Menuwatch: Mambow, Peckham, London

The Peckham site, which she moved into in June, is casual and down to earth, she says, and very different to her original basement site for Mambow in Shoreditch, which she opened in 2020.

Lee's dishes are rooted in the history and culture of her family and how she saw their dishes being cooked when she was a child. She says she wants to be respectful to the way the recipes were made in the past before modernising them, using the best quality produce she can find.

Her Malaysian heritage dates back to her great grandmother, who lived in Malaysia, and prior to that her family were from China. Her food is a blend of Chinese, Malay and Thai, called Nyonya cuisine, which derives from the Chinese immigrants relocating to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Penang and Malacca. It's a combination of Chinese ingredients, Malay spices and cooking techniques, and Thai and Southeast Asian elements that are herbaceous and spicy, such as lemongrass and galangal and "funky smelling shrimp paste".

Her Aunty Cheng is a major influence and is a regular contributor on WhatsApp calls to Singapore. "She's an amazing cook and never uses a recipe. She has them all in her head from what her mum taught her, and it's incredible to see how she can access them all," she says.

The dish that is most indicative of her cooking style on the menu is, she says, a seasonal fish curry – the Ikan assam pedas, (£11.50) made with an oily and rich mackerel. This dish represents her because of the spice paste, which her family uses, and because of the amount of tamarind in the dish – the sourness of it makes it her favourite flavour. "The steps for the recipe are simple but it's quite intricate in the making," she says.

She believes her spice pastes are what define her dishes. "Every dish starts from one, and it's a balancing act of the ratio of ingredients: how much chilli, shallot or lemongrass to shrimp paste. Each recipe has a different spice base, with the mixture of spices changing in each."

The best-selling dish is the black pepper curry chicken (£11), made using the citrus-tasting Sarawak peppercorn. She describes this as her most accessible dish as people are familiar with the ingredients and with pepper as a spice and source of heat, although her customers are asking for more intensity.

Lee's suppliers include HG Walter for meat and The Sea The Sea for fish. Thai wholesaler Thai Tana provides "the best herbs I can find," and Ted's Veg delivers her fresh produce.

The single dessert on the menu is cendol, a sweet, iced dish containing green jellies, coconut milk and a sugar syrup known as gulu melaka, or palm sugar. Lee makes the green jellies using pandan, a tropical plant with fragrant leaves that have a grassy vanilla flavour with a hint of coconut, which are mixed into a coconut granita and topped with red azuki beans and the molasses.

The all-natural wine list is supplied by Les Caves de Pyrne, and the chef says the wines add "a sweet and juicier flavour" that works well with her dishes.

Pricing at the restaurant sees an average spend at lunchtime of £14 per person, increasing to £20-25 per person for dinner. Friday evenings bring in an average crowd of 45 people and the slow-burn of customers on a Saturday is another regular 60 covers.

Lee describes her food as "comfort food, with a level of elevation and a touch of precision." There is a plan to introduce chef's table events with a set menu and some other fun projects, including ‘day parties', with one running this Bank Holiday weekend, but having only been open since 1 June and with a very small kitchen team who do everything, including serving wines, washing up and prep – perhaps more of that can wait for the autumn months.

Stall 11, Market, 133a Rye Lane, London, SE15 4BQ

**www.mambow.co.uk