15 Goulburn St, Haymarket, Sydney
Ratings /5 – Ambience 4 Food 4.5 Price 4 Service 4
I have never arrived at Mamak when there isn’t a queue. As a favourite of mine in China Town, it offers a bounty of Hokka-style Street food; a fusion of Indian and Malaysian cuisines. Starting as a street market business, Mamak has become a familiar name for the Malaysian community in Sydney. They legitimately claim that their food is “exactly what you would find in the streets of Kuala Lumpur.”
Mamak has gained a reputation due to its on-site production of the unique style of Malaysian roti. The sweet smell wafts from the open roti grill at the shop front, showcasing many pastry chefs artfully flattening, kneading, and stretching dough into sheet-thin slabs. These are then folded into rectangles, cooked with oil, and scrunched into a parcel. The product is flakey and light. They can be filled with onion (bawang), egg (telur), or meat (murtabak), served with curry sauce or made into a delicious dessert with custard (bom) or banana (pisang) filling. The chefs show off with their roti tisu, which is fried, and assembled into a crispy cone served tall and pointing upwards.
Mamak also offers Goreng, a great alternative to the tried and tired Pad Thai. Goreng is made with an extra hint of chilli, and lacks the stodgy consistency of Pad Thai. Another option is the Nasi Lemak, Malaysia’s national dish – a platter of fragrant coconut rice, sambal (mild chilli sauce), peanuts, cucumber, fried anchovies and a hard-boiled egg. This works well as a supplement to their delicious curries or stir-fries. The mouth-watering satay is also a must.
For the adventurous palate, the street food-lover, and those with tight pockets who are accustomed to Asian cuisines, Mamak is a diamond in the rough.
Overall rating: 4.5
