House of Peranakan Petit is a modern, intimate 30-seater restaurant on Eng Hoon Street in Tiong Bahru, set within what was once a Peranakan enclave. Helmed by chef and owner Bob Seah, it serves traditional Nonya cuisine drawn from the family's treasure trove of secret home recipes, alongside a few newer Peranakan-inspired creations.
The restaurant belongs to the House of Peranakan Group, proud bearers of Singapore's Peranakan culinary tradition for over three decades. Bob Seah opened his first restaurant, Peranakan Inn, in Katong in the 1980s — one of the earliest Nonya restaurants in the country, housed in a pre-war Peranakan shophouse built in 1937 — and the business has been managed by a pure Peranakan family for three generations.
Dishes here include the group's celebrated signatures such as Chilli Pomfret, Curry Fish Head, Itek Sioh, Long Beans Sambal, Nonya Ngoh Hiang and a Nonya appetiser platter, together with Bob's own inventions like Selar Sambal Fish stuffed with rempah, Assam Prawns and Nonya Crayfish.
Petit serves lunch and dinner daily except Tuesdays and is available for private bookings, making it a cosy setting for both everyday Nonya meals and family gatherings.
On Eng Hoon Street, in what was once a Peranakan enclave in Tiong Bahru, House of Peranakan Petit keeps things deliberately intimate. The dining room seats just 30, modern and understated, and at the helm is chef and owner Bob Seah — a third-generation Peranakan cook whose family has been serving Nonya cuisine in Singapore for over three decades. The menu here is traditional Nonya food, drawn from what the family describes as a treasure trove of secret home recipes, alongside a handful of newer Peranakan-inspired creations.
Petit is the personal expression of the House of Peranakan Group, bearers of the Peranakan culinary tradition since the 1980s and managed by a pure Peranakan family for three generations. Where the group's larger rooms host family gatherings and celebrations, Petit feels closer to dinner in a Peranakan home — a small, focused room cooking the dishes the Seah family has made for generations.
The story starts in Katong in the 1980s. Inspired by his mother's cooking, Bob Seah bought a century-old pre-war Peranakan shophouse, built in 1937, and opened Peranakan Inn — one of the earliest Nonya restaurants in Singapore, still serving piping hot Nonya cuisine in claypots today. A pioneer in the Peranakan food community, Bob created dishes of his own, among them Selar Sambal Fish stuffed with rempah, Nonya Crayfish, Assam Prawns and Long Beans Sambal, and he introduced the concept of serving home-cooked Nonya food in claypots some thirty years ago.
The group grew from there. Award-winning House of Peranakan Cuisine restaurants followed at the former Negara Hotel, the Singapore Tennis Centre and One George Street, earning accolades from the Asian Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In 2002, the Asian Wall Street Journal named the group's Curry Fish Head the best dish in Singapore, and over the years the restaurants have hosted distinguished guests from past Presidents to overseas dignitaries — the most recent VIP being Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand. Today the family runs Peranakan Inn in Katong, House of Peranakan Cuisine in Siglap and at Capitol Singapore, and Petit in Tiong Bahru.
The signature list reads like a greatest-hits of Nonya home cooking. Chilli Pomfret and Curry Fish Head lead the way; the latter carries that 2002 Asian Wall Street Journal title. Itek Sioh, the classic Nonya duck dish, comes straight from Bob's secret home recipes, while Long Beans Sambal is one of his own creations. Nonya Ngoh Hiang is a traditional favourite, and the Nonya Platter gathers appetisers for the table to share at the start of a meal.
Expect a calm, cosy meal rather than a big-restaurant production. Petit serves lunch and dinner daily except Tuesdays, in two sessions — 11am to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm — so it suits both a long Tiong Bahru lunch and an unhurried dinner. With only 30 seats, the room is also available for private bookings: take the whole restaurant for a birthday, family reunion or corporate meal and let the kitchen cook through the family repertoire.
Reservations and enquiries can be made by calling the restaurant on 62221719, or via the group's booking line and email. If you cannot make it in person, the group's website links to an Order Now store for Peranakan food at home.
Come hungry, order the way Nonya meals are meant to be ordered — several dishes across the table — and make sure the fish is one of them. Few restaurants in Singapore can trace their recipes back three generations; fewer still cook them in a room as intimate as this one.