Tel: 9211 1668
Fax: 9211 1669
www.mamak.com.au
Malaysia is a country of many colours, races and cultures - with a sizeable Chinese and Indian communities. Mamak is a fantastic restaurant, exhibiting at its best, the fusion between Indian and Asian cuisine.
It's not a terribly flash restaurant - tables and chairs, and in some cases a communal table. The proximity of the person next to you has its pros & cons - the pros being that you can eyeball the Malaysian delicacies being served on a table not too far away (and make mental note to either order it, or try next time).
I haven't had an awful lot of Malaysian food before but it is much like its other neighbouring counterparts Indonesia & Singapore - spicy, pungent, and shrimp paste in almost everything.
Do be warned though - I don't think they take reservations, and sometimes the queue does get quite long. If you hit a good time or flow, then you won't need to wait long - but because its in a 'sit & eat' setting the turnover is quite fast anyway. The wait is worth it!
For drinks, I strongly recommend the Teh tarik ($3.50). It comes out actually much more frothy on top than what you see in the picture below (I was too keen to try it that I drank part of it before photographing what you see below). Described as "classic Malaysian sweetened tea, 'stretched' for a frothy topping - the texture is fluffy, but not overly creamy. It's kind of like their own version of a milk tea, served hot and differing slightly in colour. I was intrigued by this drink because you can see them make it in the front window while you queue up - and I will vouch for the fact that it IS actually "stretched" by wide, flowing movements of pouring from one container to another to mix the ingredients and create a frothy topping. The taste itself - warm, and tea-ish. Yum.
Another drink they served called Kopi tarik (pictured below). Malaysian white coffee. Not dissimilar to Vietnamese-style (white) coffee. Very strong liquid coffee flavour.
The first time I went here I felt like a curry and featured in the photo below is the Kari ikan - 'a tangy fish curry cooked with fresh tomatoes, okra & eggplant'. I am a fan of all the above except okra because I have no idea what that is, and the flavour on this was quite nice. I did expect the fish to be either fried or filleted - but from my experience they have just cut a slab of meat from what seems like a big fish with a lot of little fishbones embedded in the meat. It's a dangerous game trying not to choke on, or stab your oesophegus with fishbones, so take care!!! The thing I wasn't too impressed about this dish was that it was the first thing to come out, but was only served lukewarm - bordering cold. I was tempted to send it back and tell them to microwave it or something, so if you decide to order it take note, or do them the favour and send it back (unless they have a good reason for it being cold).
Another popular main is Mee Goreng (pictured below) - 'wok-tossed hokkien noodles with eggs, prawns, fishcake slices and fresh bean sprouts'. Highly recommended - if you are new to South East Asian food, MUST EAT! It is quite spicy though, so if you can't take any chilli at all, either ask if they can make it less spicy or order something else. If Asian food had its version of 'al dente' - I would describe these as the best-tasting hokkein noodles I've had! Very potent flavour - love it! Truly brings those 2-minute "mi goreng" noodles to shame...
My personal favourite - and foodgasm territory - ROTI!Most of the food covered earlier is quite typical across oriental Asia - rice, noodles, curries, etc.
As you can see below, roti look instantly belonging more to the Indian influences that exist in Malaysia. Much of it looks like finger-food, and you can watch the pastry being made in the shopfront window - it is a combination of kneading, stretching, folding and "popping".
Above: Roti canai ($5) is 'the original roti' - crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Savoury Roti is served with 2 curry dips and a spicy sambal sauce (the small spoonful in the inside). One of the curry sauces is thinner and more spicy, the other reminiscent of a chickpea soup or something.Below: Roti telur bawang ($6.50). Same pastry, with egg and red onion folded in triangles.
Below: Murtabak (chicken) $9.50 is roti pastry surrounding a spicy mince filling.
As you can see below in the expanded Murtabak, the filling is a mince with pieces of onion. Quite a nice filling - reminds me of Middle Eastern Cuisine actually.
So if you're ever in Chinatown - must visit! It is rare that restaurants combine a whole experience - right from the making of its signature dish, a unique drinks list and a menu with a myriad of flavours to satisfy the most curious tastebuds.
