Tag: laksa

Categories
Malaysian

Warung Taming Sari – Arncliffe NSW Restaurant Review

After a somewhat cursory eSafety check glance from a nearby JDM mechanic, we tucked into some pretty good Malaysian food at Warung Taming Sari.

The nasi lemak with chicken curry ($15), pictured here with extra bergedil ($1), was pretty good. It was everything you could ask for in a nasi lemak, and helpfully for my weak constitution was not too spicy at all. My partner enjoyed gnawing at her giant drumstick, which meant that she was too distracted to have much of the laksa.

A note on the bergedil ($1), a small potato ball that we added on as extra to the nasi lemak. Though I don’t have any other experiences to compare this to, this small potato ball was dry and minimally flavoured. I would not get it again, and judging from this experience I am much less likely to try it again at any other store either.

The curry puffs ($3 each), came in a number of meaty and non meaty options. The meaty options included chicken, beef, and lamb. There were only 2 meaty flavours left available, and though I don’t recall which 2 of the 3 flavours we got, it doesn’t really matter, as they were tepid out of the pie “warmer” and both tasted the same. I can’t even really tell the difference in this cross-sectional comparison (hastily cut together to keep both in focus in the one image). Can’t recommend.

Disappointments aside, this chicken laksa ($15) was great. It didn’t look like much, but the rich texture and flavour of the soup, the soup soaked tofu, and the perfect ratio of noodles to other toppings made this an excellent bowl. I had no problem demolishing the majority of this whilst my partner was preoccupied bone-gnawing. Yum.

Warung Taming Sari
Cnr Queen &, 30 Firth St, Arncliffe NSW 2205, Australia
+61 439 693 298

Categories
Malaysian Vietnamese

Ngoodle – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

We had a really nice meal at Ngoodle, nice in the sense that the food and service were both very good, but not in the sense that it was overwhelmingly expensive with unnecessary flourishes. It was exactly the perfect kind of niceness for South East Asian cuisine.

We went on the recommendation of the crispy chicken laksa ($19.50), which some guy on the internet said was more expensive than but better than that of Hunter St’s (now relocated to Ashfield, actually) Malay Chinese Takeaway. The laksa was delicious, with such a complex and aromatic arrangement of herbs and spices, and perfect vermicelli. The laksa stood strongly alone without any additional protein, whilst the crispy chicken maryland was juicy and crispy and tender. The combination of the two was of unclear benefit to me, as putting it in the laksa kind of ruined the crispiness of it. I think perhaps a combination or seafood laksa might’ve been the way to go instead, but nonetheless this was a good bowl.

The Pork Chop Dry Noodles ($18) were excellent. The pork chop was a little bit sweet, super tasty with a crispy and melt-in-your-mouth quality. It reminded me of the marmite pork from Albee’s, but just better in most ways. The dry noodles were quite stiff, but pretty good with the sweet dressing and the vegetables – ultimately though the pork chop was the star of this show. It is probably the best fried Asian pork chop I’ve had.

These spring rolls (4 for $7) were super packed with meat and taro, not bad, and good with dipping sauce.

COMMENTS
My partner was really impressed with the main lady working at the front, we thought she might be the owner. She speaks multiple, multiple languages (Vietnamese, Mandarin, Cantonese, English – and those were just the ones we heard over the course of our 45 minute meal), was super attentive to us filling our carafe up with filtered water with a fresh leaf of mint, and seemed to have a really good relationship and even friendship with her regular customers.

Respect, and can definitely recommend.

Ngoodle
234 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131
0490 733 750

Categories
Chinese Malaysian

Hokkien Kia – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

My visit to Hokkien Kia was foretold by both Malaysian and non-Malaysian friends alike, who knew I could not resist a strong recommendation for some good Asian food.

This Duck Egg Fried Kuey Teow ($15.80) is the thing of legends. My friend BCSY, a real life Malaysian, describes this as the closest thing to Penang-style CKT as you can find. I had an extraordinarily large amount of char kway teow during my first two years of med school from a small restaurant near to campus called Pinewood Noodle & Sushi Bar, and while that was a formative culinary experience for me at the time, this CKT clearly blew that and every other CKT I’ve had out of the water. Highlights of this particular char kway teow were the huge prawns and the excellent wok hei flavour, but the most impressive part was the addition of deep fried pork lard, adding crispy and deeply umami morsels into each mouthful. I don’t know that the duckness of the egg was a particular must have, but I’m told it’s part of it. Either way, this is certainly an impressive char kway teow and a must try from Hokkien Kia.

I’ve never had roast pork in laksa before, but Roast Pork Curry Laksa ($15.80) was actually quite good. The laksa had good curry flavour, while the crackling roast pork was of a high quality, with good crispiness to the skin and worthy to be sold on its own at any Cantonese/Hong Kong style BBQ restaurant.

The Kam Heong Pipi ($22.80) is another specialty of the restaurant, with pipis stir fried in an excellent umami and seafoody sauce of dried shrimps, curry powder, shallots, and garlic. It was very fragrant and a little sweeter than XO pipis, with a good pasty texture to the sauce that added an extra dimension.

My partner thought this iced teh tarik ($4.80) was a bit too sweet and not her favourite teh tarik ever, not that she’s had that wide experience with the drink.

COMMENTS
I really enjoyed Hokkien Kia’s duck egg fried kuey teow, with its excellent wok hei quality and the absolutely delicious deep fried pork lard making it extremely dangerous to anyone looking to avoid an early cardiovascular death. Whilst the other dishes we tried didn’t wow me so much, Hokkien Kia remains a strong recommendation from me for the strength of its char kway teow alone.

Hokkien Kia
254 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194
0403 889 139

Categories
Chinese

Long Men Zhu – Mascot NSW Malatang Restaurant Review

Long Meng Zhu is one of many restaurants that serve Ma La Tang in Mascot’s recently developed high-rise area, located mere footsteps away from its nearest competitor.

The concept is much the same as every other Ma La Tang restaurant. There is a refrigerated display of a variety of meat, seafood, and vegetables. The selection is a bit narrower than what you would find at a larger competitor like Yang Guo Fu Ma La Tang, but still reasonably appropriate. The meat are fresh and were still being actively topped up by the time I visited at around 10:30PM. What sets Long Men Zhu apart from many of its competitors is the array of soup bases on offer. Along with the classic spicy malatang soup, Long Men Zhu also offers a pork bone broth, a laksa broth, and a chicken broth.

I had a selection of sliced meats, vegetables, balls, and tofu in the pork bone broth. Service was fast however I did notice that one of my fish balls was still cold inside. The rest of the food was thoroughly cooked, and I did not get sick afterwards. The pork broth was quite nice and umami, a lighter option in terms of flavour than the usual malatang soup. It was actually so good that I drank most of it at the conclusion of my meal.

A shoutout should also go to the nice man working front of house, who was friendly and made me feel welcome as someone who pretend not to speak Chinese. He is probably the reason why there is a reasonably multicultural patronage at Long Men Zhu.

VERDICT

Pretty good, worth a try! The boss asked me if he would be seeing me at his restaurant more, and I told him to be honest probably no as I’m moving away from the area soon. I do want to bring my girlfriend back though.

Long Men Zhu
1/56 Church Ave, Mascot NSW 2020

Categories
Thai

Wallabies Thai – Mascot NSW Restaurant Review

Wallabies Thai is one of our local Thai places. It offers eat-in, takeaway, and delivery service. We decided to try eating in after seeing it pop up on Ubereats one too many times.

The money bags (4 for $8.90) were enjoyable but nothing to write home about.

No major complaints from us for the mixed entree (5 for $8.90), although I remember not really liking the curry puff.

The garlic fried rice was really good. Huge amounts of garlic inside, and giant portion.

The biggest disappointment of the meal was the laksa noodle soup ($15.90). I can’t recommend it.

The following are from a more recent delivery order from Wallabies Thai.

The BBQ Chicken (Boneless) ($15.90) was quite good. The chicken was tender and juicy, and nicely flavoured. I like the addition of the vegetables which included broccoli and capsicum, as I wasn’t expecting them. These vegetables were bathed in the delicious chicken juices.

The special wing ($14.90) of chicken in thick garlic sauce was tasty however suffered from the having of wing tips. This made it a bit difficult to eat, and I always feel like it’s low yield to include the tiny, low-meat wing tip with a meal.

My partner was a big fan of the pad see ew with roasted duck ($19.90). We’re normally more of a pad kee mao family, however we ventured outside of our comfort zone and were rewarded.

I can whole heartedly recommend Wallabies Thai, for either eat-in or delivery. Their prices are excellent and their food delicious. Eat in service is also very fast. A local gem.

Wallabies Thai
2/1-5 Bourke St, Mascot NSW 2020
(02) 9700 7895