FoodieChat

I love popiah! Ever since Pauline and Eugene invited me over for a casual Saturday lunch of healthy yummy (uncooked) spring rolls Malaysian style. I must admit, I was seriously apprehensive to eat a raw spring roll wrapper. Thousands of rolls later – I am converted, and seeing professional popiah on the menu at the Malaya I was eager to go!  We had the set menu, at $40 head, which included 1 popiah each. Yum – the sauce was smeared on the inside and out, and each roll was tightly wrapped with prawns, vermicelli, chicken, beansprouts and nuts.  One is not enough! Alas no one declined theirs.  Second to come out – the ever popular Salt and Pepper King Prawns – quite good, a tad oily, but the right balance of salt and pepper and with a hint of fresh chilli.  I think they count them out exactly because one plate was smaller than the other due to our odd number. hmm.

I can’t comment on the Satay Lamb Skewers because I don’t eat lamb, but Simon assured me they were delicious and tender, smothered in peanut sauce.  I was indeed a fan of the peppered chicken – deep fried with fresh banana chillis, black beans and cashews.

We swapped the korma lamb with curried beef for me which was served with Roti Canai – flaky (oily) traditional wrappers/dippers for mopping up curry sauce. The beef was very tender and generous in size.  The Kwai Du (flat rice noodles with beansprouts, egg, prawns and chicken) was good.

And the stir fried bean sprouts with snow peas and chinese mushrooms were a refreshing break from all the meat.   More curry – prawns this time. I thought the sauce over powered the delicate meat slightly.. but by this time we were stuffed silly, and thinking about making the trek back to the office by foot to assist in balancing out the calorie intake.

 Its quite an up-market eatery – so it’s Malaysian fine dining , so expect prices to be higher than your local take away, but someone’s got to pay for the amazing views of cockle bay wharf! Good atmosphere too – the place was packed, and attentive staff.  Good for groups.

The Malaya, King Street Wharf. www.themalaya.com.au 

As you walk into the dark entrance that leads to the dark dining room, let me warn you that someone will shout at you – loudly. “Welcome”!! I have been dying to come here ever since I sampled some of their teriyaki salmon (the dish that overcame my dislike of this fish) at one of the SMH Good Food Month events.  Described as modern Japanese with a twist , I went with open mind and very high expectations.  Let me say first up that the service is FAST, and not to please you, but feels more like they want your table! We were in and out within an hour – helped by the fact that our mains appeared before we finished our entrees! (more on that later).

The food was good, but the presentation varied alot.  The prawns tempura ($16.50 for 4) were flawless – light, crispy and not oily, and very large.  I had trouble finding a sushi roll without raw stuff in it (I don’t understand why one would eat raw fish when cave man discovered fire ) Anyway – I found the crunch roll – $16 for 8 bites of tempura prawn with crab salad and cucumber layered with tempura flakes and smelt roe.  A bit small for its price, but good none the less. It’s garnished with a thick BBQ sauce.

Baked Dynamite Scallops – $15.50 sounded intriguing and looked amazing – a baked mountain topped with like flakes of bonito.  Sadly, I suspected and was right that this dish was slathered in mayonnaise (my worst nightmare!), and cheese stirred through the rice – eww eww. But I was told it wasn’t bad, and had alot of scallops for good value.   As mentioned, as I was still munching on my crunch roll my main (just mine, not any others), and without anyone assisting in moving my set up around to place it in front of me!! Very very annoyed – they didn’t even bother bringing all the mains at once!  I pointed this out to one of the waiters who tried to explain that this is usual practice and didn’t my waittress ask me how we wanted it served? Nope.  Anyway, annoyance aside – the salmon was a generous two person sized serve which I could not finish. Cooked perfectly, served with rice and stir fried chinese veges (weird combo – this must be the twist!). Sadly, it came ungarnished.

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For a five star indian dining experience, look no further.  Abhi’s has long been the best place to have good food along with first class service and fine dining surrounds – but be prepared to pay a premium for it.

We had Prawn Achari ($13.80) – 6 pan fried green prawn cutlets cooked with fennel and pickled green chilli and yoghurt,  Alu Tikki ($10.80) – lightly spiced potato patties shallow fried in sunflower oil, topped with chickpea masala and khatta chutney (tamarind and jaggery) were DELICIOUS. Two potato patties sat artfully on a chickpea curry – not too soft, not too firm, and just the right amount of spice.  I felt there was a bit of a clash of textures though as both the patties and the curry were simliar textures.  Not to mind – the yoghurty dressing was a cool complement to the spiciness of the curry.

Tandoori chicken tikka $16.80 for a main – boneless free range chicken pieces marinated in traditional spices and tandoor roasted.   It came with our entress and was similiarly sized.  The chicken was moist, not dry, and the coriander sprinkled on top added a great extra dimension.  We were satisfied with our entrees, until we saw the table next to us, and we just HAD to try also the Masala Dosa – light and crisp rice flour pancakes accompanied by lentil sambar and coconut chutney with a filling of spiced potato and onion.  $10.80.  This was the smallest dosa I’ve ever ever seen – doesn’t compare to others I’ve tried for example at Janani’s in Homebush ($5.80 for one that is bigger than a whole fish – and goes off your plate!) and also Vasanda Bhavan. They’re jumbo sized. But hey we’re fine dining here, so portions are not meant to feed the masses . Still, it was good and well presented.

For the mains, there’s a good selection of seafood/chicken/beef and one lamb, including traditional butter chicken and kormas and vindaloos. We ordered Beef Ambotik ($18.80) – “a variation on the famous vindaloo with a tangy sweet and sour flavour cooked in tomato, cumin, ginger and peppercorns.  It was very tender, but a bit too piquant for me – and very hot too! I would have preferred a saucier curry.  Prawns and Scallops Moily Curry $22.80 promised to be a “Coastal favourite cooked with cracked black mustard, fennel, turmeric, pureed coconut and fresh curry leaves” – it was our favourite – with around 5 prawns and 4 scallops. Not too hot, with flavours that work very well together.

  For something different, we tried the Adreke Pork – pork spare ribs marinated in ginger garlic, lime juice and served with ginger and tamarind chutney ($21.80).  Sadly, the perfect sweet and sour balance was compromised by the fact that it was deep fried dried and chewy – like jerky! If it had been taken out a bit earlier, and with some of the meat juices and flavoursome fat left there, it would have been an amazing dish.  You can definitely taste the lime juice and tamarind – reminiscent of Thai style dishes with an Indian twist.

We had a good sized bowl of vegetable pilau (2 serves) – packed full of veges, and top quality rice that wasn’t as dry as some of the cheap basmastic you can get – fluffly and great with the fried onion garnishes. ($2.90 per serve).  We also had two naans – one garlic naan and one aloo parantha (stuffed with vegetables and herbs) – $3.50 each.  I think if you don’t like coriander, you lucked out at this place – it’s quite dominant.  Can’t go wrong with naan – flaky and air bubbled and crisp at the edges.

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My favourite place for Japanese in Sydney (and yes I have been to Tetsuya’s!) is Masuya, tucked into the basement of a building on Sydney’s O’Connell Street.  Its unassuming position in the middle of Sydney’s lawyers and bankers offices mean that its clientele is predominantly lunching corporate types, and that means be sure to book! Which really surprises me that the food is so affordable, for the amazing quality that you get.  For example, the Masuya Set, at $23.80 provides teriyaki chicken, 2 tempura jumbo prawns and veges, sashimi, sushi along with rice and miso soup is huge! The tempura is no dodgy gluggy oily job either, it’s the real thing – light and crispy and not oily at all.  The chicken is tender and moist (thigh fillets), and not too salty.  And the sashimi fresh daily.   For those non-sushi eating types, the Teriyaki Angus Beef Steak ($19.80) really is as promised “prime angus scotch fillet cooked with ginger teriyaki sauce”.  And I reckon you get more than a whole steak there, and it is plenty for one person and more. (And it comes with rice). It’s perfectly cooked – cooked through (just) and not dry at all, and sweetly scented with teriyaki sauce that enhances the tender sliced beef.

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