Restaurant Review: Sayong Curry & Laksa Malaysian Cuisine, Town Hall

Thanks to Simon for organising a Friday lunch meet up with Dom and Tony at Sayong Curry & Laksa.

It was my first visit to the small food court which is outside of my usual lunchtime striking range. The food court was pretty busy when I arrived. Sayong definitely had the longest queues, but the neighbouring Thai looked pretty busy too.

Chicken Rice

I decided to order the chicken rice ($8). The chicken breast was served with coconut rice, soup, chilli and ginger sauces. The chicken was tender as hoped for and came served on a soy based sauce which complimented it well.

I enjoyed the ginger sauce and the soup which had a nice flaovur with added crispy fried shallots. I didn't detect much coconut flavour in the rice which was a little oily.

In my search for the best chicken rice in Sydney I'd take the chicken from either Singapore Shiok or Sayong (they were both good), Shiok's rice and Sayong's soup & sauces.

Ipoh Char Kway Teow

Simon ordered the Ipoh Char Kway Teow which was a new dish on me. The cooked to order seafood char kway teow is covered in a egg based sauce. Simon's tip is to request some additional pickled green chillies which compliment the flavour. It was a nice dish from my quick taste.

Sayong Curry and Laksa, Malaysian Cuisine,
LG Food Court, Pittsway Arcade
303 Pitt St,
Sydney
2000

Restaurant Review: Minum, Sydney CBD

Thanks to Simon for organising a casual Friday lunch meet up with a few friends.

The new Malaysian tapas restaurant Minum is a tricky place to find. For the first time in my life I had to call the restaurant and ask how to get there. (Down the steps near the Met Centre into Martin Place station is the answer.)

A stressful day in the office meat I arrived nearly thirty minutes late and had missed quite a few of the mains. However, I ordered a couple of extra savoury dishes and managed to overlap with dessert. The most important part!

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Malaysian tapas. Medium sized dishes that are ideal for sharing is the answer. They were giving a European label - tapas - to what my experience of Asian food is all about - communal sharing - rather than doing anything radical.

The first dish I ordered was the Roti Jala, chicken curry served with a crepe. The crepe was thicker and had a higher flour content than the French crepes I'm used to. The extra body worked well with the curry, although I'm not quite sure why they didn't go for a more traditional roti? The curry itself was food court, rather than set my world on fire, standard.

There was nothing particularly Malaysian about the Lamb Cutlets with Spiced Coconut Crusts. The darkly toasted coconut added an welcome extra dimension to the dish. However, it seemed to have been toasted separately and sprinkled on top, rather than being a 'spiced crust'. The lamb was a little fatty for me.

The pineapple skewer with cinnamon was a new combination to me. While I don't think anything can ever beat cinnamon and apple, it did work pretty well.

The Sago Gula Melaka (sago & palm sugar pudding) was enjoyable and I found myself repeatedly taking extra spoonfuls. The caramelised palm sugar added a coffee like dimension to the sago.

I'm a big fan of the Thai version of Pulut Hitam or black sticky rice. The rice was perfectly cooked and crucially wasn't too sweet. Easily my dish of the day.

The restaurant is run by a friendly Malaysian family and I hope they make a success of the business. However, with the likes of the Malaysian Food House in Hunter Connection I fear they might struggled to sitck out from the crowd.

Minum
32B Martin Place
Sydney
2000

Restuarant Review: Nonya by Ginger and Spice, China Town

It seems there is nothing like a new Malaysian restaurant to get Sydneysiders excited. The food blogs have been abuzz with chatter of various new Malaysian eateries. Nonya by Ginger and Spice in particular has been getting a fair amount of hype.

Last Sunday I was drifting through China Town looking for a late lunch and decided to give Nonya a try.

A eager waitress standing on the street was keen to show me a menu and usher me inside. However, once seated the service was much less obliging. The lunchtime trade was dying down and there were quite a lot of staff, but somehow I was Mr Invisible. It took me three attempts to flag someone down to take my order.

When I did order, the first dish I chose was the ngoh hiang. Parcels of five spice flavoured pork with chopped water chestnuts and a fried skin of crispy bean curd. The crispy bean curd and crunchy water chestnuts contrasted well with the tender pork mince. Definitely the better of my two choices, however, they were nothing standout. The small thimble of kap manis on the side was only enough for one of the ngoh hiang.

The less said about the char kway teow the better. It was missing the trademark smokiness from a hot work and sufficient prawns or Chinese sausage. I think I've cooked a better CKT following the recipe in my Poh's Kitchen cookbook. That should be deeply worrying for the kitchen.

P.S. The photos were taken on my phone, hence the dodgy quality!

Nonya by Ginger and Spice
Level 1, 1 Dixon St
China Town
Sydney
2000

Restaurant Review: Mamak Village, Glebe

It was the hottest day of spring so far and I was already perspiring before I put any of the spicy rendang in my mouth. There was quite a bit of brow mopping going on....

I've wanted to visit Mamak Village since I first read John's review back in January. I've previously attempted to visit but Marlina wouldn't cross the threshold as the Malaysian crew hadn't given it their seal of approval. A solo lunch after the Homebush 10k provided the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I'd agree with the consensus view that their roti aren't as tissue like as those at the famous Mamak in China Town. However, I still enjoyed the roti canai with the three accompanying sauces. A fiery tomato based sauce, a sticky spicy chutney type affair and a milder more complex green sauce.

To accompany my roti I ordered the nasi lemak lunch special, which is available with either curry chicken or beef rendang. The coconut rice lived up to its name with a nutty fragrance and mild coconut taste. The salty, crunchy side of peanuts and fried fish went down nicely, as did the pickled carrots.

Then there was the main event, a generous serving of beef rendang. As you may have guessed from the perspiring brow, it was a little hot for me. However, even through the heat I could tell it wasn't solely a one dimensional chilli spice, with a complexity of flavour going on.

Mamak Village seem to have bumped up their prices since they first opened in January. The roti canai is now $5 instead of $4. Might not sound like much, but it is a 25% increase. At one time most of the menu seemed to be available as a $10 lunch special, that's now restricted to one dish.

However, at $15 for a hearty lunch with so many complex flavours going I don't begrudge the price rises. It still seemed like good value.

I've always been a bit bemused by the long queues outside Mamak in the city as I don't think the food really warrants the line. Mamak Village would be more deserving of the queues in my view, but Glebe isn't a 'burb where that is likely to happen.

Mamak Village
25 Glebe Point Road
Glebe
Sydney
2037

Restaurant Review: Satay Delight, UNSW

I hadn't had a laksa before I visited Australia. I don't eat them very often, but it seems to be a minor lunchtime obsession for Sydneysiders.

The first one I tried was a beef laksa from the CBD Noodle Bar in the Wintergarden. Not outstanding, but pretty good.

Next up I decided to try the Malay Chinese on Hunter St that many people tip as Sydney's best. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, I found it pretty one dimensional in flavour. There were no greens, crispy shallots or anything else to add an extra bit of interest. Even though it was already too spicy for me I found myself adding extra chilli sauce to add an extra dimension!

Just before my accident on Monday I decided to visit Satay Delight at the University of New South Wales after a tip from Marlina. The UNSW food court was a lot more impressive than the one I'm used to from my time in Manchester. There was no salad bar in my day and it definitely wouldn't have had the longest queue if there was!

But I wasn't there for a salad, I wanted a laksa. I ordered the mixed soup beef laksa and took my seat amongst the students. I'm not sure if it was because I was wearing lycra or because I was ten years older than everyone else, but I felt like I stuck out!

I liked the laksa, one dimensional it definitely wasn't. Rather being overwhelmingly coconuty, the soup base to the laksa makes it feel lighter. There were two different types of noodle, greens, crispy shallots and tofu. I haven't had beef balls in a laksa before and I can only describe them as tasting like a smoked German sausage. I didn't think they tasted at all Asian, but they were nice. The sliced beef wasn't as good as the tender chunks of braised beef you get at the Wintergarden.  

UNSW Upper Campus Food Court 
Chancellery Walk 
Sydney

 

Restaurant Review: Singapore Shiok!*, Haymarket

When I was living in Bangkok I visited food courts four or five times a week. A fantastic way to grab a quick, cheap, delicious and varied meal on the go. When I moved into my apartment in Sydney within a stones throw of China Town I thought I might keep the food court habit.

However, after a hard day in the office I've found that I prefer coming home to unwind and cook, so have rarely visited the food courts on my doorstep. However, when I recently returned home late from the Gold Coast I decided to stop off at Singapore Shiok!* in the Eating World Food Court.

I've previously had the chicken rice from Shiok!* (excellent rice and chicken, disappointing sauces) so decided to go for the Har Mee this time.

It was really good. The soup had a nice fish stock flavour and a decent amount of chilli without being too much for a weakling like me. There were good amounts of prawn, crispy shallots, two types of pork, some greens and half a boiled egg. There were lots of noodles buried underneath to fill you up too.

Eating World Harbour Plaza Food Court
Shop 213,
25-29 Dixon Street,
Haymarket
NSW 2000