The Malaya Restaurant: Good Food Month Let's Do Lunch, King Street Wharf, Sydney (27 Oct 2016)

39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.themalaya.com.au
https://www.instagram.com/themalayarestaurant/

Let's Do Malaysian Lunch

Dined with three work colleagues for a birthday lunch and we were all very happy with the Let's Do Lunch shared menu ($38) at The Malaya. Salt & Pepper Prawns were an immediate crowd pleaser served up first. Nice thin batter and decent sized prawns. Chicken San Choy Bow was tasty with nicely presented lettuce cups. Kapitan King Prawns came with a decent amount of sauce to help flavour your bowl of steamed rice. The Szechuan Eggplant had a good crispy coating in a tasty sauce. Even though you can get a bottle of Yalumba The Y Series 2015 Riesling for under $10 at a bottle shop we all liked our glass of wine very much and it went well with the meal. Coffee wasn't included with their Let's Do Lunch even though many other restaurants were including a coffee. Pleasant water views and efficient service. Was a pretty popular place ranging from couples to large table groups. We thought it was pretty good value for the variety of dishes you got to sample. There was even some reasonably priced desserts on offer but we opted to save ourselves from the calories and seek our sugar hit from the Pink Ribbon Day afternoon tea back at work.

Good Food Month: Steersons Steakhouse $39 menu, King Street Wharf, Sydney (30 Oct 2013)

17 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.steersons.com.au

Steaking out King Street Wharf

“Steersons offers premium quality in all aspects of the dining experience — from the tablecloth to the steak knife and the steak. Steersons will remain true to the steakhouse fundamentals yet exhaust new beef trends allowing the Steak Lover to appreciate an enhanced steakhouse experience for both body & soul.”

Thanks to Jess Guilfoyle from The PR Partnership for inviting me to sample the Good Food Month menu ($39 per person including a drink) at Steersons Steakhouse as part of the Food Art & Film By The Wharf during October. Upon arrival table water was provided promptly which always gets a tick in my books. While perusing the menu their was strangely no promotion of the Good Food Month menu and my waiter had no idea what I was talking about. Thankfully another waiter knew all about it but mentioned they'd recently stopped promoting it on the tables which I thought was unfortunate because then diners wouldn't be aware of it unless they had seen it on the website. A tasty Pan-fried chorizo with mint and basil ($10.90) was an enjoyable starter and the Freshly baked damper from Fuel Bakery with salted butter ($5.90) had a nice crust and lightness inside. 

A glass of Bishop by Ben Glaetzer Shiraz 2012 was a good choice to enjoy with the 400gm dry aged rib eye on the bone ($39 with wine) served with beer battered prawns and tarragon salted hand cut chips. Prawns were plump with a light crisp batter as hoped and the flavoursome steak was served pretty much medium rare as ordered. I wasn't a fan of the lettuce garnish which I guess added colour to the dish but needed to be dressed to make it more appetising to eat and cut through its slight bitterness. The chunky chips were good and the option of boulangère potatoes is also a good choice. For the sweet tooth the nicely presented White & dark chocolate mousse with Stracciatella ice-cream, honeycomb & lavender ($13.90) had enjoyable rich flavoured chocolate and the Mango Sorbet, Raspberry Sorbet, Vanilla Ice-Swiss Cream ($13.90) looked a treat although I didn't get to try it but I'm suspecting larger scoops would have been appreciated.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Well-presented dishes, Water view, Nice decor, Pleasant ambience, Steak lovers menu, Menu seems reasonably priced for the location and quality, Service was professional and friendly

CONS: Good Food Month menu wasn't promoted with the a la carte menu and some service was unaware of the promotion

MUST TRY: Pan-fried chorizo with mint and basil, A steak that tickles your fancy

VERDICT: Seems like a popular spot for business lunches for suits that love their steaks but hopefully there's a few suitable menu options for the ladies

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Good Food Month menu — although wasn't promoted with the a la carte menu even though the promotion runs until 31 October

Nice having white table clothes — I'd would give extra marks if the creases were ironed out

Bishop by Ben Glaetzer Shiraz 2012 Barossa Valley — very nice wine

Pan-fried chorizo with mint and basil ($10.90) — enjoyable tasty flavours as an appetiser 

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Freshly baked damper from Fuel Bakery with salted butter ($5.90) — nice crust and softness, flavourome 

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

400gm dry aged rib eye on the bone, served with beer battered prawns, tarragon salted hand cut chips ($39 with wine) — nice plump prawns with thin batter, flavoursome steak, lettuce needs dressing, good chips

WORTH TRYING :-)

400gm dry aged rib eye on the bone, served with beer battered prawns, boulangère potatoes ($39 with wine) — nicely cooked potatoes

Mustard options

Steak order medium rare and looks pretty close

Nice prawns, decent size, thin crispy batter — these would make an excellent canape on their own for a function

Nice chips — would have loved a side of tomato sauce provided as an option

Lettuce garnish — slightly bitter, would have preferred served with some dressing to make it more interesting and appetising on the plate

White & dark chocolate mousse with Stracciatella ice-cream, honeycomb & lavender ($13.90) — enjoyable rich flavoured chocolate, nice presentation

WORTH TRYING :-)

Mango Sorbet, Raspberry Sorbet, Vanilla Ice-Swiss Cream ($13.90) — I didn't try it but looked pretty good although I suspect larger scoops would have made it better value

Steak menu 

Small dishes menu to start — oysters seem reasonably priced if shucked to order

Water views

Clean toilet although having walls so dark I seemed to miss seeing the exit sign on the door and opened a cubicle instead

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Good Food Month: The Malaya $45 menu, King Street Wharf, Sydney (22 Oct 2013)

39 Lime Street, King Street Wharf, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.themalaya.com.au

Celebrating 50 years in the game

“Dine on the specialised Good Food Month menu for lunch or dinner at participating King Street Wharf venues during October and receive a complimentary beverage. Plus, be rewarded with complimentary movie treats to enjoy at the free outdoor movie sessions!”

Thanks to Jess Guilfoyle from The PR Partnership for inviting me to sample the Good Food Month menu ($45 per person including a drink) at The Malaya as part of the Food Art & Film By The Wharf during October. Four years ago I dined at The Malaya with my Malaysian relatives visiting Sydney which wasn't the most successful dinner but I'm glad to have found a couple of dishes I really enjoyed this time around. The Salt and Pepper King Prawns were my favourite today with fresh chilli, salt, cracked black pepper and shallots. Batter was crispy batter, the prawns were plump and overall was an enjoyable flavour. Hopefully they can achieve this result every time. The Coconut Beef Rendang was another favourite with lots of flavour and tender meat that fell apart easily. Not sure about its authenticity but it was very enjoyable with the steamed rice.

The Chilli Beansprouts and Garlic Chives was nice although I wish it came with more snow peas and shredded Chinese mushroom rather than just being mostly bean sprouts although I guess it's supposed to be a beansprouts dish. The Kapitan Chicken had enjoyable flavours to eat with the rice although best eaten quickly as the batter does lose it's crispiness quickly in the sauce. Being another curry dish I thought it would have been nice to contrast the rendang with perhaps a noodle dish instead for something different. I noticed on the website's set menus you can get the same dishes for $40 but it doesn't include the drink. For a larger meal the Malaya Menu for $50 person includes 3 entrees and 5 mains with rice which sounds like pretty good value and makes it easy for large groups.

King Street Wharf restaurant menu deals:

http://kingstreetwharf.com.au/whats-on/events/food-art-films-by-the-wharf

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Efficient service and kitchen turnaround, Pleasant water view, Curry sauces available for purchase, Some standout dishes

CONS: Service ranged from pleasant and nice to a bit cold and perfunctory, Wasn't offered or served table water during the whole visit and was particularly missed being a hot day

MUST TRY: Salt and Pepper King Prawns, Coconut Beef Rendang

VERDICT: Definitely attracts a business suit crowd and set menus possibly offer the best value to try a few of their signature dishes

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$45 per person menu 

Beer of choice included with the menu is the Tiger Beer 

Salt and Pepper King Prawns with fresh chilli, salt, cracked black pepper and shallots — crispy thin batter, plump prawns, nice flavour 

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chilli Beansprouts and Garlic Chives with snow peas, shredded Chinese mushroom stir-fried with garlic soy sauce and fresh chilli — enjoyable

Coconut Beef Rendang — lots of flavour and tender meat that falls apart

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Kapitan Chicken with lightly batter pieces of chicken thigh fillets — enjoyable flavour 

All dishes cleaned up but would have loved some table water to be offered

Impressive open kitchen

Lots of seating — balcony seats get the water view 

Lots of business lunches here

Curry sauces available to purchase 

Pleasant water view 

Clean toilet although strange to see only one of the urinals has a privacy screen, looks like a couples urinal at the end

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