Simon Food Favourites: Roti Canai

01 May 2011

May’s Laksa House: Malaysian, North Sydney (28 Apr 2011)

Berry Square Food Court, Level 2, Shop 18B
77 Berry Street, North Sydney NSW 2060

Over the bridge for Malaysian

A reader recommendation by Akiko on my Singapore Shiok post brings me to May’s Laksa House to try their chicken rice. Upon arrival it’s clear that this place is very popular. Shuffling up to the service counter amongst the busy 12.45 pm queue I noticed all the Malaysian classics you’d hope to see on the menu. Self service Prawn crackers are complimentary which is a first for me to see and obviously a crowd pleaser. To make the over-the-bridge lunch visit worthwhile I order four dishes with my colleague. The Prawn laksa ($8.90) is quite generous in size with at least 5 quality large prawns. The broth is more coconut creamy in flavour than my preferred Malay-Chinese laksa and not particularly chilli hot. There’s quite a lot of noodles making the laksa more gravy in consistency than soupy but it also doesn't seem to be too oily which is good.

The Roti canai & curry chicken ($7.90) comes with a side soup which could have been perhaps hotter. The roti is served flat and not puffed up like the freshly made to order ones you get at Mamak. They’re quite tasty but also on the oily side to touch. The curry comes with pieces of chicken and potato I think and pretty tasty but a little hard to dip your flat roti in and perhaps could be better served in a traditional flat metal tray. The Hainanese chicken rice ($8.50) is thankfully deboned which gets a big tick in my books. The young service staff lady suggests ordering the thigh as the breast is usually drier. It’s decently moist and comes with the usual cucumber and tomato sides although the rice was maybe a little on the dry side. The side soup is a little luke warm but I like the accompanying chilli and shallot/ginger paste although some more fresh ginger would have been welcomed. The Char Kway Teow ($8.90) doesn’t have any traditional blood cockles in it which I long to find in Sydney one day. The dish sadly lacked a decent char factor like Malay-Chinese, Yummy Cuisine and Sayong but included good quality prawns. I’d love to see some sliced Chinese sausage and fishcake added and extra chilli which was fairly subtle if at all present compared to others I’ve tried.

The only other popular Malaysian place I know of for lunch in North Sydney is To’s Malaysian Gourmet which has similar priced dishes with the addition of a bain-marie for quick take-away meals — I’ll have to revisit to compare.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly and efficient service, Seating available but limited when busy, Complimentary prawn crackers for customers, Decent quality prawns used which were deveined properly, Chicken rice served boneless, Reasonably priced

CONS: Tables were left uncleared and could be cleaned much quicker, Side soup was a bit luke warm, Char Tway Teow wasn’t particularly smoky in taste and needed more charring, Roti a bit oily and not as good as Mamak’s fluffy version

MUST TRY: Other dishes on the menu next time like Har Mee, Assam Laksa and Beef Rendang

WORTH TRYING: Chicken Rice

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Prawn crackers complimentary

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Prawn laksa ($8.90)

Roti canai & curry chicken ($7.90)

Hainanese chicken rice ($8.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Char Kway Teow ($8.90)

Lineup for May's Laksa House

Service counter and customers waiting for their orders

Reserved seating area for May's Laksa House customers

Food court seating

Traditional Asian drinks storage — wherever there's a spare spot

Signage

77 Berry Street entrance to Berry Square

Spring Street entrance to Berry Square

This is 2 Berry Street — don't go here which is where one of the Google Maps had it located at :-(

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04 March 2010

Mamak: Sydney's Holy Grail of Roti, Haymarket (19 Feb 2010)

15 Goulburn Street, Haymarket, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.mamak.com.au

Is this Sydney's best roti?

Before its latest renovations I've been twice to Mamak with family and Malaysian relatives and friends and sadly on both occasions was a bit disappointed with certain dishes like the squid, rojak and a very dryish nasi lemak at the end of a lunch service. I seriously thought the food was overrated by many except for the freshly made-to-order roti. This time arriving at 2 pm I'm glad there's no long wait for a table which is often the case at this very popular restaurant. I sometimes see people queuing outside before it's even opened its doors for dinner. The roti at Mamak would have to be one of the most food blogged in Sydney — it seems like a rite of passage for all food bloggers to visit. I was keen to revisit and try the much loved Roti Tisu I've read so much about.

This time around I thought I'd keep my orders to the classics and thankfully I finally enjoyed what Mamak seems to do best. The Roti Canai came with 2 curries which were somewhat watery but still have enough flavour to be identified. The generous sized Kari Ikan lunch special (fish curry) had decent sized pieces of fish and I actually preferred dipping my roti into this curry which I found more flavoursome. My favourite of the meal was the Ayam Goreng with a tasty and crispy outer shell and tender moist meat inside — just the way it should be. The finger sized Chicken Satay are slightly larger than authentic ones but a lot smaller than westernised ones. They were tender enough with a nice charcoal taste but the peanut sauce was quite sweet and I would have preferred a more smokey peanut taste with more visible crushed peanuts throughout. The traditional onion and cucumber is served with the satay but still no sign of authentic compressed cubed rice cakes (lontong). The reasonably priced Ais Kacang on this occasion was very pleasing with a good hit of rose water which I like. I also really enjoyed the huge dessert finale of Roti Tisu. Both visually appealing and confusing to know how to eat it for the first time. I ended up breaking it down to small pieces and spooning a bit of ice cream on it. Coated in crystalised sugar it's a diabetics nightmare but so addictively yummy — I now know why it's so appealing to so many.

Other Mamak food blog reviews to check out:

• A Table for Two

• Chocolatesuze

• Here Comes The Food

• Nom It Like It's Hot

• Citrus and Candy

• Jenius

• Grab Your Fork

• Eat Show and Tell

• Pigged Out

• Pikelet and Pie

• Tasted By Two