Category: Malaysian

Laksa King

12/6/2016

Sunday lunch was spent with with Ling, Noah, Stef and baby Bunty and we gathered in Flemington for Laksa King. This was Steve and my first visit but the rest of the group have been before. Stef is almost a regular but it is in her 'hood. It was busy so lucky we had a reservation and they didn't seem to mind when we weren't all there at the pre booked time.

Service is more efficient than friendly but it works and we're attended to promptly.

Steve and I share the lobak which was tasty; more meaty than spring roll like but good. I went with fish fillet laksa which was generous with at least 5 pieces of fried fish. Steve went shredded duck laksa and Stef had combo laksa.

The laksas went down a treat. Loved the balance of flavours and it wasn't overly coconutty and creamy. I could have done with more spice but the chilli sambal we asked for helped. We found these vibrant bowls of sunshine yellow goodness to be great value for money at less than $15 per serve depending on the type. $10.80 for the combo!

Ling had the Ipoh Hor Fun which also looked huge and delicious with lots of eggy gravy.

Noah had the roast chicken rice which to me looked a little dry and more meagre than the noodle dishes but it seemed to be well received. Water bottles were replaced regularly, not necessarily with a smile but I'm ok with that!

Laksa King is worth the travel for good laksa and there's plenty more to try next time.

Rice Queen

10/5/2014

During a recent, super rainy Saturday Steve and I headed down Brunswick Street in search of lunch. I've been wanting to try Rice Queen and I think the loose plan was to head there unless something else distracted us so on we moseyed. And we got to Spice Queen and it was still wet and windy and miserable so in spite of there being virtually no one else there the red satin lanterns, 1920s Chinese cigarette girl posters and chintzy opium den Suzi Wong feel drew us in. I can imagine this place getting pretty jumping on an evening. Kinda pleased we got to see a different side to this Queen.

We started off with some of the smaller plates:

Caramelized pork bites - twice cooked pork belly served with green nam jim, crispy shallots and garlic chips
Sesame prawn toasts with garlic chives and black caramel vinegar (unpictured)
KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) Eric's seven spice crispy chicken ribs tossed with spring onions and whole chillies served with mint sauce.
Spiced duck with salted cucumber ribbons, chilli, pickled ginger and sesame dressing

Loved the sweet pork bites and the prawn toasts. Not so keen on the mint sauce that came with the chicken ribs but I used some of the other sauces instead which were much more yummy. Loved the creamy, cool, sesame dressing on the cucumber with the duck.

Our wet and rainy day was certainly drying out thanks to this injection of spice.

Our follow up to the small plates was to share two larger dishes:

Korean DIY tacos - slow roasted Korean style pork served with steamed rice, kimchi, butter lettuce cups and our own homemade 'ssam' sauce
Pad Thai noodles, chicken, with egg, peanuts, bean shoots and spring onion

The Pad Thai was good. I don't think they used the typical flat white noodle which threw me but flavours were good and it was nice and dry fried (ie a hot wok was used correctly) as opposed to gluggy which is when the noodles overcook and overstew as it's not flash fried.

The DIY tacos were a little disappointing as we just felt the pork was "over pulled" so texture was mushy and flavour was over sweet. The butter lettuce is too floppy a leaf to use so it's hard to wrap and the whole thing gets a bit soft with no texture. I think Iceberg lettuce would be a better leaf to use or even taco shells. I liked the meat and rice combo as the sticky rice did add another texture. I think less sweet and more crunch would work better.

All in all though, in spite of delays to drinks orders (out of beer, new beer keg,,,that sort of unlucky run), I like Rice Queen. I can see it will get busy on a weekend and that it probably gets a but unruly and chaotic (hence low Urbanspoon score) but I guess that's also "character" maybe? I think the food is on par with the likes of Chin Chin and other fusion Asian and prices slightly cheaper. I'd happily return.

Rice Queen Oriental Diner and Bar on Urbanspoon

The Rickshaw

11/2/2014

Steve and I were kindly invited to try out The Rickshaw on Gertrude Street along with other bloggers and we were treated to a set sit down meal on a warm evening last week. The invite advised 6pm and I was there then and Steve arrived a touch later. There was a lot of general mingling and we were treated to canape style servings of two dishes:

Penang Bowl - Our twist on the traditional satay with ground chicken but made without peanuts served in a bowl served with a butter fried naan bread

Chicken 65 - Fried chicken with curry leaves, slit green chillies and spicy yoghurt sauce

Both were delicious. I loved the sweet creaminess of the satay - almost like a sweet Thai red curry with the soft naan bread. The Chicken 65 came with an explosive kick that hit the tastebuds in a fiery but delightful way.

The restaurant isn't huge - maybe 30 seats and it has some stiff neighbouring competition with Anada next door and Cutler and Co not far away. However there probably isn't an Asian offering. The concept is unified Asia so dishes that are from specific parts such as the Thai satay and the Southern Indian Chicken 65. There are Japanese dishes, Chinese dishes...Speaking to the owners, there is a lot of passion for what they want to do and achieve and they really do enjoy the dishes they have put on the menu. They are true advocates of what they have done.

There was quite a bit of mingling before we were invited to be seated and then another wait for the food. Once it got going though, things moved quicker. We enjoyed the following dishes:

Duck Salad - Shredded duck leg, cucumber, green papaya, lychee, red chilli and papaya dressing

Pui’s 3 Fungi Rolls - Cabbage rolls, each filled with a mix of enoki, oyster and shitake mushrooms, served with garlic konbu sauce

Pani Puri - Mini puff pastries stuffed with potato, chickpeas, pomegranate, tamarind sauce and served with spicy water

Black Cod - Black cod fillets marinated in Saikyo miso, served with grilled asparagus and baby carrots

Achari Rack of Lamb - Braised and slow cooked rack of lamb in mustard oil, flavored with Fenugreek, fennel, cumin seeds & cloves,

Drunken Noodles - Stir-fried flat rice noodles, chicken, green peppercorns, wild ginger and Yamazaki whiskey

Lemongrass Crème Brulée

Thai Tea Panna Cotta with Honey Syrup

Coconut Sago Pudding - Young coconut meat, roast coconut flakes, corn and micro herbs

I'm just going to discuss some highlights and lowlights and although Steve and I were invited to this meal as guests, what I write comes from my heart and mind. The duck salad was fresh and zingy - on the spicy side but a good duck salad. The black cod had a hint of the Nobu signature dish but was actually very white with none of the black cod skin. It was flavoursome enough and a decent interpretation. The lamb cutlet was tender and tasty of Indian spice again with a good chili explosion.

The pani puri felt a little copy cat to Tonka's version and not quite as refined. I wasn't that impressed at Tonka and the same applies here. The cabbage rolls weren't my bag either as I felt they were a bit too bland.

The three desserts were surprisingly good and I'm not really an Asian dessert fan. The creme brulee had a lovely creamy and silky consistency that was rich and just with a hint of lemongrass. The panna cotta had a beautifully sexy wobble to eat and I enjoyed the sweet tea flavour. The coconut sago pudding was probably the least favourite as it was quite solid in texture and didn't really have much flavour but I suspect it was overpowered by the sweetness in the panna cotta and the creme brulee.

I hope The Rickshaw does well. There is passion there but I'm not sure it can manage to draw in the crowds it needs to every day especially earlier in the week. It would be good to see it succeed.

The Rickshaw on Urbanspoon

Coconut House

3/9/2013

Quick mid week lunch with my colleague Susan who had a craving for the pork noodles. I had the chicken rice but so hard to choose as the menu is so vast. Service wasn't the friendliest nor was it the worst though so it wasn't off putting. Enjoyed the iced tea tarik which wasn't overly sweet or creamy.

The chicken rice was pleasant enough and tastier than some I've had. The addition of the braised egg was great. Love an egg! Only thing is given the thirst that overtook my palate later on in the day, makes me think it's heavy on the MSG.

Coconut House on Urbanspoon

Koko Yee

12/4/2013

Following on from the comforting hug in a bowl that was the beef udon at Nama Nama I wanted to continue to seek such solace for the next day's lunch and decided to try out Koko Yee.

I went in the late afternoon and the place was pleasantly occupied but I could still have a choice of seat. I found the decor a bit haphazard in that some areas were funky and well done but then the large paper printed menu on the wall with the typos and misspelling and marker pen touch ups and laminate photos on the other wall just didn't seem to match the whitewash and minimalist look. I've since read that the original owners have sold out so that may explain the lack of synergy as old transfers to new. I think I would have preferred the original funk to the new like every other Asian eatery style.

Anyway when it comes to Asian food, decor comes second and food comes first. I went with the soy duck noodles for $12. The plate of food that arrived was generous in appearance and came with the chicken broth. After digging around I discovered that actually it was more than generous with a huge amount of noodles.

Taste wise, I have to say I was a little disappointed. The duck really just tasted of soy sauce - no other spicings or flavourings. The meat itself was bland, no duck flavour just the ubiquitous soy sauce and it was also quite tough and difficult to get off the bone. The noodles were springy and a good texture but again because the duck lacked flavour, it meant the noodles were also bland.

The chicken broth was packed full of flavour - MSG flavour! I ended up pouring some of this over the noodles to get more flavour but I knew in my head this was not a good idea as it was just MSG overload but my tastebuds wanted it!

I wish I'd gone to Koko Yee in the earlier days and enjoyed it when it was actually good.his time round, I don't begrudge the $12 spent and I'm open to spending another $12 there but in no rush to,

Koko Yee on Urbanspoon

Mamak

24/10/2012

Mamak has opened in typical Melbourne heralded style with a Broadsheet introduction and queues out the door. Naturally I wanted to go and see what it was all about and preferably on a weekday night to avoid the weekend crush and foodie friend Kirsten was happy to be my date.

Firstly BYO - great! So armed with a bottle of Margaret River's finest we arrived around 5:15pm and waited for the doors to open. It's a shame there's nothing else around by way of a bar or somewhere to sit and wait except for a manky metal bench. We weren't the only ones waiting though and as soon as the doors opened at least two or three other dining groups went in ahead of us.

It's a decent sized dining hall. The tables are quite close together. There's nothing wrong with it but there's also nothing all that impressive. Wait staff are friendly enough and we were given glass tumblers for our wine quite quickly.

We ordered two types of roti - roti planta described as rich and buttery and roti bawang with lashings of sweet red onions both served with two curry sauces and spicy sambal sauce.

Loved the roti planta and the curry sauces consisted of a lentil one with a rough texture and a smooth gravy type. Both pretty good. The roti planta was on the right side of doughy whilst remaining light and I loved the buttery flavour. The roti bawang was alright - the onion wasn't as caramelised or sweet as I thought it would be. Still had that spicy onion tang which whilst not offensive wasn't what we expected. Still ate it all though but next time would be happy to drop it and try a different one but I'd re order the planta.

As our main courses we had the kari ayam described as classic chicken curry cooked with freshly ground spices and chunky potatoes. There were about 3 potatoes in our serve. The chicken was tasty and there was a good amount of it. I felt the spices hadn't quite cooked out enough as texture was a little grainy but it was good enough,

We also had the ayam goreng - Malaysian-style fried chicken marinated with herbs and spices and full of flavour. It was decent enough fried chicken and again good size pieces.

The beef satay grilled over flaming charcoal for that authentic Malaysian flavour was served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce. They were small skinny little skewers and pleasant enough but like the roti bawang not a must order for next time.

Roti pisang served with fresh banana was dessert. Oh and if Mamak do one thing good it's their roti. This was delicious with caramelised banana stuffed inside the roti. You can see the brown discs of banana on the picture and coupled with vanilla ice cream it was a dessert delight.

We paid $35 each for all that food which I thought was a good deal given we were in CBD. It's not groundbreaking cuisine or destination dining but for a quick tasty meal during the week, it's a good call. At least the roti rocks.

Mamak on Urbanspoon

Straits Kitchen

11/8/2012

Saturday was a double date night and we caught up with Ling and Noah at Straits Kitchen. It was all a bit confusing and they actually meant for us to dine at Straits of Malacca in Glen Waverley but somehow I ended up booking Straits Kitchen in between Mount and Glen Waverley so after a delayed start we managed to all be in one place, seated round one table!

We ordered 6 dishes in total to share and the waitress said they would come out three at a time. The combinations she chose was a little bit weird but I guess it doesn't matter too much.

So round 1 was Hainanese Chicken Rice, Sambal Spinach and Five Spice Pork Chop.

The chicken rice was decent enough and above average. The spinach was fresh, vibrant and flavoursome and a favourite of everyone. The pork chop was decent enough too but I thought the batter was a bit too thick.

Round 2 was Wat Dan Hor (rice noodles stir fried with a thick sauce), Roti Cenai with chicken curry and Beef Rendang.

The roti cenai was very good - warm and fluffy roti with a crisp to it and a decent curry. The wat dan hor was a touch too gelatinously gloopy and the beef rendang was a bit of a disappointment considering it was calling itself the specialty of the restaurant. The beef itself was tender enough but the balance of spices just wasn't quite right and the sauce wasn't fragrant enough.

All in all, dinner was decent enough. I'm not desperate to return but I'm not averse to either. Maybe next time we'll get to the right Straits place!

Straits Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Seamstress

8/6/2012

Friday night was a date night for Steve and I and it was no ordinary date as Steve had been away for ten days so this was first time together after his trip.

I'd seen him briefly for half an hour that morning when he'd returned home and before I had to leave for work. Lucky for me, when I returned from work, I didn't have to think about dinner as Steve had made reservations at Seamstress.

I've been wanting to go there for a while to see how it differs from the other Asian restaurants around. We didn't have time to go to the top floor bar but enjoyed our table in the restaurant.

Service was a little flustered initially and we had to wait for menus and drinks for a while but it improved as the meal progressed.

We enjoyed being able to choose what we wanted to eat and left the serving sizes to our waiter to decide and I'm pretty pleased that he got it just right!

We started off with pan seared wild harvest scallops stuffed with house XO paste, chilli & fresh lime. The scallops were beautifully fresh, plump and sweet and there was certainly a lime flavour that contrasted with the sea flavours of the scallop. However Steve and I both felt that there could have been a stronger flavour of chilli and XO paste as these notes weren't distinctive.

Next was BBQ unagi, pickled bean shoots, soft bolied quail egg. This was more flavoursome than the scallops and I enjoyed the salty fish and tart bean shoots which was softened by the creamy egg. I found the texture of the unagi a little dry and it kind of turned into mush in the mouth.

Crispy soft shell crab on sugar snaps with a sweet & sour style chilli sauce came next and whilst I've had jucier soft shell crab the sauce was super tasty and I loved the crunch and sweetness of the sugar snaps.

Juniper crusted venison carpaccio, beetroot & horseradish puree, shallots, buckwheat noodles and a cassis vinaigrette was served at the same time as the crab. This was a dish where all the elements had to be eaten at the same time for maximum enjoyment. The noodles themselves were bland but when coupled with the sweet puree and tasty venison it was yummy.

Our main courses were the twelve hour braised Berkshire pork belly with drunken potatoes, steamed baby bok choy & red wine jus and the plum sauce glazed roast duck with sweet pickled candy lemon zest, jasmine rice & orange jus.

Both dishes were done well and funnily enough I favoured the duck and Steve preferred the pork but we enjoyed both. I liked the fact the duck was juicy and I enjoyed the zesty lemon hit which was a little bit of a twist as duck is more commonly paired with plum or orange.

The pork was soft with a slight crackle to the skin. I found the sauce a little bit heavy on the soy but the drunken potatoes were delicious. They reminded me of the potatoes my gran used to make with a red braised pork dish where she'd deep fry the potatoes first before braising them for a long time in a salty soy casserole type dish with pork and hard boiled eggs. I guess this is the moden Australian twist on that Shanghai family kitchen classic.

We decided to finish with the palm sugar & vanilla bean panna cotta with strawberry & mint macerated in balsamic syrup . The panna cotta came with sexy wobble of a good panna cotta. Sadly when we dug with our spoons it was more gelatinous than I like. I like panna cotta to be barely set so it's soft and silky where this was a little too jelly like and heading closer to being solid than just set. The flavours and sweetness were a pleasant end to the meal and the strawberries tasted good.

On the whole we enjoyed Seamstress. We had a great corner table and it was a comfortable dining area to sit in. It's a small and narrow room but we didn't feel too squished or too close to other tables. Whilst the food is not the most adventurous and is more reserved and restrained compared to the in your face and robust flavours of Chin Chin, Red Spice Road et al it's still decent food and it's a little bit more chilled out and relaxed compare to their buzzy atmosphere so there's a time and place for something less fraught and frantic.

Seamstress on Urbanspoon

Chin Chin

17/5/2012

A mid week impromptu decision was made and Stefanie and I headed to Chin Chin for a feed.

It was about 6:30pm when we arrived and there were a few people ahead of us as to be expected and when it came to our turn we were told it would be a 45 minute wait. Not the end of the World given it was still early so we headed downstairs to Go Go bar for a vino and waited for them to text us when our table was ready. Go Go is one of those dark, moody, atmospheric bars and we were welcomed warmly and the waitress found us a place to sit at the end of a communal table. Lucky for us one of the comfier sofa area places soon became free so we moved over. We opted for a glass of Gewurtztraminer each which was fragrant and floral and truly a Thursday delight.

Our table was ready well within the 45 minute timeframe they gave us so we headed back ready to sample some yummy food.

We decided to leave ourselves in the hands of the waitress for the feed me option but we informed her that we definitely wanted the pork roll ups and wanted to avoid the Massaman curry as we found it too heavy last time.

The meal started off well with the kingfish sashimi and the requested pork roll ups. We also had a tom yum dumpling soup which was super salty...so salty it was almost bitter so that wasn't a particularly pleasant memory. The chicken wings with chilli and coriander were just that - I love a chicken wing and this was neither out of this World or terrible.

Our main courses included the beef short ribs which was tender and meltingly soft. The sweet glaze on the meat was off set by a sharp and tangy dressing. There were also some other meat dishes which I can't remember but I recall feeling very full and everything was very heavy. Stef and I agreed that the waitress who selected our dishes didn't quite get the balance right and it was too meat heavy. We found her quite a defensive character though so we didn't want to incur her wrath by making a big deal out of it. I had mentioned when she asked us if we were enjoying the food that the soup was overly salty and she didn't know how to react. I think if you're going to ask a question, be prepared for an honest and sometimes unexpected answer. Stef mentioned when she asked us again how we found the food that there was a lot of meat and she just sucked in her breath and cleared the tables. When she returned she expressed that we hadn't had just meat because we'd started with fish and other things. So we felt like we'd been told and how we felt didn't really matter.

Real shame we had this experience and upon our next return, I think we'll choose ourselves. I think there will be a return visit because Chin Chin is just one of those Melbourne places that warrants return visits.

Chin Chin on Urbanspoon

Café Tien Tien

6/3/2012

Always out for a bargain, we ended up at Café Tien Tien with a deals.com voucher. Having tried a couple of these our expectations are generally low and we use them to try out as a cheap mid week dinners as an excuse not to cook.

I tend to do a quick reviews check and make sure location is convenient before committing to buy and Café Tien Tien seemed to come out ok.

I booked a table via email as per instructions and this was simple enough. We were the first to arrive at the restaurant and during our quick meal there were other diners, mainly couples but it tended to remain very quiet. The fact it was early on a week night was probably the main reason for this.

Our voucher entitled us to to a set menu and we had a couple of choices for a main dish from pad thai, pho and a curry and we opted for a curry.

We were first served a flavoursome tom yam soup with a few prawns in it. Flavours were well balanced but it wasn't the best tom yam we've had. Tasted a little synthetic but it was acceptable.

Next was had san choi bow which again was strong in flavour but not a stand out as were the fried chicken wings.

Chicken and cashew nuts and Malaysian beef curry came out next with one small bowl of rice so we ordered another. Both dishes were also acceptable but not stand out.

Dessert took a bit longer and it was deep fried icecream. I expected the coating to be warm and crispy but it was cold and soggy so probably deep fried in a factory a long time ago and kept frozen in a box!

All in all the meal was worth the money we paid in quantity alone and it was a good deal. It didn't make me want to return however as the food just wasn't special enough.

The restaurant decor is quite attractive - dark wood and Eastern and I can imagine when it's busy and buzzing and there is candlelight it would be quite a nice place to dine. Sadly the day we were there it lacked ambience and the place just felt a touch too empty.

Café Tien Tien on Urbanspoon