Could the city’s best Vietnamese spring rolls be found on the northern cusp of Chinatown? 

A whole king prawn, pastry-wrapped and jolted in the fryer, is best folded in a cool lettuce leaf for ultimate crunch and then dunked in a sticky nuoc mam sauce. What a winner. 

Here at chef Jerry Mai’s Annam, no-fuss Cambodian/Vietnamese street food is finger-lickin’ good. Gnaw on heavily-crusted fried chicken ribs and savour silky chicken wontons swimming in chilli oil. Tiles of Flinders Island lamb with fermented chilli flakes heats things up, while the deep-fried waffle-coated coconut ice cream cools things down. Feast on one of Annam’s two-banquet offerings with a fruit-driven cocktail in hand. The matcha-spiked Snake in the Grass is worth heading uptown for.

Service can slip when busy with long waits between courses, but Annam is always worth a visit, if only for those golden-flaked spring rolls.

Must Eat Dish: King prawn spring roll