counter is a big part of the business. Look for kueh dadar, ondeh ondeh, kueh salat, kueh talam, kueh lapis and blue pea dumplings. Savoury bites such as rempah udang and bak kueh sit alongside the sweet ones. The shop also makes Nyonya kueh chang, the rice dumplings eaten at the Dragon Boat Festival.

Pineapple tarts are where the business began, and the shop still bakes them to order all year. It also makes cookies such as kueh bangkit, kueh dahlia, almond cookies and love letters. Gift boxes, party sets and bento meals for groups are listed on the official website. Bento orders need at least three days' notice and a minimum of 20 sets.

The setting

The cafe is a ground-floor unit at the end of a row of shops in an HDB block. The estate around it is quiet and residential. Inside it is casual and homely, with a takeaway counter of kueh and snacks at the front.

Good to know before you go

• Check the website for current opening days before you make a special trip.
• Popular kueh can sell out, so it helps to order ahead. You can order through the website or by WhatsApp.
• The shop also takes delivery orders.
• There is public parking near the block.

Nearby

This is a good stop if you want to see a Singapore neighbourhood. Our piece on staying in the Singapore heartlands explains what estates like this are like. The HarbourFront area also has Mount Faber Park and the Singapore Cable Car. For more Nyonya cooking, browse our Peranakan restaurants, or see all restaurants around HarbourFront.