H and I recently took a short trip to Sydney, and of course no trip would be complete without me scoffing as many of the foods that I cannot get here as quickly as possible! I am always hungry and annoying on bus trips so we decided to head straight to Mamak after getting off the bus (this was also to make sure that we did not have to line up for a table).
Of course there was just one food that I really, really wanted (one of the few that I cannot get here): Murtabak. Unfortunately the Mamak version was not my cup of tea, but the rest of the food was especially enak!
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| Teh Halia |
We started off with ayam goreng (fried chicken) and a teh halia for H. The latter is a lot like chai which is why I ordered it for him, and he was very surprised when he took the first sip and tasted the warm frothy ginger tea. The ayam goreng was one of the best that I have ever had, beautifully crunchy on the outside and still tender and juicy inside. It had just the right amount of spice, and honestly I would have been happy if we just ate the chicken!
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| Ayam Goreng |
The next dish to arrive was the sambal udang (sambal prawns). And oh my goodness was the sambal sambal! It was a nice balance of sweetness and belachan, but was a tad spicy for me (although I could just be out of practice). The prawns themselves were again cooked very nicely, they were not tough although had not all been deveined!
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| Sambal Udang |
The murtabak was unfortunately the disappointment of the two meals (you didn't think we ate all this food in one meal did you?) The two curries were delicious, again as was the accompanying sambal. The murtabak itself though was not as expected. The filling was too thick, the cabbage uncooked and the egg flavour overwhelmed the chicken and spice flavours that should have come through. This is of course, just my opinion and others might have liked it very much.
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| Murtabak |
On the second trip we got a different assortment of delicious goodies. First to arrive was the roti canai, very different in presentation to prata but also super delicious.
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| Roti canai |
We also got roti planta, which was the most like prata. Planta is a malaysian margarine made mostly with palm oil, and extremely delicious.
Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the roti planta, probably because I ate it too quickly! It was delectable, warm layers of flaky goodness, dipped into the mild curry with a dab of sambal. Yum!
The next dish to arrive was the chicken satay,
and sadly for me I was almost too full to eat them :(
But of course I managed to find some room! They were perfectly cooked- delicately spiced meat with a tangy peanut sauce (there were still chunks of peanut in the sauce which I found a great touch). I feel they probably give you a bit too much sauce for the amount of meat, but maybe if I had not scoffed my roti so fast I would have had some left to scoop up more sauce!
The final dish was the only one that we ordered on both days- roti kaya! As you may have realised from my about me section, I am dedicated to the holy grail of kaya- I don't know that I have ever said no to a dish that involved kaya, even if it is one that is not something that I am really meant to eat.
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| Roti Kaya |
And of course, it was delicious. Large, with just the right amount of kaya (the regular non pandan one) flaky layers and piping hot. H ate the ice cream (both times!) while I devoured the kaya deliciousness. I think he may know not to get between me and kaya. I would go back just for this one dish. Over and over again.
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| Roti Kaya- check out those layers! |
I've heard people say that Mamak is overpriced and overrated; personally I found it to be good value (I was definitely full when I left) and quite delicious.
Mamak has two branches:
15 Goulburn Street, Haymarket (Chinatown); and
Shop P9, 1-5 Railway Street, Chatswood
www.mamak.com.au
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