Chinatown Seafood Restaurant (CSR) is a zi char eatery opposite Chinatown Heritage Centre. If you work in Chinatown or walk through Pagoda street on your way to the CBD, you’ve probably noticed the place. It’s one of the few zi char restaurants in Singapore populated almost exclusively by Caucasian tourists.
Despite a growing resemblance to Christmas hams, they continue to lounge outdoors, nursing Tiger Beers as if the malt might cure their sunburns. You really have to admire their devotion to the Church Of Al Fresco. Most of the PRCs have long since fled. They sit wilting in the shade, coconut in one hand and WeChat in the other.
I walk past CSR every day, but the sight of tourists eating dim sum, with tiger beer and a side of Singapore Noodles never fails to make me smile. I am reminded—ungenerously—of ‘Paella’ Cafes in Barcelona which also serve Burgers, and of the Phuket eateries which survive off Singha sales. After six months of watching, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I relented and went in. What exactly are the tourists eating? Is it any good?
