Jackie M Malaysian Cuisine: Malaysian, Concord (24 Mar 2011)

85 Majors Bay Road, Concord NSW 2137
http://www.jackiem.com.au

Serving up all the classics

Years ago I previously noticed the Jackie M food stall at a weekend food market in King Cross but Malaysia Kitchen Food Market inspired me to seek out more of her dishes at her new restaurant in Concord. The seating is nice and simple yet limited and the service was friendly. Dishes took a little bit of time to come out once ordered but this made them think they were carefully prepared to order and not being rushed out. Jasmine Tea ($2) comes by the glass complete with a tea bag and the Roti Canai ($7.50) was nicely puffed up and came with Dhall curry. The Popiah ($11, 2 pieces) is quite a rare sight to find in Sydney and this version is well liked my the family — I'd happily order again. The Chicken Satay ($10, 4 pieces) is fairly decent in size and charred nicely with plenty of taste but doesn't come with the traditional compressed rice which is usually rare to find anyway. It costs extra to have the side of Coconut rice, cucumber and onion pieces ($4) but in hindsight I'd probably order without and just stick to the satay. The Hainanese Chicken Rice ($17) is served boneless which gets a tick. It's quite moist and a decent rendition that's well received. There was a delay in the side soup coming out which was probably due to being forgotten.

The Beef Rendang ($16) is flavoursome and tender as hoped. Jackie M is known for her Char Kway Teow ($12) and even though it could have done with a bit more charring for my liking it was pretty good and I'd have again. No blood cockles or clams to be found which seems to be the case for all Sydney versions of this dish — Melbourne seem to be more open to including clams. The bowl of Har Mee ($16) comes with decent sized prawns which are properly deveined. The broth is quite nice but not as full of flavour and depth as Singapore Shiok and Malay-Chinese. The Ais Campur ($6) had a decent variety of ingredients including red bean and was easily mixed up within the bowl — not like the monstrous one at Kaki Lima which required a larger bowl, but was cheaper. A compulsory visit to check the toilet, past a corridor of stored boxes which perhaps should be kept more clear, finds a sign saying 'We take pride in the condition of our restroom'. Firstly I'd probably straighten the mirror and secondly the overflowing open waste bin and old desk chair complete with crinkly newspapers on top is not the best look and needs to be reassessed I think.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Good sized prawns in har mee, Lots of classic dishes, Tender beef rendang, Simple and functional seating, Friendly service

CONS: Only open for dinner Thursday to Saturday, Limited seating, No air con, Toilet could be cleaner including storing away corridor boxes, Compressed rice not used with chicken satay

MUST TRY: Popiah, Revisiting to try other dishes

WORTH TRYING: Chicken satay, Char Kway Teow

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Jasmine Tea ($2)

Roti Canai with Dhall curry ($7.50)

Popiah ($11, 2 pieces)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken Satay ($10, 4 pieces) with Coconut rice, cucumber and onion pieces ($4)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Hainanese Chicken Rice ($17)

Beef Rendang ($16)

Char Kway Teow ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Har Mee ($16)

Rice ($3)

Ais Campur ($6)

Seating designed for perhaps short stays

Sign says 'We take pride in the condition of our restroom. Please inform our staff if it needs cleaning. Thanks' — umm I think it definitely needs a bit of cleaning and perhaps the mirror on the wall needs to be set straight for a start. And what's a chair with magazines doing in there?

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