One of the perks of working in the service industry is free food (and booze, but I like to focus more on the food). Last night, we took one of our clients out to The Malaya…. I had pre-booked the Set Menu 2 which was $52 per person. It was scrumptious and fiery hot but did not include dessert! Doh!

We started off with some drinks… I had these 2 mocktails which were both refreshing and amazingly delicious. The apple mojito had a lovely taste of palm sugar which was intertwined with crushed limes and mint leaves. The Adam & Steve drink acquired a more mature taste, with hints of ginger ale, ginger beer, fresh cut apples and mints.

Apple mojito

Adam and Steve

Soon enough, a plate of miniature salmon rolls and king prawns arrived. They sat on a bed of cute micro green salad (including my favourite shiso aka perilla) leaves. The chilli lime sauce was reminiscent of ordinary sweet chilli sauce and overpowered the what otherwise would have been delicate flavours of salmon sashimi, dill and English spinach, but it was somehow still enjoyable. The prawns on the other hand were served chilled and drowned with delectable creamy flavour.

Steamed king prawns, shelled and served with a chilli tartar sauce, sashimi salmon rolls and micro green salad

The remaining starters continued to arrive shortly after. They were all reflective of their traditional Asian roots, using plentiful chilli and pungent spices. There were scallops steamed with fresh ginger, shallots, chilli and soy which were a little bland and BBQ Singaporean satay beef skewers with an amazing hypnotic sauce made from fresh ground peanuts and chilli.

Scallops in the shell steamed with fresh ginger, shallots, chilli and soy sauce

Singaporean style BBQ beef skewers with satay sauce

The journey through Asia continued into the main course with flavours from Indonesia, China and Malaysia. My favourite was the Szechuan chicken which was a dry stir-fry with uber hot chillies, shallots and cashew nuts. It was everything I wanted to be… rich and powerful. Ha! The king prawns surprised me as well, I loved that they were battered before being coated with a Penang style curry sauce. The lamb curry must have been every game-eater’s heaven as I only dipped my roti into a bit of the sauce and already, the stench was too strong for my liking. The greens were executed well with a classic oriental toss in chilli, soy and garlic.

Kapitan King Prawn, Penang style curry sauce made with fresh chilli and coconut milk served with lightly battered king prawns

Szechuan Chicken, marinated pieces of chicken thigh fillet stir-fried dry style with shallots, cashew nuts and dry chillies

Lamb Bali – Indonesian style red curry lamb cooked with a tomato base

Roti Canai

Fresh seasonal Asian greens stir-fried with garlic, soy sauce and fresh chilli

After this yummy banquet, we went bowling. There were automated cameras which took pics of us all in awkward poses in mid-action... hehe... lots of fun!

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The Malaya
39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney
Web: www.themalaya.com.au