Chef Lagenda

I don't know about you, but often when I enter a Malaysian restaurant, the first thing that comes to mind is bingo.  See, you walk in and everybody is just head down, eyes on the prize (be it that slippery last prawn in the laksa or that elusive "legs eleven").  When you finally surface, it may be with a big contented sigh, not a shout of "bingo!" - but the buzz afterwards is just as good.

At least that's what we were chasing when we popped into Chef Lagenda for a quick and tasty lunch.  This skinny-fronted restaurant is neighbours with Laksa King, probably Melbourne's most famous Malaysian restaurant.  There's a lot of mythology about the relationship between the two, with stories about chefs or staff decamping between the two, but let's just say Flemington is spoilt when it comes to Malaysian options.

It's a funny, slightly poky setup inside - almost like a skinny Victorian has had all its walls pulled out and been converted into a restaurant.  From memory there's a semi-enclosed courtyard upstairs.

Warm, slightly astringent Chinese tea comes standard.  Lagenda's got a mammoth menu, but if you want something really authentic, skip the chicken and cashews and flip to the stir-fried noodle and noodle soup sections for hawker classics.

Fried noodles with egg sauce, $11.20

This is one of my favourite Malaysian dishes.  It's usually called "wat tan hor".  Wide flat rice noodles are tossed with a little soy in a searing wok, given them a special smoky taste.  Next, rather peculiarly, they're completely covered with a very thick, starchy gravy mixed with beaten egg in which hovers prawns, fish cake, a few bits of veg, maybe some chicken and other good things.  I'll be the first to admit it looks like a dog's breakfast, but the taste is hot diggity dog.  The secret is getting the noodles infused with LOTS of smoky "wok hei" (the special hot work taste), otherwise it all just tastes gluggy and awful.  Maybe a touch more wok hei in Lagenda's version wouldn't have gone astray, and some of the egg pieces were a bit chunky, but it was a pretty good rendition nonetheless.

Sambal kangkung, $14.50

This sambal kangkung was disappointing, though.  Maybe it's a seasonal thing but the kangkung (a spinach-like aquatic vegetable) was slightly tough and woody.  The sambal was a bit flat in flavour, rather than being its usual slightly sweet and hot self.  Oh well.

I've had quite a few really good meals at Lagenda.  Their laksa is delicious, as is their salted fish and chicken fried rice, and I've had a good smoky char kway teow there too.  Next time you're lining up to pay your respects to the King, consider giving Lagenda a shot instead.

Chef Lagenda

16 Pin Oak Cr, Flemington (9376 2668)

Second store at Shop 9/10, 835A Ballarat Rd, Deer Park (8358 5389)

Penang Hawkers' Fare at York Hotel ... simply authentic since 1986

From the 14th December 2013 to 1 January 2013, York Hotels brings in the authentic Penang Hawkers' Fare. The Penang hawkers are flown in to cook up a storm of Penang's best street food inside the hotel's White Rose Cafe.

Lunch - 12noon to 2.30pm

Dinner - 6.30pm to 10pm

Our Eat Eat Eat Group had a gathering to buy Chris a birthday meal. Here's showing what's available. We were out on a stampede with second and third servings of each dish.

Ban Chang Kueh - This is like out peanut cake that's mostly crispy and had a sprinkle of peanut inside. The queue seems to be the slowest as the time taken to cook this dish is a bit long.

Cuttle Fish with Kang Kong - This is a simple dish but the stall's special sauce, a mix of three types made it savory and sweet at the same time.

Lor Bak - This is an assortment of items like, shrimps, beancurd, sweet potatoe, and yam, deep fried in batter and then drizzled over with braised sauce.

Prawn Noodles - This is not unlike the type we have in Singapore but delicious nevertheless.

Penang Rojak - A mix fruit salad that's mixed up in prawn paste sauce and then sprinkled with bits of ground peanuts.

Penang Char Kway Teow -  The difference with our Singaporean char kway teow is the use of thinner kway teow and the dish do not have the sweet sauce that we have in ours. This stall has one of the longest queue in the hawkers' fare.

Fish Ball Noodle Soup -  Light clear tasty soup and springy fish balls. This was simplicity at it's best. 

Penang Laksa - The minced sardines in the gravy gave it the seafood characteristic with a slight sourish taste from the asam.

Oyster Omelette - I thought this would have tasted better if it's served right out of the wok. In the hawkers' fare, this dish was served out of a food warmer which takes out the wok hei.

Cendol - This Penang iced dessert is drizzled with thick coconut milk and gula melaka. There's also the ice kacang served at the same stall which I didn't photograph.

21 Mount Elizabeth

Singapore 228516

Tel : +65 6737 0511

York Hotel Singapore Penang Hawkers' Fare

Melbourne's best roti at Mamak

Queues.  With the rise of internet banking and self-checkout at the supermarket, they're slowly becoming a thing of the past.  As a teenager, I remember sitting on the pavement outside the Arts Centre quite literally all night in the queue to get Grand Final tickets, legs wrapped up in a tartan blankie and sipping on a thermos of hot chocolate, chatting with excited fellow footy fans all around.  I'm sure these days it's all done by some extremely efficient and boring electronic ballot process.

But queues are making a comeback at Melbourne's hottest restaurants, and new Malaysian eatery Mamak is no exception.  As Nina Rousseau wrote in Epicure last week, this Sydney export is already winning hearts and tummies left, right and centre.

If you have to wait, you will get some street theatre of sorts to whet your appetite - Mamak specialise in roti, made from scratch and expertly stretched until almost translucent.  On a Monday night, we only had to wait five minutes for a table of six, so it's definitely worth trying your luck.

It's functional inside but still pleasant.  The "mamak" in Malaysia are Indian by ethnicity and often Muslim by religion, their forebears having been brought to Malaysia from southern Indian by the British (who colonised both India and modern-day Malaysia).  Now, mamak street stalls are popular across Malaysia and Singapore, specialising in roti, satay, mi goreng noodles and more.  See Bryan's delicious post about "roti prata" in Singapore.  (My secret:  Sometimes if I am having a bad day, I find this post and look at the roti man's face.  There is something about him that is so purely, simply happy.)

I love Mamak Melbourne's tiny, specialised menu.  If you're looking for laksa, you're in the wrong place.  Mamak knows where its strengths are and knows how to work them.

Chicken/beef satay, one dozen for $16

Fantastic satays!  Bite sized morsels of tender chicken and beef, threaded onto long, dainty skewers and with the most delicious satay sauce for dipping.  Seriously, I could have eaten this with a spoon by itself.  I'll guess that it featured lemongrass, ginger and tamarind, with nary a spoonful of commercial peanut butter in sight.  Awesome.

Roti canai, $5.50

If some roti is like puff pastry, this was like filo - almost impossibly thin, elastic dough cooked on a hot grill and gently curled on a silver tray.  I could happily eat it on its own, but it comes with a traditionally thin lentil dal speckled with nigella seeds, a creamy curry gravy, and a dot of dried anchovy-rich, full-flavoured chilli sambal.

WE HATED IT.


Teh tarik, $3.50

This is tea sweetened with condensed milk and "aerated" by pouring in long streams between two mugs.  I liked this, which might mean it's not authentic - it's supposed to have a very bitter, tannic edge that doesn't appeal to me.  Bryan is kinder than me - when I described it to him, he said, "Maybe it's gently authentic".  :-)

Roti telur bawang, $7

I didn't mind this roti filled with egg and sweet onion, but really, I'd be more than happy to stick to the original, feather-light version.

Kari ayam, $16

Next up were curries - first a fantastic, full-flavoured chicken curry with whole cloves bobbing in the rich, thick sauce and big, tender taters.  The chicken is on the bone, so if you're having a bit of a bone wuss moment, you might not fully appreciate it.

Kangkung belacan, $14

This is kangkung, also known as morning glory, water convolvulus and other less rude other names.  When eating Vietnamese, next time you want a vegie, don't get the Chinese broccoli and oyster sauce - try one of the kangkung options, maybe with just garlic or my favourite, "stinky" preserved tofu.  This version was cooked well but the belachan or fermented shrimp paste was almost imperceptible.  As my dad put it - "Not enough old underpants".

Sambal sotong, $17

"It's very hot," warned the edible young waiter.  "Yes, we love hot," we replied.  Fresh leaves of squid came luxuriating in thick, jammy sambal.  Sambal is a chilli-based sauce that can be anything from just pounded fresh chillies with a little lime to an intense blend of shrimp paste, sugar and citrus.  While at first bite the sotong tasted sweet and tangy, the addictive chilli rush crept up slowly afterwards.  Delicious.

Much rice for soaking up all the sauces...

...and salad to cool the burn.  While the ingredients were good and fresh (cucumber, fried tofu and jicama) , I wasn't a huge fan of this rojak - the dressing was very sweet and somewhat one dimensional.  I'm not very familiar with Malaysian-style rojak though so this could be authentic.

Lamb murtabak, $11.50

Bringing up the rear, our murtabak or stuffed roti finally arrived (it does say to allow extra time).  Filled with small pieces of lamb and onion, I found it unexciting compared to the unbearable lightness of the plain roti and the flavour acrobatics of the chicken curry and sambal sotong.

So get thee to Mamak!  There's a grocery across the road that sells Japanese beer and super kawaii individual glasses of choya, Japanese plum wine.  BYO is a mere $2 per head.  Service is efficient but friendly - one waitress even speaks Auslan!



Mamak
366 Lonsdale Street, City
Phone:  9670 3137
Hours:  Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30-10pm


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The best banh cuon and more at Vy Vy

I attended Vy Vy as a guest of the proprietors.  See end of post for full disclosure.

It was just a normal Thursday.  Lazily refreshing my inbox, wading between the Frequent Flyer missives I never read and foreboding overdue library book notices, I found a little gem.  "We have been in business for 20 years and both my parents are the chefs," wrote infectiously chirpy Tiffany of her family's restaurant, Vy Vy in Flemington.  "We have many dishes we would love you to try, such as crispy soft shell crabs in spicy salt, vietnamese steamed rice rolls (banh cuon) freshly made and rolled, our laksas, salty fish chicken fried vermicelli, malaysian curries such as beef rendang, vietnamese curries, etc."

Fast forward two weeks and that's how S and I found ourselves ensconced at Vy Vy one Tuesday night, sipping at cooling homemade longan iced tea and ready for the gastronomic equivalent of a foot spa, massage and deluxe facial - a tummy pampering of epic proportions!

Vy Vy in Racecourse Road just turned 20 years old.  While the area around Racecourse Road is fast turning into Melbourne's Little KL, Vy Vy was actually the first Asian restaurant in the area.

It is and has always been run by Winnie and Peter, now with the assistance of their gorgeous daughter Tiffany who runs Vy Vy's Facebook page.  Winnie in particular is lovely, so hospitable and full of stories!

It's spick and span inside and unashamedly old school - love it!  As we dined, it became clear that many of the steady stream of customers were much-loved regulars, beckoning Winnie out from the kitchen for a chat or placing orders with the ease of reeling off lucky Tattslotto numbers.

Soft shell crabs, $6 each

They may have lucky numbers but I have lucky dishes, and if soft shell crab is so much as hinted at I know I just have to have it.  These crabs are harvested at an opportune time in their life cycle which means their shell is still pliable and can be eaten just as easily as the juicy meat inside.  You are reading the words of the most squeamish offal virgin, so trust me, there is no ick factor - just all flavour!  Vy Vy's were delicious, larger than other specimens, really meaty and with light, non-greasy batter.

Hot and sour soup, $5

Wickedly good hot and sour soup with the perfect combo of pleasant sour tang, chilli heat, soothing glutinous texture and a cast of quality ingredients like silky tofu and tender Chinese mushroom.

Banh cuon, $10

What had really piqued my curiosity in Tiffany's email was Vy Vy's fresh banh cuon.  This is the same homestyle Vietnamese dish that I love for breakfast from Dinh Son at Little Saigon market - impossibly thin rice flour crepes filled with minced meat, rolled and topped with salad.  Fellow banh cuon fiends, Vy Vy's version is awesome.  While Dinh Son do pre-make and reheat them, they're made fresh to order here, and are steamed the proper, old-school way instead of being made in a frypan.  Winnie also reports she makes the batter from scratch and doesn't use any kind of packet mix.  The filling here is minced chicken which gives them a more delicate taste.  Combined with fragrant mint, crunchy bean sprouts and mild Vietnamese sausage, they are a winner!

These have been a much-loved family recipe, and now Tiffany has convinced her mum that everyone else needs to try them too.  Check out the other specials above, including vegetarian rolls in the middle.

Chicken roti chanai, $10

Vy Vy specialise in Chinese, Vietnamese and Malaysian food.  I admit I'm often suspicious when a restaurant offers more than one cuisine, as I worry they're spreading themselves too thin.  In fact, Winnie is originally from Vietnam and her husband Peter from China, and on her long journey to Australia, Winnie spent time in Malaysia where she learnt a lot about the cuisine there.  This is definitely evident in this awesome chicken curry, full of rich, warming spices and shiny green fresh curry leaves.  I was worried at first that it would be too oily but it worked perfectly, especially with plenty of rice and crisp yet pliable roti for mopping up all that wonderful sauce.

Silky tofu and eggplant, $14.50

There are two types of people in the world - one who looks at the above and turns away in horror, and another who needs to step back and stop drooling on the keyboard.  Eggplant and silken tofu are definitely a love 'em or hate 'em kind of deal - and I adore them.  This is a vegan dish and it was fantastic, delicate yet full flavoured with a light, tasty sauce, the tofu melting like snowflakes in the mouth.

Chicken ribs with spicy salt

I do love me a chicken rib, but we were so stuffed we could only manage one or two of these babies.  They were delicious but I think had the skin on, which when battered really gilds the lily.  Still yummy, just extra naughty!

Deep-fried icecream, $5.50

I have no idea how it is possible to deep fry ice cream, where a hot, crispy shell gives way to an icy scoop of vanilla.  Like the best magic tricks, I have no intention of researching it and every intention of just enjoying it.

Banana fritter, $5

Seriously, what is it with the "dessert stomach"?  Somehow we managed to eat all of the above, despite being so full.  Top marks for great banana fritter action.

Tiffany often whips up little freebies for customers, whether they're home-made chocolates or these traditional Vietnamese steamed cakes, made with glutinous rice flour and mung beans and swiped through coconut cream.

I was so pleasantly surprised by our gorgeous, authentic dinner here.  On the surface Vy Vy may look like the suburban restaurants of your childhood, but this ain't your mama's Chinese takeout.  The menu is chockers with delicious traditional fare that's made with love and no cut corners.

One thing to be aware of is that in response to some customers' concerns in the past, Winnie may modify dishes to suit the older Anglo-Australian generation's palate.  Particularly in the case of fried noodles, if (like me) you covet that authentic wok hei charred flavour, you're encouraged to ask for them "authentic Chinese style".

If only every email could lead to such a lovely discovery.  Now, back to those overdue library notices...

Vy Vy (Facebook)

318 Racecourse Road, Flemington

Phone:  9372 1426

Hours: Mon-Fri 11.30am-3pm, 5-10.30pm

Sat 11.30am-3pm, 5-11pm.

Sun noon-3pm, 5-10.30pm (closed Christmas Day)

Disclosure:  I attended Vy Vy as a guest which meant that in exchange for writing a post, a friend and I had a menu chosen for us and we did not pay for our meal.  This offer was conditional on subsequently writing a post on Vy Vy.  Vy Vy has not sought nor been given any editorial control of this post.


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PappaRich, new Malaysian at QV

Is there anything Melbourne loves more than a new Malaysian restaurant?  PappaRich is at the old site of Old Kopitiam Mamak at QV, and despite its somewhat secluded location, it's already jumping.

This is a big chain in Malaysia.  The ordering is really streamlined (see below) and there's a big open grill where you can spy your satays and roti coming to life.

It's a big menu with loads of glossy pictures, which I love.  There's a big section of things with super-soft Asian-style bread, which is very interesting!

To order, write your numbers on this funny little pad that feels like something out of a board game and press the buzzer.  A staff member whizzes past to grab the docket, before returning with your bill stapled to the order form.  It sounds impersonal but all the staff were very friendly.

Char kway teoh, $11.90

Unfortunately this char kway teoh was a confoundingly huge BA-BOWWW fail.  The thin noodles were wrong (someone correct me if I'm wrong about this), there was no wok hei and the sauce was incorrect, being too sweet - it tasted almost like pad Thai.  The whole thing tended towards glugginess.  Such an odd thing to stuff up!

Roti, $5.50

This roti plate was excellent though - the roti is made in house on a big flat plate and is super delicate inside with gorgeous crispy edges.  Included in the price are tastes of wonderul yellow split dea dal, full of earthy popped mustard seeds; a little chicken curry-style gravy, full of warming cardamom and sweetly cooked onion without a hint of bitterness; and jammy, spicy sambal.  Total bargain light lunch at only $5.50!

Teh, $3.90 and barley drink, $3.50

The tea wasn't quite right - it wasn't tannic enough, as good teh should be.  The barley drink was new for me and surprisingly good, warm, sweet and almost viscous.  Apparently they do organic soy milk drinks too (they were out that day).  Don't bother with this anchovy sambal if you already have sambal in your meal - the anchovies were almost nonexistent anyway.

The roti win outweighed the CKT fail, and I'm keen to try more at PappaRich.  They have a vegetarian section with mock meat dishes (including a few yum cha-style items) that definitely looks worth trying.  Satays look good too.  Check out Urbanspoon for a staggering amount of user reviews - it's certainly captured Melbourne's attention.



NOTE!  Gurney Drive in West Melbourne was previously highly recommended on these fair pages.  It's now turned into Kari Leaf and from two separate reports from trusted sources, it's very disappointing.  Proceed at your own risk!

PappaRich (Facebook)
Shop 11, QV Square, QVB - cnr Lonsdale and Swanston (one level up from the food court)
Hours:  Lunch and dinner 7 days



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Two great bloggers I know, Bryan (@fatbooo) and Winston (@winceeee), are stepping up and doing "Live Below the Line", a challenge in which they live on a meagre $2 worth of food per day for 5 days, to raise awareness of extreme poverty and raise funds for the Oaktree Foundation.  Have a read about it on their blogs and perhaps even consider sponsoring them.  Bryan's even going to take it up a notch, giving up an extra western-world luxury like hot water or electronic gadgets for each day of the challenge - culminating in no food at all on the final day.  I'm really looking forward to reading how their experiences went.