Albee's Kitchen: Malaysian, Campsie (1 June 2013)

282 Beamish Street, Campsie NSW 2194

http://www.albeeskitchen.com.au

Popular Malaysian in Campsie

After walking around the Campsie Food Festival I headed with the family to Albee's Kitchen nearby for a Malaysian lunch. It's been over 3.5 years since I first visited this restaurant back in September 2009. It looks like they've updated their menu since then plus their branding and it's good to see they're still very popular. I discovered they have a back dining room which I actually prefer to the front seating area because it had more natural light and table space for larger groups. Portion sizes were generous and prices are thankfully also reasonable. The Hainanese Chicken Rice ($9.50) was quite nice with an enjoyable side of chilli and ginger sauce. The boneless breast meat was fairly tender although I tend to prefer the thigh which is usually more silky moist but I'm not sure if this option is available — hopefully it is. The side soup was a bit tasteless but the rice was quite nicely flavoured. The Seafood Laksa ($11.50) comes in a huge bowl with lots of seafood. It had a fair chilli kick although I still prefer the depth of flavour at Malay Chinese in the city. Char Tuey Teow ($10.50) was another large portion dish with chinese sausage, prawn and even pipis I believe. It could have done with a bit more wok hei to add more flavour but it was enjoyable enough. There ended up being so much left over to fill a take away container. Service was efficient and quite friendly and helpful. Decor simple and basic and the atmosphere cheap and cheerful. If the place was closer to home I'm sure I'd be visiting it more often for a Malaysian fix.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Reasonably priced, Generous portions, Extensive menu, Fair amount of seating although does fill up, High chair available

CONS: Cash only, Baby change table not available, Wish it was closer to home

MUST TRY: Returning to try other dishes

VERDICT: Cheap and cheerful Malaysian restaurant with plenty of choices that are reasonably priced for the portion size

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Hainanese Chicken Rice ($9.50)

Seafood Laksa ($11.50)

Char Tuey Teow ($10.50)

Pipies?

Generous enough for take away leftovers

Well used menu

Picture menu

Table setting including a ladle spoon

Front dining area

Back dining area

Bill $32.10 for 3 +baby

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Malaysian Dish: Laksa

Searching for Laksa

A good laksa for me must have good depth of flavour without being too oily. I'm a fan of chicken laksa, seafood laksa and assam laksa. It's probably not the healthiest of dishes but on a cold day it's great comfort food. Service turnaround tends to be pretty quick due to the laksa being pre made and it's always nice when it's served in a decent sized bowl with good quality ingredients. I've consistently enjoyed the laksa at Malay-Chinese Takeaway in Sydney which seems to be what most people order there. Their assam laksa is only made once every 5 weeks which is one of the best I've found in Sydney so far.

Other Malaysian Dishes:
• Searching for Laksa
• Searching for Hainanese Chicken Rice
• Searching for Char Kway Teow

Laksa House
QVB LG North, Shop 17, 455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/laksa-house-malaysian-cbd-sydney-16-may.html

Laksa King
41-43 Erskine Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2009/10/laksa-king-har-mee-and-chicken-rice.html

Ipoh on York
LG, 89 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/ipoh-on-york-malaysian-cbd-sydney-20-26.html

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Minum
38B Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/minum-malaysian-cafe-martin-place.html
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Laksa Laksa
262 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/laksa-laksa-malaysian-cbd-sydney-31-jan.html

Petaling Street
760 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/petaling-street-malaysian-hawker-food.html

May’s Laksa House
Berry Square Food Court, 77 Berry Street, North Sydney NSW 2060

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/mays-laksa-house-malaysian-north-sydney.html

Kung Fu Kitchen
Westfield Sydney, Shop 2020a, Level 2, 100 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/kung-fu-kitchen-chinese-and-malaysian.html

Jaya Malaysian
Retail Courtyard 201 & 207 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/jaya-malaysian-chicken-laksa-and-prawn.html

Lee's Malaysian
1a Hunter Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/lees-malaysian-laksa-time-sydney-18-may.html

Malay-Chinese Takeaway

Shop 1, 50-58 Hunter St, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2009/03/malay-chinese-takeaway-24-march-2009.html

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Jimmy's Recipe Malaysia
The Galeries, 500 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2009/12/jimmys-recipe-malaysia-seafood-laksa.html

Laksa King
6-12 Pin Oak Crescent, Flemington VIC 3031

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/laksa-king-laksa-in-melbourne.html

Little Singapore Restaurant
Shop 3A, Market Square, Cnr Mains Road & McCullough Street Sunnybank QLD

http://simonfoodfavourites.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/little-singapore-restaurant-17-nov-2008.html

Ipoh on York: Malaysian, CBD Sydney (20, 26 Mar 2012)

LG, 89 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: (02) 9299 0001

http://ipohcentral.com

A quick taste of Malaysia

If you’ve had the sneaking suspicion that Ipoh on York had the same owners as Jimmy’s Recipe Malaysia in The Galeries you’d be half right. Apparently it’s owned by one of the brothers but I believe the businesses are run separately so there might be differences in the menu. For a start there’s no bain-marie yet service turnaround is still very efficient and my Seafood Laksa ($11.50) comes out at a frightening speed after I’ve ordered. Streamlined service like a mean lean laksa making machine. I liken the counter experience to visiting a McDonalds store but these guys seem faster and of course it’s Malaysian. The laksa broth has good depth of flavour and similar to my experience at their sister, or should I say brother restaurant, Jimmy’s. I’m suspecting it’s the same recipe. There’s a good choice of ingredients including a mussel, fishcake, squid, fish, fish ball, tofu and my much loved seafood extender that unravels like pappardelle.

On my second visit I try the Chicken laksa ($9.50) which had the same depth of flavour tipping towards a curry style laksa. Chicken was tender with fatty goodness similar to Malay-Chinese and service was very quick again leaving me little time to even put my wallet back in my pocket. My colleague ordered the Wonton laksa ($9.50) which took a little longer to prepare but still in timely fashion which had the same flavoursome broth but unfortunately the wontons were way too firm to the bite. I predicted we could have played a game of ping pong with them if only we had some paddles. I much prefer the silky and soft wontons at Yummy Cuisine — if they were like this then it would have been a much more enjoyable laksa. I’m not sure what the other dishes are like but the only dish I’ve enjoyed at Jimmy’s has been the laksa so I’m suspecting the same might be the case here unless they cook them differently. There’s plans for a dessert counter so I’m hoping they’ll do a good ice kacang and chendol in the near future.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Plenty of seating which seems to be kept clean, Quick and efficient service, Decent sized laksa serving, Toilet available, Air conditioned, I'm assuming you can book for large groups

CONS: Wontons were unfortunately too firm in the laksa, I'm suspecting laksa might be their only strength dish but happy to discover others

MUST TRY: Seafood and chicken laksa

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Dishes served on clean tray mats with cutlery

Seafood Laksa ($11.50)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chicken laksa ($9.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Wonton laksa ($9.50)

Wonton filling way too firm — I could have possibly played table tennis with them

Menu board

Plenty of seating

Potential dessert counter on the right to be confirmed — I hope they do a good Ais Kacang

Toilets available although I'm sure there's a better spot to keep their cleaning clothes — how about some orchids instead to brighten up the place

Some outside covered street seating

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