Kotaraya – Elsternwick

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Kotaraya used to be our go-to Malaysian restaurant. We used to frequent their Elsternwick store, and then on occassion, their Clayton store maybe every few months but then we stopped going there. Not because it was bad or anything, the food stayed pretty consistent of the many years we ate there but only because it got too busy for our liking and you’d be hard pressed to find a table on a Sunday after 12pm.

So instead we opted for the many restaurants in Glen Waverley so you didn’t have to play the waiting game.  Earlier this year we noticed it wasn’t particularly busy so we jumped at the chance to revist Kotaraya.

Kotaraya has all the standard Malaysian dishes. Laksa, Nasi/Mee Goreng, Char Kway Teoh but also a selection of Thai and Chinese dishes too.

 

I always used to order their Char Hor Fun (Combination), and to be honest their Char Hor Fun has pratically stayed the same as I remembered it. It still has the same tasty egg sauce and the slightly wok stir-fried noodles. Of course the price has gone up, but that has been consistent with most restaurants so it isn’t a real negative.

Their Char Hor Fun as all the essentials, calamari , bok choy, and chicken and just enough sauce. You can’t go wrong with this dish.

Check out their menu on the official website and see what you like! There is something for everyone.

Kotaraya Multi Asian Cuisine on Urbanspoon

Kotaraya – Elsternwick
237-239 Glenhuntly Road
Elsternwick 3185

Telephone: 9523 6720
Fax: 9523 1792

Opening hours
Open 7 days (Lunch & Dinner) Lunch 11.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner 5.30pm – 10.30pm
Closed: Saturday Lunch
Public Holidays: Open

Chillipadi – Waterfront City

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The Chillipadi name has been around for many years. It’s first store that I remember was, and still is, near Melbourne Central. It serves a mix of Malaysian/Chinese style food, with a taste of Thai as well. When we tried it out it seemed like the dishes were mostly catering to the Western food palate and so I never really bothered to venture there again.

The Chillipadi Mamak Kopitiam stores are the newest entries to the Chillipadi brand, it predominantly serves Indian/Malay-Malaysian food and their versions of the popular Chinese-Malaysian cuisines too. What I like out their Mamak stores is that they serve tasty and spicy food, with all the favourites and rarities at decent prices.

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We recently stumbled upon their small store in Waterfront City, Docklands. Located opposite the still-not-opened Ferris Wheel. We hadn’t had a chance to go to their store in Flemington/Newmarket so this was our first taste of it. At their Waterfront City store they have a limited menu because of the size of the restaurant but nonetheless the staples are here.
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They have Nasi Kandar dishes which looked delicious.

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I tried their Curry Laksa, and I have got to say it was quite good. I actually prefer it to Laksa King’s or Chef Lagenda’s versions as their laksa contains more coconut cream, and for me, it’s way too creamy for my liking. Chillipadi’s Curry Laksa, balances the creamyness and spicyness quite well, making it an overall very satisfying dish. It’s definitely one I would go back for.

We also tried their Teh Tarik (Both Cold and Hot varieties) and it was also surprisingly good. If you have ever tried Old Town Kopitiam Mamak in QV, you’d notice the very big size difference when they are in fact similarly priced. Not only that but Old Town’s is incredibly sweet. Tek Tarik of course is a sweet tea drink but when you lose the whole tea flavour in favour of just sugar, it isn’t Teh Tarik.

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I’d definitely recommend this place for those who want to try something different from your usual Chinese-Malaysian dishes. Their Flemington store serves an even wider variety of foods that you probably won’t be able to try elsewhere.

Chillipadi Mamak Kopitiam - Waterfront City on Urbanspoon
Chillipadi Waterfront City
Harbour Town Shopping Centre, Waterfront City
Star Crc
Docklands 3008 VIC

KL Bunga Raya

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KL Bunga Raya is located on Errol Street, North Melbourne, close to the North Melbourne Town Hall. When we went there on a Sunday afternoon, it was very quiet. I’m not too sure if that was a one off or if it’s always like that but I’m guessing it just has very low foot traffic around there.

By it’s name you may be able to guess that it’s a Malaysian eatery, serving all your favourite and commonly known Malaysian dishes such as Char Kway Teow,  Curry Laksa and Nasi Lemak. Plus a couple of interesting dishes like the Thai influenced Pineapple Fried Rice. There are actually a few Thai styled dishes to choose from but mostly they do serve the typical Malaysian food.

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I tried Pineapple Fried Rice in Malaysia from a Thai restaurant and it was surprisingly good. It was actually served inside a pineapple! So I ordered the Pineapple Fried Rice here to see if it could match or better the one I ate in Malaysia but unfortunately it lacked a bit of taste and seasoning. That’s not to say it was bad, but  the pineapple had little flavour and the rice was more wet than I’m used to for Fried Rice. So let’s just say it was interesting and leave it at that.

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Char Kway Teow
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I tried a bit of the chicken here and it was quite tasty. Packed full of flavour. I can’t recall what the dish was called to be honest.

My verdict would be to give it a try. The food may or may not be to your liking but you wouldn’t know unless you taste it for yourself!

KL Bunga Raya on Urbanspoon

KL Bunga Raya
34 Errol Street
North Melbourne VIC 3051

Sue’z Delights

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Sue’z Delights is a popular Clayton eatery on Dandenong Road because of it’s close proximity to Monash University. It also has nice food to boot.They serve a variety of Malaysian cuisines but their selection of dishes varies by day and by month so some dishes are only cooked on specific days or dates. Some dishes they cook are Mee Rebus, Char Hor Fun, Laksa, basically a big selection of the popular and sometimes not so common Malaysian dishes known in Australia today.

We ate there on a Sunday, the first Sunday of the month, and they had a couple of dishes on offer but I can’t remember the other ones. The one I ordered was their Nasi Briyani.

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Their Nasi Briyani is a Indian/Malaysian dish served with salad, fried egg, fragrant rice, fried chicken and a sauce. Sue’z is run by a husband and wife team, and with the wife cooking most of these dishes so service and food delivery can be slow. Actually, it’s expected to be slow.

The Nasi Briyani is nice, it has all the flavours and added extras too, but the flavours aren’t as strong as I would have liked it to be. The rice didn’t pack a punch either but their runny egg was great. This dish is definitely cooked a different way then I am used to and there are many ways to cook Nasi Briyani so this is just one of them. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to order this but it’s still good.

 

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Sue’z Delights also has a few snack boxes that you can order. These look like tiny curry puffs but they are filled with chopped peanuts and sugar. It was quite pleasant to eat, I might add.

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Their also have a few drinks you can order, like Milo, but their Ice Cendol is what I was after. I would say their actual cendol was a bit hard, probably because it wasn’t freshly made and left in the fridge but it wasn’t bad. Also when had their cendol, their syrup mixture was too hot! So even with the ice, it was a mild room temperature dessert. With added ice, it would have been great. It had nice sweet flavours to it, and overall it was still something I would order again (provided I’m patient enough to wait)

Sue’z Delights serves authentic Malaysian cuisine and if you can stand the long wait, their food usually reaches expectations.

Sue’z Delights on Urbanspoon
Sue’z Delights
1915 Dandenong Road
Clayton, VIC
3168
(03) 9548 8700

Khe Sanh

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Khe Sanh has recently had a management change and renewed some interest into this long standing restaurant.

Originally opened in 2001, it has changed hands I believe late last year and serves a variety of Vietnamese, Chinese and Malaysian style food.

Khe Sanh is located in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne and with so many eateries around Springvale, it definitely is hard to compete. Although, tastes are what matters.

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I ordered the Nasi Lemak, and surprisingly it was quite nice. I recently became a Nasi Lemak fan after having it constantly when I vacationed in Malaysia. You’d think I’d get sick of it already, but interestingly enough I now keep wanting to try every restaurant’s Nasi Lemak.

This Nasi Lemak had all the ingredients, the egg, peanuts, anchovies, sambal, beef curry and coconut rice. What I was surprised by was the preserved vegetable which although I’ve been served before, I didn’t intend on eating it. This time, I gave it a try and it was actually decent but I’m not a big fan of cold vegetables so I wouldn’t be annoyed if it wasn’t on my plate.

The combination of flavours worked quite well together, and the curry whilst a tad too sweet, was flavourful and slightly spicy so it did its job.

Overall, for the price, it was actually a pleasant meal and I have nothing really bad to say about it.
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My parents ate these two wonderful looking dishes, Chicken stir-fry and the Crispy chicken (or pork, I can’t remember). Try the crispy chicken, or whatever it was called, it had a really nice taste to it.

I would definitely come back to Khe Sanh if I was wanting to eat around Springvale, but I don’t regularly eat there since Glen Waverley’s variety of restaurants satisfies me. I give it my thumbs up!

Khe Sanh Seafood Restaurant on Urbanspoon
Khe Sanh
792 – 806 Heatherton Road
Springvale South
(03) 9540 3017

 

ABC Cafe

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Update: ABC Cafe has closed its doors and I believe a Vietnamese eatery will take its place.

ABC Cafe is situated in the heart of Glen Waverley, on the popular Kingsway street, right next to Petaling Street.

It isn’t a very big eatery, and it doesn’t serve that many people but if you want good Malaysian food for a decent price it’s here.

What differentiates ABC Cafe from the other Malaysian restaurants is that it serves Mee Rebus on the menu. Not very many eateries cook Mee Rebus. As I don’t think it’s as commonly known and I think the many Australian Australians’ just don’t know what it is so restaurants don’t bother serving it and just stick with the Char Kway Teows’, Nasi Gorengs’ etc.

What makes Mee Rebus so good, and ABC Cafe’s is the sauce. The sauce is everything, it is like a viscous soup, and with the noodles, tofu, bean sprouts, prawns and garnish. It just makes a perfect combination. I probably don’t know what an ‘authentic’ Malaysian Mee Rebus is, as I’ve only eaten it a couple of times when I went back but it sure tastes good and that should be all that matters really.

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Their Curry Laksa is also no too shabby, it packs the flavour, spiciness and slight creaminess that makes a Laksa appetising. Also, a great Laksa includes both the Hokkien Noodles and Bee Hoon Noodles which ABC Cafe do include.

Portion size is also quite decent, as is with the Mee Rebus.

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Their Ice Kacang is also a winner, although it doesn’t have peanuts in there. The flavour and syrups used are just what it should be, just a word of caution even on a cooler day it melts quickly. I think it’s due to their fine ice shavings as opposed to larger ice shavings which seem to stay cooler, longer, and hence hold its form.

I would put the ABC Cafe’s Ice Kacang above Petaling Street and The Grand Tofu’s offerings. It just happens to tick the most boxes when it comes to flavour and the ingredients they used. Definitely like what I had in Malaysia.

I’m pretty happy to dine at ABC Cafe, I’m just not quite sure why it’s not as popular as the other Malaysian restaurants in the same area as some of their dishes taste better then the others.

ABC Cafe

109 Kingsway

Glen Waverley, 3150

(03) 9561 6888

Petaling Street

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Petaling Street is one of the newer entries to Kingsway, Glen Waverley. Replacing the Kowloon Cafe, a Hong Kong style eatery. When they first opened, it was shockingly terrible. Horrible service and the food wasn’t too flash either. I believe a year and a half later, they are doing fine. One of the more popular places because of it’s variety of dishes, cheaper prices and great portions. It has turned itself around.

I believe they have another store in Hawthorn but according to some friends, it’s not as good. The image above is of a Crispy Noodle Combination, it’s actually pretty good. Maybe just as good as The Grand Tofu’s offerings.
I always come back here for their Nasi Goreng Pattaya, it looks pretty cool and well it tastes good too. Here it is below. The sweet chilli sauce and the really thin egg layer gives this Nasi Goreng some added flavour and texture.

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Below are some other dishes they have. I think the first one is a Combination Hor Fun and I can’t remember what the second one is, maybe a Spare Rib Noodles or something but it wasn’t that great.

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Even on weekdays, Petaling Street at around lunch time can get full. People always come back for more and you can see why, the food is good and their portions are reasonable. The only real negative is that the service is still kinda lacking. Sometimes they are quick but most of the time you have to go out of your way to get them to take your order and the wait for your food is a whole other issue. If you do want to try it out, probably it’s your best bet to try it ‘off peak’ either before 12pm or after around 2pm.

Petaling Street Glen Waverley on Urbanspoon
Petaling Street

111 Kingsway
Glen Waverley VIC 3150
(03) 9561 1388

Homemade Ice Cendol

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After holidaying in Malaysia for around three weeks late last year, and after eating Ice Cendol and Ice Kacang nearly every single day. I wanted to make these green jellies myself.

So my mother found a recipe she wanted to try and it was on this website that I am unable to find now. Luckily, I saved the recipe but I cannot give my thanks to the Indonesian site for their recipe.

It’s actually quite simple but pushing out the dough to make the worms is quite tough if you don’t have a cendol mold. We just used a strainer and it didn’t work out too well and took ages to push it all through the pasta strainer but we just had to use what we had in the kitchen. Might have to go buy the cendol mold when I get the chance to go back to Malaysia because it looks much easier with it.

Here is the recipe:

Green Jellies Ice (Cendol)

Ingredients:

For Jellies:
50g mung bean flour (hunkwee)
40g rice flour
10g tapioca flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs sugar
625ml pandan / screw-pine leaves water (by blending 100 gr chopped pandan / screwpine leaves with 650 ml water)
Half basin iced water
Cendol mold

For the coconut milk:
1000 ml coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
3 pandan leaves

For the palm sugar syrup:
250g palm sugar (or coconut sugar)
250ml water
3 pandan leaves

Directions:
For jellies:
1. Bring 425 ml of the pandan leaves water to boil.

2. Meanwhile, mix mung bean flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, sugar, and the rest (200 ml) of the pandan leaves water in a bowl.

3. Pour the mixture into the boiling pandan leaves water. Keep stirring until the mixture co-mixtures with the pandan water. Turn the heat off when the liquid thickens and forms a transparent colour.

4. Prepare a basin filled with iced water (1/2 basin). Put the mold on top of the basin. It is easier when the diameter of the basin is more or less the same with of the basin’s.

5. Pour the jellies liquid in the mold, press it. The liquid soon becomes jellies when it gets into the iced water. Continue pressing until no liquid is left.

6. Set aside. Let it for some time to give a sufficient firmness. When it is firm enough, drain it.

For coconut milk:
1. Meanwhile, bring the coconut milk, salt and the pandan leaves into boil. Do not leave unattended as over heated coconut milk will be ruined.

2. Immediately turn off the heat once the surface is starting to raise.

For palm sugar syrup:
1. Boil the palm sugar, water, and pandan leaves. Strain if necessary; sometimes they are not well strained in the making.

How to serve:
1. Pour the palm sugar in the bottom (approx. 5 tbs)

2. Add the jellies (approx. 5 tbs)

3. Add the coconut milk

4. Add ice cubes if desired

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It was really tasty and you don’t really need shaved ice, ice cubes will do just fine. Homemade cendol is always nicer then those you can buy, they are usually a bit too sweet and too hard and stale. You can even have cendol warm since it’s getting colder and closer to winter.

Chilli Mama – Roti Bar

Roti Bar - Chilli Mama
Picture above taken by avlxyz

We came across this Indian/Malaysian store whilst trying to find something decent to eat in Chadstone Shopping Centre. I believe it has recently opened, and when I mean recently I mean the last time I shopped at Chadstone which was a couple months back (We went there in November I think) So anything Malaysian, I just have to try it out.

It looked pretty good for a food court eatery, having a wide selection of savoury and sweet Roti dishes but also various noodle dishes like Mee Goreng and Fish Head Curry. Plus the commonly served, Char Keow Teow. First time around we had the Curry + Rice dish, with those curries served at front and not cooked to order. It was pretty good for a food court meal and not very expensive either, surprisingly. This time around we ordered the Mee Goreng and Char Keow Teow.

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Both were on the slightly small side for their price, well compared to what I’m used to but it was by no means over priced.

Served on a nice banana leaf, the Mee Goreng was tasty and didn’t have a strong sweet and tomato taste like some other’s I’ve eaten but my mother’s home cooked Mee Goreng with added chilli probably tops it, just because it’s spicy.

The Char Keow Teow was decent too, not too oily but might just be a tad over oiled and had all the ingredients to make it tasty. Just that I like it spicy, and we ordered it spicy, but it wasn’t at all. Probably they forgot, as a couple of their curries were slightly spicy.

Anyway as mentioned multiple times, it’s very surprising to come across a really decent food court meal for a reasonable price, and a Malaysian/Indian one at that. So we probably would eat there every time we go to Chaddy but probably won’t go out of our way to get there.

Chilli Mama – Roti Bar

Chilli Mama on Urbanspoon
(Urban Spoon Link)

A: Shop Lower Level

P: (03) 9568 2263

OPENING HOURS

Mon – Wed 9am – 5.30pm

Thur – Fri 9am – 9pm

Sat 9am – 5pm

Sun 10am – 5pm

Public Holidays 10am – 5pm

Claypot King

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Claypot King in the bustling Kingsway street, Glen Waverley is another popular Malaysian and Chinese eatery. I believe there is one in the city too, with a slightly different menu.

One of the best things about Claypot King is their sizzling dishes. Which I just had to order of course.
I ordered the Black Pepper Beef Sizzling Noodles. I’ve ordered the Salmon one before, which was good but the salmon wasn’t that flavoursome so I didn’t really want to eat it again. Although, it was still nice, just that black pepper is always good in anything.

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I love it when it arrives and it is still crackling and sizzling about. It’s just one of those cheap thrills.
This dish had a pretty strong black pepper taste and combined with capsicum, Hokkien noodles and loads of beef. It was just an overall pleasant and tasty dish. However if you don’t like to have a black pepper overload, this is probably not the dish for you.

I’ve tried their Thai Fried Rice and that’s a pleaser too! Claypot King is definitely a eatery you’d want to go back for. Mind you, it’s slightly more expensive then the other Chinese/Malaysian eateries on Kingsway.

Claypot King on Urbanspoon
Claypot King
Kingsway
Glen Waverley
Victoria

03 9561 8884