Malaysian Festival QV Market

On Sunday, at Queen Victoria market was the Malaysia Festival which mainly consisted of delicious food. There weren't many stalls, I would say 15 or so including a chorizo and churros one, a takoyaki one and a few tornado potato ones. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll probably realise 80% of the time I eat out it's Malaysian food. It's no coincidence, I love the cuisine. 

Curry Puff $2

From the stall that sold the satay, I really wish I looked at their stall name because their satay sticks were sooo good. The curry puffs, crisp but nothing spectacular inside. Not saying it was bad but the quality of the other foods on offer were just so high. 

Assam Laksa $5 and Teh Tarik $3

I was expecting a msg flavoured soup with soggy mushy noodles but this was good quality assam laksa. The noodles were very springy still except the fork provided were incredibly inappropriate as the gaps between the prongs were a lot thinner than the fat noodle. But the noodles weren't the highlight of this dish, it was the soup. They were definitely not stingy on the ingredients, plenty of fish and spices, giving the soup a massive punch of flavour. The teh tarik was decent but not amazing as it wasn't very "pulled" but had a strong tea flavour. The bag it came in was like in true Malaysian style. There was more in the bag than in the picture, it was just too tempting before I took a picture. 

Satay $10 (for 10)

Best satay I've had in Melbourne hands down. They were done on charcoal which gave it that delicious smoky flavour. The beef had a little fat on it which made it even tastier whereas the chicken was leaner but still incredibly delicious. The satay sauce was the proper stuff. A little part of me cries every time I read a satay recipe that only uses a jar of peanut butter and coconut milk to make satay sauce, it is so much more. Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, spices all combine to make an incredibly delicious sauce. The pressed rice cakes were great for soaking up the rest of the satay sauce. This satay reminded me a lot of the ones from Mamak in Sydney. 

The charred crispy bits =]

Most definitely coming back next year. Hopefully they promote it a bit more as I only found out from the boy who got an email from the Malaysian club at uni. There were a few flyers up at uni but they weren't very noticeable.

Eating Out: Mamak [15 Goulburn St Haymarket, 2000]

I knew I had to come here when I was told we were going to Sydney. Claimed to be the best Malaysian restaurant in Sydney, that I cannot confirm as I haven't been to any other Malay places in Sydney but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. This place isn't hard to find, just look for a massive queue. We got there at 8pm and still had to wait 45mins to get a table for 4 best is if you're a table of 2, so next time I'm just going to bring 1 friend =P But then you can't try out as many dishes.....hmmmm the compromise.....the more the merrier of course. One good thing about waiting in line is that you have plenty of time to decide what you want to eat and watch the guys make roti in the window.
Best meal I had in Sydney!

The guys making the roti

I stood there for ages just watching them

The entire time they kept chatting to each other

Whilst the chicks cooked the roti on the hot plate

Kangkung Belacan $13

They really need to put chilli ratings on their menu. My tongue was dying just from this. Nothing special about it though except that the stalks were still crunchy (good thing) unlike mum's version which is normally soft/soggy.

Kari Ikan $16

Chose the fish one because we were already getting chicken satays and my family loves seafood. The curry was packed full of flavour and spicies. The amount of fish was quite generous and firm so it didn't disintegrate into the curry. We also found okra and tomatoes in there. Only one problem, it was insanely chilli for our standards and we required many cups of water as we could not stop eating the delicious curry.

Nasi Lemak + sambal prawns $7.50+$4

Probably the only let down of the whole dinner. There were only 2 prawns!!! Nothing spectacular about the nasi lemak, but if you do get it, choose the fried chicken!

Roti Canai $5

OMG! I wish I could eat this everyday. So flaky, the curry sauce so nice as with the dahl and sambal. Only problem is the price, supposedly it's only like 50cents aussie in Malaysia. Best roti I've had ever (note: I have not been to Malaysia yet). Thinking about this makes my mouth water. I think I need to go to Old Town Kopitiam Mamak and get a roti fix.

Roti Telur $6

Half eaten...whoops

Obviously it was way too delicious and tempting that I forgot to take a photo. Not a fan of roti telur because of the egg. 

Satay Chicken/Beef $14 doz

Most marinated meat, charcoal fire. Damn good satay, best I've had in my food memory. I really really loved the satay sauce, not too peanutty and tonnes of flavour.

We didn't have room for dessert. Completely stuffed.

Just writing this post is making me want to go back to Mamak =[ I think I need to go live in Malaysia for a while. K仔 will you take me there? =D Probably come back double my size though.


Food: 9/10 Only let down was nasi lemak. Everything else was ooooohhhhh sooo yummy.
Service/Environment: 8.5/10 Service was friendly, especially the waitress who was taking down all the names of the people in the line whilst actually doing waitressing inside, she was amazing. The place is clean but cramped. Weird how their uniform includes CROCS......in bright colours, it was quite a sight.
Value: 9/10 Dinner for 4 adults came to just over $60, we were all stuffed without the need for rice (except for the nasi lemak) =O And the quality of the food was exceptional, worth every cent and probably more.


Verdict? I love this place. If I lived in Sydney you'd find me there all the time. Make sure you try the roti and satay because that's what they specialise in. Supposedly their fried chicken, roti tisu and teh tarik are awesome. Next time I'm there, they're definitely going to part of the meal. Sigh...next time is too far away =[