Recently in Malaysian Category

In celebration of the new year, I thought it would be suitable to look back at all of my best eats in 2009. Here, I've included some of my most frequently visited restaurants as well as a few memorable favourites.

Most Visited Casual Restaurant: Dong Ba Bun Bo Hue, Bankstown, NSW
I think I have honestly dined at Dong Ba at least once every fortnight in 2009 - joining the regular local slurpers of Bun Bo Hue, a Hue-style spicy noodle soup. It is only $7 and the food (they also serve plenty of other traditional Vietnamese eats such as my second most ordered dish here, the Cambodian Rice Noodle Soup) is served at lightening fast speed. Dining at Dong Ba in Bankstown is always a guaranteed fuss-free cheap and cheerful eat. Another bonus is that the menu caters for all possible cravings of anything Vietnamese so is sure to satisfy everyone. But the best part would probably be their drinks menu which includes the iced black coffee and the avocado milkshake.

Dong Ba
296 Chapel Rd South, Bankstown, NSW

Bun bo hue (Hue-style spicy noodle soup) at Dong Ba, Bankstown - My most visited casual restaurant of 2009

Most Expensive: Le Cinq, Paris
In May 2009, I left home for my first eating extravaganza in Europe. Let me just start off by confessing that I have a really bad habit of not checking prices whether it be shopping or food. My boyfriend almost passed out when he browsed through the 'host' menu at Le Cinq, which I had booked many months in advance. Thankfully I had the 'guest' menu which didn't have the prices so he was able to break the shock to me slowly. We soon justified to ourselves that because we had travelled all the way from Sydney to Paris, it would only be right if we allowed this one splurge and promised to be sensible throughout the rest of the trip. Le Cinq sits within Paris' most luxurious hotel - Four Seasons George V, and is the most elegant space I've ever dined in. Something like 440€ (AU$900 at the exchange rate during that time) excluding drinks and service charge and almost six hours later, we left gleefully with a massive dent on my credit card.

Le Cinq
Four Seasons Hotel George V
31, Avenue George V, Paris, France
www.fourseasons.com/paris/dining

Best Surprise: Wiseman Park Wollongong City Bowling Club
My boyfriend was transferred to Wollongong for six months for work, a few years ago. During a visit to some of his old workmates earlier in 2009, we were introduced to Wiseman Park Bowling Club. Tucked within a senior's bowling club bistro is this spectacular down-to-earth yet slightly fancy restaurant. Think traditional Mediterranean and remember to make a reservation if dining on a Friday or Saturday night as the secret is out, and this place is hawt!

Wiseman Park Wollongong City Bowling Club
Gipps Road, Wollongong, NSW

Favourite City Travelled To: Barcelona
My time in Barcelona can easily be summarized with daily visits to the Boqueria Market - the best market I have ever been to. The vivid display of fruits, seafood and jamon was an amazing sight and simply drool-worthy. The friendliness of locals shouting "hola" and the buzz in eating paella after paella, oh, and the shoes made Barcelona my favourite city visited in 2009. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit it again soon.

Boqueria Market
www.boqueria.info

Fruit drinks display at Boqueria Markets, close up of paella and tapas in Barcelona

Most Visited Seafood Outlet: Ocean Foods, Drummoyne, NSW
Almost every drive on Lyons Road in Drummoyne has resulted in me stopping by at Ocean Foods. Their floor to ceiling glass walls means there's no running away from the grand display of fresh and ready to cook seafood and salads.

Ocean Foods
154 Lyons Rd, Drummoyne, NSW

Most Visited For Dessert: Mamak, Sydney, NSW
Roti and condensed milk are just made for each other. After countless dinners at other restaurants across the city, Sydney food bloggers, myself included, seem to always end up at Mamak for dessert. The roti tisu is a golden cone encrusted with butter and sugar that tastes heavenly with a swirl of condensed milk and sometimes, even ice-cream. If that doesn't have you drooling, the roti pisang will - with freshly sliced banana that caramelizes within a thin buttery roti. Oh, so good.

Mamak
15 Goulburn St, Haymarket, NSW

Favourite Late Night Dining: Wagaya, Haymarket, NSW
With ridiculous trading hours (Wagaya opens until 2am on most nights), private booths and a quirky touch screen ordering system, late night dining at Wagaya is perfect for those night owls (like me) who want a decent feed. I can't get enough of their soft-shell crab hand rolls, lotus root chips or takoyaki gratin. Unfortunately, all this late night dining has contributed greatly to my growing waistline... Hmm... Did someone say New Years Resolution?

Wagaya
Level 1, 78-86 Harbour St, Haymarket, NSW

Dining at Wagaya - Most Visited Late Night Dining Restaurant of 2009

Best Discovery of a Hidden Gem: Uchi Lounge, Surry Hills, NSW
Uchi Lounge is only a street behind the chaotic Oxford Street but upon stepping inside, you're in a whole new world. It is soothing and peaceful, offering a selection of Japanese sake cocktails and some scrumptious food such as their grilled eggplant with miso and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Uchi Lounge
15 Brisbane St, Surry Hills, NSW

Favourite Bar: Water Bar at Blue, Woolloomooloo
I was introduced to Water Bar after my 25th birthday dinner in 2009. It's the fine dining of bars. As well as offering all the traditional cocktail favourites, Water Bar also features a range of new concept drinks that utilises some surprising and experimental techniques. Elderflower martini with a cucumber air, the kaffir lime dacquiri with coconut foam or the spiced fig whisky sour are just a few to name. The only downside here are their trading hours, closing at midnight on most nights and 10pm on Sundays and Mondays.

Water Bar
6 Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo, NSW

Favourite Brunch: Rhodes Phoenix, Rhodes, NSW
Yum-Cha, Dim-Sum, whatever two words you use to call the fine art of eating dumplings and other Chinese delicacies over tea with friends or family, is a weekend hobby of mine. Having discovered the Phoenix group in 2007 - there's four of them: Sky Phoenix, Hilltop Phoenix, Manly Phoenix and Rhodes Phoenix, I quickly became a regular at the Rhodes restaurant which is only a short drive from my place. 2009 saw me dining at Rhodes Phoenix more than ever before. I have such a weakness for their prawn toast!

Rhodes Phoenix
1/5 Rider Blvd, Rhodes, NSW

Sometimes it takes a fresh set of tastebuds for you to truly appreciate a cheap eat. I've been going to Temasek for their traditional Malaysian and Singaporean fare for ages. But only recently, had I introduced this place to my parents!

Needless to say, they absolutely loved it.

I didn't have my camera with me that day, but here are pics from yet another cheap and cheerful brunch with the boy.

King prawn har mee noodle soup

Har "prawn" Mee "noodle" ($11.80) is a Penang hawker delicacy that I adore. Its broth is cloudy and punchy -full of flavour from the wok-seared prawn heads and chilli which went into the stock. It is usually served with a mix of vermicelli and Hokkien noodles, but I like mine just with Hokkien noodles as it has a firmer texture. Soaking up the broth are also bok choy, bean sprouts, king prawns, a hard boiled egg and fish cakes. Traditionally, there would also be thinly sliced pork meat, but it has purposely been left out here.

Garnished with crisp fried shallots, this noodle soup can cause some slurping action and bad breath!

Hainanese chicken rice

The Hainanese chicken rice ($12) is another classic Malaysian/Singaporean favourite. Glistening pieces of tender chicken is served with a fragrant chicken-stock and garlic flavoured rice. Accompaniments include fresh tomato and cucumber pieces, a bowl of chicken broth and the crucial dipping sauces of dark soy sauce and a chilli and ginger vinaigrette.

Like any Asian diner, the dishes are brought out when they're ready -with no respect to it being a starter or main. So our entrée of beef curry puffs (three pieces for $4.80) were served mid-meal. These were scrumptious and piping hot.

Beef curry puffs

And to prepare ourselves for battling the Summer heat, we share the ais "ice" kacang "bean" ($4.50). A deliciously refreshing tower of red bean, grass jelly, pineapple and palm seeds served with crushed ice in a bowl and topped with palm sugar, rose syrup, condensed milk and creamed corn. If it had jackfruit, longan and lychees, I would have been in foodie heaven!

Ice Kacang

Temasek
71 George Street, Parramatta, NSW
Open Tuesday - Sunday (closed on Monday & public holidays)
Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm - 10.00pm (last order at 9.30pm)

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How lucky are we in Sydney to be able to taste so many cultures? Within an hour's radius of the city centre, we have access to scrumptious and authentic ethnic cuisines. For Vietnamese, there's Cabramatta, Bankstown, Marrickville or Surry Hills; for Indonesian, there's Randwick or Kingsford; for Korean there's Campsie, Eastwood and Strathfield, for Turkish or Lebanese, it's Auburn and Bankstown; for Thai it's Newtown; for Portuguese it's Petersham and for Greek, it's Brighton Le Sands.

When it comes to Malaysian though, I will admit that before Mamak opened on Goulburn Street, I didn't know what roti was.

So thanks to Mamak, I can truly appreciate Malaysian restaurants such as Temasek, Kammadhenu, Makan at Alice's... and events like Malaysia Festival.

Malaysia Festival 2009 was on 27th September and is in it's third year running. The idea behind it is that it was created by Malaysian students studying in Sydney who needed a taste of home away from home. It also allows Sydney-siders to experience the wonderful essence of hawker food stalls in a warm outdoor setting.

It was the perfect opportunity to laze on Tumbalong Park's grass with good friends and good food.

With seven mouths to feed, we went into strategy mode and split up into pairs. While some of us queued at different stalls, others did the research and snooping to see what else we should be having.

Within about an hour (yes, a long time because we arrived at the lunch peak), we all met back on the grass to present our treasures.

Mamak's satay chicken sticks

At the Mamak stall, we had their satay chicken sticks, nasi lemak and roti telur bawang , which is the egg omelette and onion roti.

Mamak's nasi lemak and roti telur bawang (egg omelette and onion roti)

At the Penang Hawker stall, we saw the transformation of some simple ingredients into a fragrant char koay teow (fried flat noodles) or char koay kak (fried radish cake). The crucial flavour, coming from fresh eggs and this jar of sambal.

Cooking essentials including sambal jar and eggs

Across at the Hometown Recipe stall, fresh apam balik ($7 for 2) were being made. These are a popular pancake which are pan-cooked, filled with creamed corn and nuts and turned over to form a crisp snack.

Apam balik (sweet pancake turnover) in the making

Then at Cafe Kasturi, we drooled as we eyed the chicken skewers on the grill and are convinced we need a dozen chicken satay sticks (6 for $8) and 2 containers of assorted sweet Malay kueh cakes and puddings ($1.20 each or a container of 5 for $5).

Cafe Kasturi's satay chicken skewers

Cafe Kasturi's chicken satay sticks were significantly larger than at Mamak and the satay sauce was as rich and nutty. However, an addition of diced cucumber would have been refreshing with the chunky cuts of Spanish onion and ketupat (rice cakes).

Our selection of sweet Malay kuey were delicious. There were lovely pandan aromas, different textures ranging from soft glutinous pudding to the firm and chewy. My favourite was the kuih ketayap which is a crepe wrapped like a small spring roll and filled with grated coconut and palm sugar.

Cafe Kasturi's sweet Malay kueh cakes and puddings

At the Kuali stall, we were tempted by the sound of a durian panna cotta but end up with the classic sago gula melaka which are sago pearls served with palm sugar and coconut milk. We also have the beef rendang which comes with some delectable pickled vegetables and a fragrant biryani rice. The rojak was soggy by the time we ate it.

Kuali's sago gula melaka (sago pearls pudding with palm sugar), beef rendang with biryani rice and rojak

While in the Kuali queue, my nose took me on a journey to Sally's Kitchen's coconut rice. And so I bought a beef nasi lemak which was as good as its smelt.

Sally Kitchen's beef rendang with nasi lemak and coconut rice

We also attempted the longest queue which was at Penang Hawker for their char kway teow but unfortunately had to ask for a refund after they recognised that they had taken more orders than manageable -which is to our relief as by this stage, we were already stuffed silly.

My beautiful friends, Sham, Jordan and Kat at the festival with me

This will have to be one of my most favourite food festivals in Sydney, simply because the concept of sharing food and culture with these Malaysian international students is so heart-warming. Keep an eye out for other upcoming food festivals in the I Ate My Way Through forums.

Where can you find the same food I've eaten here?
Mamak
15 Goulburn St, Haymarket
Web: www.mamak.com.au
Phone: (02) 9211 1668

Kuali
1st Floor, Lane Cove Arcade
115 Longueville Road, Lane Cove
Web: www.kuali.com.au
Phone: (02) 9418 6878

Cafe Kasturi
767-769 George Street, Sydney
Web: www.valentineongeorge.com/cafekasturi
Phone: (02) 9288 9888

P.S. Congratulations to the winners of our Julie & Julia Mastering the Art of French Food-Blogging competition!

I'm a big fan of Time Out. I would never visit a city without first consulting the local Time Out guide.

Time Out Sydney's Food Awards 09 winners were announced this week, so let's see who made the cut:

People's Choice
Winner: Glebe Point Diner, Glebe
Runners-up: Bodega, Surry Hills; Quay, The Rocks; Marque, Surry Hills; Longrain, Surry Hills

I'm a bit ashamed that I haven't yet dined at Glebe Point Diner. There are all round positive reviews from other food bloggers, namely, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry, Double Cooked, Lemonade Land and Steph's Food Journey and along with mountain loads of press and editorial reviews, Glebe Point Diner is an obvious people's choice.

Best New Restaurant
Winner: Rockpool Bar and Grill, Sydney
Runners-up: Sepia, Sydney; Spice Temple, Sydney; Etch, Sydney; The Beresford, Darlinghurst

Rockpool Bar & Grill in Melbourne is an absolute favourite. While I haven't been to its Sydney sister, can anyone tell me if it's any different?

Etch is simply full of pretty spaces and their macaroni is to-die-for. The revamped Beresford trattoria is also a clear winner (runner-up in this case) with the locals.

Best Cafe
Winner: Cafe Sopra, Waterloo
Runners-up: Deus ex Machina, Camperdown; Wall, Surry Hills; Ruby's Diner, Waverley; Kazbah, Balmain

Anyone who has been to Kazbah's breakfast banquet will be an advocate. Hmmm, why isn't Dank Street Depot a runner-up?

Best Desserts
Winner: Universal, Darlinghurst
Runners-up: Pier, Rosebay; Quay, The Rocks; Longrain, Surry Hills; Rockpool, The Rocks

I haven't been to Universal, nor Pier or Longrain. But if Quay is any benchmark for the winner, I have to get myself to Universal. I adore Quay's eight texture chocolate cake and their pear creme caramel, sauterne jelly, pear icecream and caramel cream!

Best Steak
Winner: Fix St James, Sydney
Runners-up: Bistro Moncur, Woolahra; Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney; Tabou, Surry Hills; Mad Cow, Sydney

Wow, I haven't been to any of these places. What about Prime? Chophouse?

Best Fixed Price Menu
Winner: Bentley Restaurant and Bar, Surry Hills
Runners-up: Assiette, Surry Hills, Atelier, Glebe; Vini, Surry Hills; Marque, Surry Hills

Best Seafood
Winner: Sepia, Sydney
Runners-up: Tetsuya's, Sydney; Manta, Woolloomooloo; Fish Face, Darlinghurst; Pier, Rose Bay

Am I the only one who hearts Flying Fish, Masuya and Ocean Room?

Best Burgers
Winner: Rockpool Bar & Grill, Sydney
Runners-Up: Plan B by Becasse, Sydney; Ruby's Diner, Waverley; The Burger Joint, Darlinghurst; Paul's Burgers, Sylvania

You will have no doubt seen my recent list of where to find the best burgers in Sydney. I still stand by it -although from reading the comments, I need to get myself to Rockpool Bar & Grill and Counter Burger!

Best Cheap Eat
Winner: Black Star Pastry, Newtown
Runners-up: Din Tai Fung, Haymarket; Guzman y Gomez, Newtown; Mamak, Haymarket; Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket

Seriously, how can anything beat Mamak? OK, maybe #chronic ramen is close, but a pastry shop? It must be bloody good, and I have yet to try. But the bigger issue here, is how 6 xiao long bao (soup dumplings) for $8.80 can be considered a cheap eat!

Best Sandwiches
Winner: Malibu, Surry Hills
Runners-up: Pilu Kiosk, 'On the Beach', Freshwater; Big Bite, Sydney; Hong Ha, Hurstville; Plan B by Becasse, Sydney

Best Patisseries
Winner: Adriano Zumbo, Balmain
Runners-up: Croissant D'Or, Potts Point; Yellow, Potts Point; Bourke Street Bakery, Surry Hills; Sweet Belem, Petersham

Ah, Zumbo. Post-Masterchef, Zumbo appears to be the real winner with endless queues and requests for his macarons, croquembouche and the chocolate mousse cake.

Best Noodles
Winner: Gumshara, Haymarket
Runners-up: Pho An, Bankstown; Twisted Noodle Bar, Sydney; Menya Noodle Bar, Sydney, Tan Viet, Cabramatta

I think ramen should be in its own category. But regardless, you'll still find me every fortnight slurping up $7 noodles at Dong Ba in Bankstown.

Best Thai
Winner: Spice I Am, Surry Hills
Runners-up: Longrain, Surry Hills; Sailor's Thai, The Rocks; Chat Thai, Sydney; Crocodile Senior, Sydney

Best Yum Cha
Winner: Fisherman's Wharf, Pyrmont
Runners-up: Marigold, Sydney, Sunny Harbour Seafood Restaurant, Hurstville; Sky Phoenix, Sydney; Golden Unicorn, Maroubra

Best Tapas
Winner: Bodega, Surry Hills
Runners-up: Ash St Cellar, Sydney; Delicado, McMahons Point; Sean's Kitchen, Pyrmont, Catalonia, Kirribilli

Bodega, can anything beat it? I think Spanish Terrazas, Velero and Cantina may be close contenders for runners-up.

Best Pizza
Winner: Lucio Pizzeria, Darlinghurst
Runners-up: Pompei's, Bondi Beach; Rosso Pomodoro, Balmain; La Disfida, Haberfield; Pizza Mario, Surry Hills

Errr, Pizza e Birra anyone?

So what do you think? Are these the winners or losers?

Kammadhenu has a menu which satisfies many Asian tastebuds. They have vast options available, categorically split by starters, curries, vegetarian, goat, egg, lamb, beef, chicken, seafood, rice/noodle, kothu roti, hoppers, breads, desserts and extras! Within the savoury dishes, they've even thoughtfully marked them up with chillis. There's one chilli for mild, two for medium, three for hot and four for good luck!

We started with the gobi pakoda which are cauliflower tips dipped in besan batter (made from chickpea flour), deep fried and served with green chilli sauce. I love the crumbly texture and the tumeric flavour which is enhanced with cumin seeds.

Gobi pakoda, cauliflower tips

Our basmathi rice is served on a thali (big round metal plate) which allows us to mix and match from our selection of dishes.

We have the eggplant curry, prawn sambol and butter chicken and of course a plain roti to mop up all the succulent sauces.

Butter chicken curry with mild, sweet and creamy sauce, hot and tangy eggplant curry and prawn sambol served in cute katori bowls

Plain roti

With such so many options for dessert, we find it hard sticking to one and end up ordering the sago with palm syrup and sweet dosai.

The sago swam in a pond of milky coconut and could have been sweetened with more palm syrup. And within my other hand, the dosai was drizzled with circles of condensed milk. The crisp baked aroma was heavenly.

Sago with palm syrup

Dessert of sweet dosai

A visit to Kammadhenu is like a trip through South Asia. It is cheap, cheerful and crowded.

Kammadhenu
171 King St Newtown
Phone: (02) 9550 2611

While many are drawn to the Crown Complex at Melbourne for its gaming floor, I kept coming back for the food.

It was New Years Eve 2008 and amidst the loud crowd building up outside, Sho Noodle Bar was busy serving up plates of traditional Chinese cuisine and refilling pot after pot of really good tea.

There was a queue for proper tables so we took up the opportunity to sit at the bar which allowed me to witness the efficiency behind its open kitchen.

I was a little unsure of their four page tea menu, so the waiter talked me into trying the $6 pot of Qi Xian Nv Jasmine bloom tea which was as delicious as it was fascinating to watch. It was infused with soothing aromas of green tea and the perfect accompaniment to such a big meal! Yes, as usual, we over-ordered and over-ate, but the tea supported me well.

Jasmine blossoming tea, $6

Chinese condiments

Open kitchen

We shared a variety of Sho's specialty dishes including a spicy Assam fish curry with okra, tomatoes, onion and mint. We also had a selection of braised fungus and mushrooms which were cooked in a fragrant wine and garlic sauce. The earthy flavours were simply delectable. We followed with a staple plate of Singaporean stir-fried beehoon noodles which helped balance the rich dishes. Then I noticed the crayfish getting flash fried and tossed with honey, chilli and spring onions.As we shifted the dishes and teapots around to make room, the glistening dish arrived and we were hypnotized like munching machines.

Assam fish curry with okra, tomatoes, onion and mint, $16.80

Selection of braised fungus and mushrooms, $15.80

Singapore style noodles, $17.80

Wok-fried crayfish with honey, chilli and spring onion, $39.50

New Years Eve crowd at Melbourne

Come here for the extensive tea list and the well executed Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean dishes.

Sho Noodle Bar
Main gaming floor, Crown Entertainment Complex
8 Whiteman Street Southbank VIC
Phone: (03) 9292 6885

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

I didn't do any Sugar Hits this year (previous ones back in 2006 are here, here and here) nor did I attend any Hats Off dinners... what I did do during this year's Good Food Month, was grab a quick bite on the last day of the Night Noodle Markets.

It was packed!

Squidlicious were offering mixed seafood plates for $16 which included 2 sticky and sweet prawn skewers, 2 crisp tempura prawns, some not-too-bad salt and pepper squid and crumbled scallops on a bed of undressed gourmet green salad leaves.

The nasi lemak ($10) from Sam Satay had all the key elements, coconut rice, egg, anchovies, sambal, cucumber, peanuts and chicken curry... it was tasty but lacked oomph.

Sam Satay were also offering roti canai with dahl (lentil curry). The roti was a little soggy, overwhelmingly buttery and the dahl lacked flavour and spice.

No time for dessert, because we were running late to a 25th surprise birthday party!

Good Food Month
http://gfm.smh.com.au

This place is exactly like the street stall its owners had enticed the Chinatown Friday Night Market goers with last year. It's fast, there are still queues and the food remains scrumptious.

While I can't pronounce "Mamak" like a true Malaysian, I can definitely eat chilli like one. And even still, the fiery hotness in the Sambal udang caught me by surprise. The jam textured sambal was so addictive. I scooped spoonfuls on each delectable piece of prawn.

The Kari ikan was delicious also. The fish was oily and flaky and the tangy curry was matched well with chunks of tomatoes, okra and eggplant.

Next was the Rojak which was brought out within an impressive 10 minutes of ordering. The prawn and coconut fritters were sweet enough to be classified as dessert but i loved the refreshing textures between the salad of shredded yambean, cucumber, fried tofu, hard-boiled eggs and glossy thick peanut sauce.

The Kangkung belacan seems to transcend many cultures and languages as it is also known as 'rau muống' in Vietnamese, 'ong choy' in Cantonese, 'eng chai' in Hokkien/Teochew and 'water spinach' in English, right here in Australia. The aromas of the shrimp paste were all mopped up with the leafy greens.

Mamak serve 10 types of roti, including 4 sweet variants. We ordered the original roti canai which was crispy on the outside, buttery and fluffy on the inside. It was served with 2 curry dips and a dollop of spicy sambal sauce. It couldn't have been good for my waist, but oh, I am so craving it right now! (Psst, Mamak opens til 2am on Friday and Saturday nights... almost too good to be true! Traditional roti at 2am? Count me in! Hehe...)

There's not much I can say about perfectly fried chicken... and Mamak do the best ayam goreng. Crispy, spicy, golden... I'd have this over KFC any day.

Coffee and tea tastes better with condensed milk. Here we had the teh ais (ice milk tea), kopi ais (ice white coffee) and kopi tarik (white coffee).

Ais kacang... just look at this glorious mountain of red beans, corn, grass jelly, rose-syrup, sweetened milk and shaved ice! Enough said.

Meet Hazim and Zen...

And me & Xiaohan...

Want more Malaysian goodness? Check out the Mamak menu below or why not tingle your taste buds at the Malaysian Festival on Aug 31, at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour?

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Mamak
15 Goulburn Street, Sydney
www.mamak.com.au

Argh, I'm tired, and exhausted... but I've still been eating. So here's just a quick post from last Friday night.

We were out to celebrate Shamini's birthday... Happy Birthday Sham!

Ella's wrap: plump prawns stuffed with minced prawns, herbs and vegetables sealed in a fine pastry and snap fried

Parker's Gem: bite sized pieces of minced chicken blended with potatoes, coriander, silver thread noodles and special spices - lightly battered then snap fried

Red Temple Chicken: chicken roulade smothered with a lightly spiced red sauce of chilli, lemon grass, coconut, garlic and tomatoes

The next two dishes were the stand-out of the night. The Ayam Blues was fabulously rich, buttery and crispy. There was also an elegant peanut fragrance...MmMm...

Ayam blues: lightly battered chicken fillets, wok tossed in a subtle tangy mayonnaise coating infused with lemon juice and tomato sauce

The Assam Prawns was uniquely tropical... it was a little sweet, a little sour... and a little spicy.

Assam Prawns: fresh prawns in a spicy tangy tamarind flavoured sauce with tomatoes, string beans and pineapple pieces

Mee Goreng: Hokkien noodles wok-tossed with a blend of spices, diced bean curd, potatoes, tomatoes, chicken, egg and prawns.

chilli prawns: fresh prawns topped with an egg-blend sweet chilli sauce

beef rendang: beef, curry paste and coconut milk

Taya (aka. Annie), Jordan, Me, Aileen & Shamini

The service was awesome... they were extremely willing to cater to our needs. The ambience of the restaurant was also really soothing. Peaceful rhythms, a funky interior and great casual alfresco dining!

Chinta Ria
The Roof Terrace, Cockle Bay Wharf, Darling Park
Level 2, 201 Sussex St

Phone (02) 9264 3211