Food review at Petaling Street Restaurant (Malaysian cuisine), Sydney CBD

Petaling Street Restaurant at Sydney CBD

We heard so much about the Malaysian restaurant called Petaling Street in Sydney CBD that we need to try at least once. So, recently we had the opportunity to have dinner there before proceeding to watch Disney’s Lion King, the Musical at Capitol Theatre which is just nearby to that restaurant. Petaling Street Restaurant is located at 760 George Street, Sydney CBD. As you probably guessed by now, Petaling Street or Jalan Petaling in the Malay Language is a famous bazaar in Kuala Lumpur that sells hawker food as well replicas of branded goods.

The rather diluted "Air Bandung"

We were there early so we got a nice table on the ground floor of the restaurant. We ordered its famous “char kway teow” (fried rice noodle), “fried tofu with condiments” ,  “Nam Yu Pork Rib” and a glass of “Air Bandung”. Even though there were not many people at that time but it took a while for us to get our food. For some reason, the “Air Bandung” took longer (about 20 minutes) in spite of the repeated reminders to the servers to check on that drink. “Air Bandung” is a concoction of rose syrup and evaporated milk and it is relatively easy to make. We couldn’t really understand the delay. The “Air Bandung” which was served to us was rather disappointing. From its colour, one can already see that it was diluted and not that bright pink colour which it ought to be. The “Air Bandung” had insufficient rose syrup and evaporated milk. It tasted more like milky sweet tap water, to put it bluntly.

"Char Kway Teow"

As for the “char kway teow” (fried rice noodle) - it was delicious. The “char kway teow” was made up of rice noodle, baby clams (not to be confused with cockles), bean sprouts, a couple of prawns, chinese sausage, a few slices of fish cake, egg and sprinkle of fried lard to give that extra flavour. The “char kway teow” has that beautiful “burnt” aroma and flavour or better known as “wok hei” in Cantonese. “Wok hei” denotes that the “char kway teow” was cooked in a wok under a very hot and high flame which gave it that “burnt” flavour. We would the “char kway teow” a strong rating of 8/10.

Fried tofu, sliced cucumber, and bean sprout with prawn paste and "kicap manis"

Our next order was a simple dish of fried tofu, sliced cucumber and bean sprout served with a sauce made up of prawn paste mixed with “kicap manis” (sweet soy sauce). Some people may find this dish rather plain but when the fried tofu is dipped into the sauce, it changes the taste of the fried tofu which we find it delightful. We will give a rating of 7/10.

"Nam Yu Pork Rib"

The last dish was the “Nam Yu Pork Rib” which is fried pork rib in bean paste. Even though it was supposed to be rib but we found it to be rather meaty and the seasoning was very light which did not do any justice to this dish. We will rate as 5/10.

In conclusion and based on our dining experience, we would rate the service in Petaling Street Restaurant a 6/10 for courteous service even though there was delay in serving the food and 5/10 for ambient as the place can be rather cramped when it gets crowded.

Malaysian Curry Laksa review at Alice's Makan, Sydney CBD

Malaysian Curry Laksa (Prawn and Chicken)

 If you fancy some good Malaysian curry laksa in Sydney CBD, we recommend that you try Alice’s Makan located at 580 George Street, Sydney (close to Town Hall Station). “Makan” in the Malay Language means “Eat” which is rather apt in the case of Alice’s Makan as they serve a variety of good and affordable Malaysian food. They even have Malaysian “Nyonya Kueh” (pastries and puffs that originated from the Peranakans (mixed marriages of the Chinese and Malay) which usually contain coconut and palm sugar as its major ingredients). We will try that the next time when we visit Alice’s Makan.

We ordered the Malaysian curry laksa which was very much to our liking as it is “lemak” (full of flavour - a mixture of mild curry and lots of coconut milk). Alice’s Makan has a selection of laksa that you can choose from - “Chicken Curry Laksa”, “Prawn laksa” and “Prawn-Chicken Curry Laksa”. For indecisive people like us, the best bet would be the “Prawn-Chicken Curry Laksa”. Our laksa comprised of “bee hoon -mee” (vermicelli and yellow noodles), “tau pok” (fried square bean curd), slices of fish cake, a few pieces of chicken fillet, a couple pieces of prawns, mint leaf for flavour and some “sambal” (chilli paste). We must say that the “sambal” was very good and it went very well with the curry laksa. If you like, you can request for additional “sambal” without any additional charge - kudos to Alice’s Makan for been generous with the “sambal”.

In conclusion and based on our experience at Alice’s Makan, we would rate the Malaysian curry laksa 9/10, its service 7/10 and its ambient 6/10 (as what you would expect in a food court). As for the price, taking into account that Alice’s Makan is in the CBD, it is moderate at the price of AUD12.00 per bowl.