Australia Part II: Laksa Love for Malaysian Food

Something that really surprised me about Sydney is how diverse and multi cultural it is. I was even more surprised to see so many Asians living there. The Asian population there is also really diverse being made up of Malaysians, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and Samoan. This is clearly evident in their food. I came home with a bag of honey soy chicken flavored chips and sweet chili & sour cream chips that are really yummy. I wish they had it here in the States.

Before my trip I did a little research on what to eat in Sydney and many of the food forums pointed at Malaysian food. I love Malaysian food but in my honest opinion you can't find great Malaysian food in New York City. Surprising isn't it since we have every type of people you can imagine and every type of food that comes with them! It's not bad. But it's not great. The Malaysian food here just tastes like Chinese food.

they have lotsa laksa! teehee!

According to Wikipedia which is the know all of the world, "laksa is extremely popular in Australia". So when my hosts asked me what I wanted to eat in Sydney my first response was LAKSA! They took me into Chinatown to Market City Mall where I had the best bowl of laksa I've ever had. Laksa is a coconut based curry noodle soup which is from Malaysia and Singapore. The balance of coconut in the soup is perfect. Topped with puffed tofu, scallions, fried shallots, and a dallop of sambal chili paste I can't imagine anything better.

After eating laksa we went to get Emperor's Cream Puffs. Very similar to the egg shaped cakes I used to get in Chinatown here in NYC after Chinese school as a kid, Emperor's Cream Puff's are filled with warm pastry cream.


There's always a line in front of this little window where these tiny cakes get churned out of a conveyor belt. Thank goodness my hosts warned me how to eat them because the filling was piping hot! What a great ending to our first night in Sydney.


On my third day in Sydney, after a looooooong day of walking around the Sydney Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium I had dinner at one of the best Malaysian restaurants in town, Mamak. At Mamak my two hosts, travel buddy, and I PIGGED OUT! The table next to us kept staring at us. Maybe it's because the three of them shared one dish of fried chicken, a bowl of rice, and a dessert roti while our table of four was running out of room to put our dishes. The food was spicy and it didn't help that I was drinking a hot pulled tea! But who cares it was so good! We ordered the plain roti, roti filled with lamb, chicken satay, beef satay, a fish curry, a lamb curry, Nasi Goreng- Malaysian style fried rice with eggs, prawns, french beans, assorted veges, topped with fried shallots, Kangkung Belacan- stir-fried water spinach with chillies and shrimp paste, 4 bowls of rice, 4 teas, and Roti Kaya- filled with a traditional spread made from pandan and coconut with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert! Everything was delicious!

making roti is like making pizza!

The best handmade roti, voted best in town, and I agree.
Served with two curry sauces and spicy sambal sauce.

Kari Ikan- a tangy fish curry cooked with fresh tomatoes, okra, and eggplant

Kari Kambing- spicy lamb curry slow cooked until tender

Murtabak Roti- filled with spicy lamb, cabbage, eggs, and onions.

Teh Tarik- classic sweetened Malaysian tea stretched for a frothy topping


The Aftermath
Some of the dishes are missing because there was no room.
Others had to be stacked!

Market City: Happy Chef
9 - 13 Hay St
Haymarket New South Wales 2000, Australia

Mamak
15 Goulburn Street
Haymarket Sydney 2000
T: +612 9211 1668 F: +612 9211 1669

...stay tuned for more Aussie eats!