I tend to keep my head in the sand about festivals. Don’t get me wrong, I love them but I often miss them, too busy working or scouting out restaurants, cooking or entertaining. But when a NQN reader Doro emailed me a month ago saying that she was part of the committee organising the Malaysian Festival I could hardly plead ignorance. And I was only too pleased to have a look see as I love Malaysian food.
Today, the weather is quietly foreboding with a forecast saying “Clearing showers” but with that impending rain scent pervading the atmosphere. Still I am looking forward to a family outing with my in laws and getting to sample some of the Malaysian goodies on offer.
We arrive in the afternoon and there are several stalls offering food as well as a marquee where we witness an array of dancers and singers from all over the world. There are people in Malaysian dress and there is a convivial and friendly atmosphere. The lines are long at some stands and we notice Mamak and Sydney Kopitiam Asian Cafe have a stall, two places I’ve yet to eat at but I’ve always meant to. Prices are reasonable with items starting at $2 to $10, a steal really.
Tuulikki, Cuddlepie and I have a look at our food options. We like to have a look at everything before we make a purchase and we always figure that the long queues mean that the food is better. We line up at the long queue at Mamak and I buy a Nasi Lemak $6.50, Anneli buys a Roti Telur with a vegetarian curry $6 and Tuulikki buys a Roti Canai without egg $5.00.
The long queue at Mamak
Teh Tarik $3.50
We also buy a hot and a cold Teh Tarik, the cold being delicious, the hot more suitable for those who like their tea strongly flavoured.
Step 1: The cute Nasi Lemak package
Step 2: Unwrapping the brown paper to reveal the inner package
Step 3: Voila! Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak $6.50
I get a little parcel of brown paper which is a little smaller than I expected. Inside is some plastic on which coconut rice, spicy sambal, dried fish, cucumber and roasted peanuts. It’s interesting although the fish is strong and the sambal very spicy but not very evenly distributed. The packaging is very cute though, its simpleness reminds me of the drinks you get in Singapore which are sold in thin plastic bags, that never break, although you always seem sure that they will.
Roti Telur $6
Anneli’s Roti Telur should have come with 2 containers of curry and 1 of Sambal but since she is a vegetarian, they only give her 1 container which is a little lacking.
Watching them make the roti is interesting, to see how thin they actually get the pastry is a marvel and watching them make an airy parcel provided us with entertainment while we were in the queue. Tastewise it’s sweet and the curry is a mildly spicy thick curry.
Roti Canai $5
Tuulikki’s tissue roti is light and airy but small and whilst it’s not bad, perhaps not for those that are ravenously hungry though.
Stomach growling temporarily averted, we seek more sustenance via the Selera Desa stand which sells 6 satay sticks for $8 and some small vegetarian tofu balls filled with vegetable ($2 each) and chicken crescents ($1.50).
We also pick up an Kopitiam Cendol from the Sydney Kopitiam Asian Cafe stand.
Satay sticks, 6 for $8
The satay sticks are good and smoky from the grill, the satay sauce spicy, rich and sweet.
Vegetarian balls with satay sauce on left ($2 each) and Chicken crescent $1.50
The prize however is the vegetarian tofu balls stuffed with carrot and cabbage which are absolutely delicious when paired with the satay sauce. The chicken crescent, much like a deep fried curry puff, isn’t bad either although a little dry especially in comparison.
Kopitiam Cendol $3.50
The Kopitiam Cendol is a favourite amongst us, the sweet coconut drink laced with wriggly green worms.
Ice Kacang $4
Savouries done, we move onto the sweets. We had spied an Ice Kacang stand as well as a stand selling Black Sticky Rice. The Ice Kacang stand is selling Ice Kacang for $4 per cup and a thick slice of Kaya Toast (Coconut jam) for $1. We buy one of each and with the Ice Kacang we get a bit of everything in it.
Kaya toast $1
The Ice Kacang is good, although mostly melted, and we enjoy picking out the bits and pieces in it and I particularly enjoy the slice of thick Kaya toast with the sweet jam.
Black Sticky Rice $3
The Black sticky rice from the Penang Gurney Drive stall is unusual, the rice quite salty, much saltier than we’ve had before, Once we’re used to it we don’t mind it although we do prefer it sweeter.
Kickapoo Joy Juice (carbonated citrus drink)
The heavens open and as the rain falls down, we find shelter for half an hour until a brilliant warm sun shines upon us.
Malaysia Festival
Sunday 31st of August, 2008
Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour Sydney
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17 Comments | Add your own
for the rice in the brown package, I think you meant nasi lemak, rather than nasi goreng. =)
excellent review.
Thank you for the review Lorraine! And thanks so much for attending the event!
I looked at all the fare you bought and was drooling right in front of my computer.
Glad you enjoyed yourself!
Nasi lemak AND roti! Oh now I’m hungry!
Oohhh niiicee. Mamak was hectic busyyy, I wanted to get some satay but the wait was like 45mins or something :S and how did we miss the kickapoo drink!?!? Mmm hunnnggrrryy
haha FFichiban and I were just discussing which one of us is going to do the write-up for Malaysian Festival 2008. Great to see you managed to find time to check it out! Looks like we tried a lot of the similar things too haha…
Hi zek-Yes you’re absolutely right! Thanks for letting me know, names have been changed to protect the innocent and wrongly named
Hi Sheera-Thanks for your invite! I think we managed to sample quite a bit of it and the vegetarians with me were glad that there were some options for them too
Hi Y-I am a roti monster, although not as much as my husband who can eat 10 in one go
Hi FFichiban-What time did you go? I think there were 2 satay stick stands (or maybe 3). Luckily by the time we got ours, it wasn’t too busy. I should’ve tried the Kickapoo drink or at least bought one to have later…
Hi D-Festival stories take so much time to write up don’t they with all of those pictures? Oh cool, was there anything that you tried that we didn’t? There were some stands we didn’t get to
i’m not very familiar with malaysian food, but i do know that the roti looks magically delicious. looks like an awesome festival!
Yes, I too was under-whelmed when I ate at Mamak… I had just returned from a trip to Malaysia and had eaten such heavenly Nasi Lemak in Kota Bharu that I was pining for it when I returned to Australia… The Herald had given Mamak a review that sounded OK, but when I went there with my Malaysian friend Audrey and her Auntie, it just didn’t measure up… the chilli was too hot and not flavoursome, the accompanying fish too pungent and the additions of chicken wing and curry very ordinary…
There must be more traditional-cooking Malaysians in Sydney with restaurant skills – come out, come out, wherever you are!! The Sydney gourmands need you! Shout it loud, shout it proud, and we will turn up at your shop!
mmmm cendol is my favorite tooo!! and kickapoo!! gotta love that name.
The festival atmosphere felt almost like being in Malaysia with all the exotic food names. I was happy that there were also many vegetarian foods – my favorites coconut drink and tofu balls.
hehehe…these are all the foods I eat regularly being Malaysian…I’m glad you enjoyed them! Roti Canai is my favorite! and I adore black rice pudding…
ahh I meant Mamak satays. We tried some from Sam Satays and the laksa from Jimmys was very good.
Hi grace-Roti is definitely one of the nicest foods to try. It’s so buttery and light and airy and great for soaking up curries
Hi Kyle-I thought that something might have been lost in that they were cooking outdoors and not in their restaurant but I probably won’t have a chance to go to their regular restaurant to try it (too many other places to try
). Your experience doesn’t sound too inspiring though!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-hehe I heard that brad Pitt used to go to Kickapoo High School. That’s the first thing I thought of and then “hmmm what an odd name for a drink!”
Hi tuulikki-Yes good that there was enough food for you (although most places do seem to have something good for vegetarians nowadays). The cendol and the tofu balls were excellent.
Hi Alexandra-Lucky you!
I really love the black sticky rice (but less salty than this one was).
Hi FFichiban-I missed out on Sam Satays and Jimmys unfortunately!
I didn’t even know the Malaysian Festival was on! Have been living under a rock lately.
I have eaten before at Mamak on the recommendation from a Malaysian friend whoe family eats there all the time, and I thought the food was delicious. The roti was so fresh and just perfect!
It was very busy when we went there and the table are all squished together – it’s not really the place for a big group, but I still found the experience really enjoyable.
Hi melissah-That’s good that you enjoyed the food at Mamak. It did come recommended to me but I didn’t wholly enjoy what I had on the day as much as I thought I would. Perhaps it was what I ordered though!
everything looks so delicious!! T___T i missed it.
what stall was selling the vegie-filled tofu?
Hi celaby-Maybe next year
The stall name was “Selera Desa”.
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