October 24, 2017

Mamak, Chinatown

It has been years since I last went to Mamak, and since I had proper Malaysian food in a restaurant.

Mamak is notorious for its long lines but we skipped these by arriving at 5.30pm. At 5.30pm, there were no queues and several empty tables. By the time we left however, which was closer to 6.30pm, there was a queue forming out the door.

As I have mentioned before, my tastebuds cannot tolerate spicy food so my menu selection is somewhat limited at Mamak, where almost every dish includes the word ‘spicy’. It is worth mentioning that the curries are pre-made so you cannot order them without spice. They can, however, make the mee goreng noodles without spice so that is what I ordered.

Mee Goreng – $14

Wok-tossed hokkien noodles with eggs, prawns, fish cake slices and fresh bean sprouts

The Mee Goreng was a standard portion size and I could taste the wok heat in the noodles. I drizzled the lime wedge over the noodles to add that extra ‘zing’ flavour. This was an average noodle dish – nothing to rave about, but nothing unpleasant either.

I could only have a tiny taste of the curry sauce for the two curries that my friends ordered before it burned my tongue.

Kari kambing – $18

Spicy lamb curry slow-cooked until tender.

Kari Ayam – $18
Classic chicken curry cooked with freshly ground spices and chunky potatoes.

The curries don’t come with rice so you need to order this on top of the price above. Steamed white rice is $3.00 per person.

The food came out in a jumbled rush so the time difference wasn’t too noticeable, but our roti came after the above arrived. So if you want to eat your roti first, you should ask for it to come out first.

Teh tarik – $4 each and Roti canai – $7.50

The savoury roti is served with two curry dipping sauces (not that spicy) and a spicy sambal sauce. It is fun tearing the roti apart with your fingers and dipping it into the sauce.

We ordered the traditional teh tariks to wash it all down. These were sweeter and milkier than I remembered, with the head of froth caused by the pouring ‘from a great height’ to look out for.

Mamak is a Sydney staple and I don’t think the queues will ever get shorter. For me, I have had my Mamak dose to last me another couple of years!