Revisit: Delicious Malaysian @ Mamak [Chinatown], Sydney (Australia)

One of the things we always look forward to on our trips back to Australia (besides meeting up with families and friends, of course) is the promise of good Malaysian food! Australia is a favourite country for Malaysians to migrate to - for studies, to retire, or better future for kids - and the cuisine followed the migrants. My own parents moved our family to Australia 21 years ago for the kids' education, and for that I will always be grateful to them, as it gave me much more opportunities than I would otherwise have had if we'd remained in Malaysia. It has always been fairly easy to find delicious and authentic Malaysian food in most of the Australian cities, and that was one of the things we dearly missed when we moved out of Australia almost 9 years ago. The situation for Malaysian food is better in Hong Kong than Tokyo, but we still think that the availability and taste of Malaysian food in Australia rates the best outside of Malaysia. In downtown Sydney, a solid choice for Malaysian food is Mamak in Chinatown. It is extremely popular, that it is not uncommon to see a long queue outside the restaurant. It had been years since we were last there, so when we were in the CBD with my family one day during our trip to Sydney last October, we suggested having dinner at Mamak. One sister was not so keen on the idea as she didn't want to wait in a queue for a table (neither did we as we had two little ones to put to bed soon), so we agreed to dine at Mamak only if there was no wait. Amazingly, there was no queue outside the restaurant! And we didn't have to wait long for our tables (which were actually two tables separated by a narrow walk way as there were no other tables available). The restaurant was operating at full capacity, and a queue formed shortly after we were seated, so our group arrived at just the right moment. My parents were seated at our table, and the following photos are most of the dishes we ordered. We also enjoyed Sambal Kangkung and Lamb Murtabak but photos didn't turn out well - they looked the same as the ones we had last time.

Rojak (AU$14) - Malaysian-style salad with prawn and coconut fritters, fried tofu, hard-boiled eggs, freshly shredded yambean and cucumber, topped with a spicy peanut sauce. Delicious and crunchy:

One of my parents ordered the basic Nasi Lemak (AU$9) - coconut rice with sambal, peanuts, crispy anchovies, cucumber and hard-boiled egg. There are optional extras too (which my son ordered):

The other parent ordered Roti Canai (AU$5.50) which came with two curry dips and sambal sauce. Half the roti had already been eaten when I took the shot:

The Nasi Lemak with added Fried Chicken (AU$12) for the 6-year-old boy. We requested for the sambal and peanuts to be served on the side, as one is too spicy for the boy and he's allergic to the other:

Cendol (AU$6), served dessert-style in a bowl. A refreshing icy dessert/drink of sweet pandan noodles with gula melaka syrup, coconut milk and shaved ice.:

One of our favourite Malaysian icy treats, the Ais Kacang (AU$6) - there are red beans, corn, grass jelly, rose syrup and condensed milk on shaved ice. Yummy:

After four years, it is good to see that the food quality has remained the same. Looking forward to another good eats at Mamak the next time we're in Sydney again!

Mamak [Chinatown]
15 Goulburn St
Haymarket, NSW 2000
Australia
Tel. +61 2 9211 1668