Beautician Serves Hawker Favourites

In the Mumbai suburb of Bandra lies Makan Lah, billed as the city's first Singaporean street food joint.

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On its menu are familiar dishes including chicken rice, kaya toast and chendol.

Even before you enter, the aroma of freshly pulled kopi wafts from the kitchen, where Singaporean owner Synthia Liu, who is in her 40s, is at work.

"It has been my dream to bring Singapore street food to India," says Ms Liu, who spent 15 years in Mumbai as a beautician and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) therapist before her close friends, devoted fans of her home cooking, suggested she venture into the food and beverage industry.

She opened the cafe in the suburb of Khar in June 2024, before moving to its current location in July 2025.

Ms Liu first visited Mumbai in 2010 at the suggestion of a student from Hyderabad, who was enrolled in her beauty training programme in Singapore, where she taught nail and eyelash extensions.

Seeing potential in Mumbai's nascent hospitality industry, she began conducting beauty and wellness training programmes there, as well as in second-tier cities such as Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Bhopal. By 2011, she had made Mumbai her home.