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A new food court has popped up at the Botanic Gardens.

With the Les Amis Group behind it, diners can look forward to five "hawker-preneurial" concepts at Cluny Food Court, and an additional drink stall:

• Mui Kee Express
• S’Mao Barbecue
• Piccante Pronto
• Laifaba Express
• Project Penyek by Ansar

The airy dining space, furnished in shades of green, brown and white to complement its surroundings, can sit 47 after safe distancing measures.

Note that only cashless payment modes (Visa, Nets, Masters, Amex and PayNow) are accepted.

If you're not familiar with the name, the Les Amis Group is perhaps best known for their three-Michelin-Star, fine dining restaurant with the same name.

Mui Kee Express

Mui Kee Express serves up congee, side dishes, and Cantonese-style claypot dishes.

Some items to try are the Garoupa Belly Congee (S$13.80), Drunken Chicken in Shaoxing Wine (S$10), Crispy Dough Fritters (S$2.50), and Claypot Frog Leg with Ginger & Spring Onion (S$22).

This stall closes at 6pm, with last orders at 5:30pm.

S’Mao Barbecue

S’Mao Barbecue specialises in Texas-style barbecue meats—cuts that are seasoned with salt and coarse black pepper before being grilled over a hardwood fire.

Recommended dishes include the:

• All in Plate (S$24): a dinner-exclusive platter with two pieces of bone-in pork ribs, honeyed pork

  belly, a side of pulled pork, fries, mixed pickles, coleslaw and a choice of S’mao BBQ or Carolina Gold sauce

• S’mao Beef Burger (S$12): a lunch-special of beef patty, cheddar cheese, caramelised onions, pickled cucumber and red onions between brioche buns. Comes with a side of fries, coleslaw and a choice of chipotle aioli or green goddess sauce.

S’Mao does not operate between lunch and dinner hours (2:30pm - 6:30pm).

Piccante Pronto

Helmed by a Muslim chef, Piccante Pronto offers Roman-style thin-crust pizzas, baked pastas, antipasti (small savoury dishes), salads, and sides.

The Suprema pizza (S$12.50 to S$48) is topped with chicken sausage, shiitake mushrooms, onions, and chili padi, while the Carne pizza (S$15 - S$55 depending on the size) comes with beef meatball morsels, turkey ham, beef pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese.

Project Penyek by Ansar

Project Penyek by Ansar is run by a second-generation hawker who struck out on his own in 2018.

Besides Nasi Ayam Penyet (S$6.50) and Nasi Ikan Penyet (S$7.50), the stall also offers a hefty Seafood Platter that costs S$69.90 (full portion, good for four to five pax) or S$35 (half-portion, good for two pax).

Even better, satay is offered from 6pm onwards, with meats at S$1 per stick and BBQ prawns at S$2 per stick. Like most places, a minimum order of 10 sticks applies.

If no one wants to share with you, the Satay In A Cup (S$5) is a neat alternative of five meat skewers with rice cake and peanut sauce.

Project Penyek is closed on the first and third Monday of every month.

Laifaba Express

The noodle house takes its founder's family recipes and gives it a modern twist.

A highlight is the Signature BJT Char Siew & Wanton Noodles (S$8), made with noodles tossed in a secret sauce, wood-fired char siew, wantons, and blanched Hong Kong kai lan.

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Soy Sauce Chicken Noodles (S$6), Crispy Roasted Pork Noodles (S$6.90) are also on the menu, followed by meat and rice items from S$6.

This stall closes at 6pm, with last orders at 5:30pm.

Drinks stall

Name notwithstanding, the drinks stall actually also sells food.

Traditional toast sets (S$4.80) are always a good idea, but here they have the Scrambled Egg Toast Set (S$4.80) with the option to add spam (S$+2) too.

Local fare like Nasi Lemak (S$6.80) and Mee Rebus (S$6.80), plus Fried Rice With Egg (S$5) and Curry Rice With Pork Cutlet (S$6.50) are on the menu too.

While the drinks are selling all day, the food is only available till 4pm.

Open-air space

In terms of environment, it's akin to a slightly atas coffee shop, rather than a food court—there's no aircon here. Which means it'll probably roast you alive on a sunny afternoon.

If you're going there for a dinner, a couple of stalls (Mui Kee Express and Laifaba Express) would have closed.

Cluny Food Court

Address: 1J Cluny Road, Singapore 259607

Opening Hours:

8am - 9:30pm, daily.

Individual stall timings vary.

Top image via Les Amis Group, Mandy How