teh tarik Archives - PEGFeeds

Char Penang Foodie – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

I’ve been getting a lot of char kway teow content on my Instagram feed recently. This meal is the result not of any specific paid advertising for the restaurant in particular, but possibly influenced by the Sydney Malaysian food cabal.

The Penang Famous Char Koey Teow 著名炒果条 ($18.50) was pretty good. I guess there are a number of ways to romanise the same Chinese words, and this is what it’s listed as on the menu. The dish was savoury, and not too salty. It featured quite a few large prawns, though not much char siu or other meats. There was a reasonable degree of smokey wok hei flavour, though probably less than that of nearby competitor Hokkein Kia. There was a degree of crispiness, but again less pronounced than Hokkein Kia, which had quite prominent pieces of fried lard. As a trade-off it felt less oily overall, which I guess is a plus.

The Loh Bak 卤肉条 ($5.50) was pretty good, well priced for a quick snack. Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, served with a brown slurry that wasn’t pictured on the electronic menu. The lady explained to us (after I had tried drinking it) that it is a soup base that they use for one of their noodle dishes, designed for dipping.

I didn’t love the Bak Kut Teh (Dry) 肉骨茶(干) ($26.50), rice included. It was meaty, full of pork and fish balls, and having a mild bak kut teh aroma and taste, but in comparison with the CKT just didn’t wow or astound.

The 槟岛式茶冰 Penang-Style Iced Teh Tarik ($7.50) was pretty good, however tasted pretty close to the green can of Mesona grass jelly herbal tea drink. It was just around the right level of sweetness, which is not something that I can say for all iterations of this drink. It seemed quite overpriced to me though, probably not worth more than a nasi lemak or half a CKT.

The Bungkus Nasi Lemak 椰浆饭 ($6.50) we had for take-away, because we obviously ordered too much food to eat in one go. I liked it. It was fragrant, the rice was moist, even after a stint in the fridge and another stint in the microwave, and the flavours were umami and well balanced. Note that only half the serving is pictured, because my girlfriend ate her half without me.

Overall
The char kway teow was pretty good – a slightly different approach to that of Hokkein Kia across the road, but just as valid.

Char Penang Foodie
239 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194

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