If you’ve been reading my tweets on twitter, you’ll know of my ongoing saga with our house renovations. We were originally told that the bathroom would take 12 days. It had been 6 weeks exactly since that fateful day and we’ve endured complaints from neighbours about hammering at 2am and yawning stretches of them disappearing for 2 weeks. So my Mother got serious and asked her friend Janice who works in construction to have a word to them. She did and he snapped into action and before we knew it, our bathroom was done. Of course one way to thank her for her help was with lunch and we asked her where she would like to go. Kaki Lima (which means 5 foot way or sidewalk in Malaysian) was the best choice. If anything is going to intrigue me, it’s a name. Kaki Lima caught my eye many months ago as I was always interested by the name “Malaysian Breakfast Favourites”. I love breakfast food (but at much later in the day).
It’s a small space, not quite 5 feet long but perhaps 5 metres long. On the right there’s a display of the food and kueh (sweets). A list of drinks sounds good and we pick 4 different kinds – cold drinks are $3.20 and hot drinks are $3. As for breakfast food, I need to confirm this with Janice – is this really what Malaysians eat for breakfast. “Sure!” she replies. Okaaay…
Bandung on left $3.20 and Tea Tarik on right $3
The Bandung is more an Indonesian drink with condensed milk and rosewater tinged a lurid candy pink. Whilst it has ice cubes floating in it, the drink is warm and sweet and reminds me of a Strawberry Quik from my childhood with a rose flavour. Tea Tarik or pulled tea is usually served foamy due to the pulling of the tea (pouring it from one glass to another).
Kopi $3
The copi isn’t as sweet as I like it and of course it’s Nescafe so a coffee connoisseur would probably give this a miss.
Barley water $3
I love sweet, refreshing barley water as it reminds me of growing up and it was delicious.
Curry puffs and kueh $1.50 each
The curry puff flavours are chicken and vegetable. They’re deep fried with that layered pastry they’re good even though they’re cold with the chicken a clear winner.
The Kueh are delicious, particularly the rice mountain topped with brown sugared coconut-the glutinous rice is soft and the coconut crunchy. The Pandan Kueh is excellent (and my mum has a recipe!).
Curry Mee $9.50
Each day has a special dish and today’s is Curry Mee. This is a watery soup with lots of bean sprouts and hokkien noodles. It’s supposed to have prawns but I don’t come across any and the soup is very plain and watery. I’m not in love with this dish.
Nasi Lemak $9
The Nasi Lemak on the other hand is quite good with two chicken curries, Ikan Bilis (anchovy), peanuts, cucumber and egg. The chicken curries are particularly good in this dish.
Roti Canai $8
The Roti Canai, is two flakey round roti with a dahl. The dahl isn’t the most fabulous accompaniment, in fact the chicken curry from the Nasi Lemak is much better as Janice suggests but almost any roti is good roti in my books.
In rather exciting news, I will be on the radio this morning at 11:00-11:30am on ABC 702 with Simon Marnie discussing the recent Sydney International Food Festival. Along with me there will also be two other bloggers Demis Lyall-Wilson who is the ABC702 food blogger and Helen from Grabyourfork.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite breakfast food?
Kaki Lima Cafe
343 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW
Phone: (02) 9662 0588
Open: Tuesday to Friday 10am-8pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am-3pm
Closed Mondays
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
39 Comments | Add your own
For special occassions I cant go past a good eggs benedict…but what I need most mornings (and craved desperately when we were in Japan) was a good slab of sourdough slathered with butter and vegemite and a cuppa sweet tea.
The simple things in life can be the best!
ahh yes, the familiar smells of south east asian cuisine… i walk past this place on weekends from time to time and the aroma of banana leaf or coconut creams never fails to waft into the street.
Ideally I like breakfast to be consumed after 9am and, if it’s any sort of cooked breakfast, then after 10am. Then there’s weekend brunch which could be eaten anytime from 11am-2pm!
You must have very good metabolism. You are so slim. If I ate as much as you seem to I would be huge!
You are making me hungry just looking at all this delicious food. Can’t really say that I have a favourite breakfast food. I try to share my love of sweet and savoury around. But if pushed, would have to say a big bowl of oatmeal.
im looking for somewhere to gorge on breakfast today! might have to follow this up – i can’t go back roti cansi…!
and im hoping i’ll be near a radio, can’t wait to hear you and helen! i love simon marnie and 702… i swear i’m a 50 year old in a 24 year old body.
that was meant to say i can’t go past roti canai… way to type there em!
I love breakfast – porrige when weather is cool, with dried fruit or banana cooked with it. If warm weather, just rolled oats with chopped figs and cold milk or sourdough toast & heaps of melty butter, with squishy poached eggs and wilted spinach .. a side of mushrooms. ok, I’ve just made a new herb bed in the garden – time for breaky! thanks for your inspiring bloggs. Sandy – Hook and Spoon
Those kuihs love so delicious. MMm . . kuih . . .
Malaysians typically have heavy breakfast but albeit in smaller portions to the ones served in Australia. Usually it’s Nasi Lemak or Fried Noodles like Mee Siam.
I liked the Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang at Kaki Lima. Their kuihs are pretty good too.
Favourite breakfast – 2 half boiled eggs with a dash of white pepper and soy sauce and a side of butter and kaya charcoal toast (These two are also types of Malaysian breakfast food).
Oh my, I’m getting really hungry reading your post! And I’m missing home too! The curry puffs, the teh tarik, the nasi lemak, the roti canai…. And I spy murtabak on the menu too, I haven’t had that in ages!
I might just have to make myself some curry puffs this weekend now…
love half boiled eggs and toast for breakfast..
oh, just a quick correction..kaki lima is 5 foot way( the pavement in front of shops/walkway). lima kaki is 5 feet!!
I love granola and yoghurt for a cold breakfast, though at home I have muesli as it has much less sugar. For a hot breakfast I like french toast and bacon.
“Kaki Lima” isn’t literally a measure of distance, but rather the direct translation of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_foot_way which has more or less come to mean “sidewalk” in Malay.
everytime i travel home to Jakarta, i demand! porridge with this yellow curry sauce every morning
topped with lightly toasted peanuts and char-kwe, it is a breakfast / brunch/ lunch/ dinner/ supper food fit for a queen (and king :p)
I did my audio engineering degree with Demis at the Queensland Conservatorium of music?!! Had no idea he was a foodie! : ) … had us all in stitches on a regualar basis! Thanks NQN.
Kueh, curry puffs and roti… sounds like my kind of breakfast!
I love breakfast! i wish i could eat breakfast food at all my meals. I cant go past a big breakfast with poached eggs, grilled tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms cooked in olive oil and garlic, bacon and chipolatas all on toasted turkish bread. The greatest!
Wow certainly doesnt look like breakfast cuisine- its funny how when you grow up not eating certain foods for breakfast you can never really get your head around eating them in the early hours of the day, but later on is no problem. I cant go past pancakes or french toast with a side of bacon and maple syrup or thick cut fruit toast with ricotta cheese and sliced stawberries with a drizzle of honey.
How do I like breakfast? Late and leisurely over the morning paper and with the ABC on the radio. Just like this morning! Bill’s scrambled eggs on Brasserie mountain bread (yesterday was a fabulous grocery day)with carrot juice and then listening to you and Simon and Helen and the other guy talking about the SIFF. Heaven.
I personally don’t have a favourite breakfast food, though I am partial to a good congee.
The food from that place looks delicious.
I love any breakfast that I don’t have to make! Though I just found a delicious looking recipe for Bircher Muesli with sweet dukkah that I’m keen to try out.
this is certainly not the breakfast food to which i’m accustomed, but put me alone in a room with it and it’d disappear posthaste.
I know exactly how you feel about having your bathroom redone. We had our whole house done when we moved into it and were living in squalor for a whole year (it was never supposed to take that long). Nobody made me any food lol, so i am jealous
Congee!
The ricotta pancakes at Bills.
OMG!!! How I envy you…to be able get those food…the only Malaysian restaurant we get here isn’t anything close to that. Makes me homesick!
However, I did make Kuih Dadar the other day…with my new gadget — the coconut grater. Definitely miss rendang… *sigh*
Aaaah I miss having a breakfast like that! I’m from a country next to Malaysia and I travel there weekly for food… And I have to say that the food you paid for is pretty expensive for a Malaysian breakfast.
You can get nasi lemak for $1 to $3, bandung/teh tarik/barley for $0.70 to $1.50, kuehs at $0.50 each, roti prata for $0.70 per slice (with curry), curry mee at $3.
Your post just made me soooo hungry! This reminds me of two Peninsular restaurants here in Manila: ToastBox which makes lovely bandung, kaya toast, and mee goreng and Penang Hill which makes fab teh tarik and roti canai. I just remembered I haven’t been to either of the two in weeks!
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, which is why I tend to eat it for any meal.
My favorite breakfast food is oats, dressed up with fruit, nuts, granola, chocolate, coconut, etc. I also love eggs with runny yolks and toast for sopping up all the yolk. Oooh, and I love bagels with cream cheese. Ok, I’ll stop here! 
I second that, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
Sydney is one of the best cities I’ve been to for a variety of breakfasts eateries.
I miss fried white pudding mashed into toast with tomato chutney and a mug of milky hot tea. Really worth getting out of bed for on a cold morning.
Curry puffs and roti canai make the best breakfasts! Can’t go wrong with all that spice and grease.
My favourite brekkies are:
- kaya toast
- pork & thousand year old congee
- nasi goreng
Yumm!
I am not a blog follower… until now.
Love your site to bits!
Favourite breaky at the moment is a dish I tried at a friend’s house in Indonesia…
Black sticky rice with mung bean porridge and coconut milk. A plate of fresh tropical fruit and a nice hot cuppa tea. Heaven.
Hi Shotochick-Yum I’d love that too! If only that were a daily breakfast! Sigh…
Hi kewpie -Yes the smell was what caught me too, it smells divine!
Hi ms délicieuse-I’;m totally with you on timings there!
Hi Ani-Hehe no it’s slowing down, I’m so distraught!
Hi Julia-Ooh healthy but comforting!
Hi a girl called e-Haha you are too funny!
Hi-Oh your descriptions are making me so hungry, lucky it’s breakfast time now!
Hi SK-They were really good!
Hi foodie-central-Ahh so we get bigger serves here? That makes sense! Soy sauce with eggs- interesting! I love kaya toast!
Hi Su-yin-Hehe sorry! Yes murtabak is so yummy. Hehe please do, I’d love to see them
Hi jen-Oh cool thanks! She did explain that I think
Hi Amy-MMm I’m liking the sound of french toast and bacon!
Hi Nick-Thanks!
Hi Dee-Porridge with curry sace? I can totally see that working!
Hi Penelope-Isn’t that funny? Small world!
hi Jacq-Hehe I must get into these breakfasts as I love brunch food!
Hi Bamber-Haha I am the same! I love eating brakfast food at dinner too
Yum that sounds like a fabulous meal 
hi sandra-Yes it’s funny isn’t it! Hubby can only eat fruit or cereal fr breakfast and refuses to eat bacon and eggs etc
Your fruit toast sounds superb! 
Hi Moya-Haha cool! Aww you are too sweet
Thanks for listening!
Hi ArtemisIII-I’ve never eaten congee for breakfast-yet!
Hi Suzanne-Ooh interesting, sweet dukkah?!
hi grace-Haha yes me too, I got used to it rather quickly!
Hi Heavenly Housewife-the mess is currently driving me crazy, all those unpacked boxes-arrggh!
Hi campgrenada-Cool!
Hi Mark-Mmm yum! Everyone’s favourite
Hi Jenny-Aww no!
OH you have a coconut grater? That is so cool! 
Hi Kare-Yes I’m sure it is as I’ve heard the prices in Malaysia are so cheap!
Wow, they really are cheap! :O
Hi Midge-Hehe you’re making me hungry right now!
How funny!
Hi Faith-I think I’ve seen your recipe for that and it does sounds amazing!
Oooh yes runny yolks please! 
Hi Paddy-Yes we are spoiled for choice. That sounds delicious and yes worth getting out of bed for!
Hi Su-Lin-Haha at spice and grease!
Hi M-Yum! I have yet to try thousand year old congee-maybe soon!
Hi Ren-Awww thankyou so much, you are so sweet! Mung bean porridge sounds really interesting!
I love anything with coconut milk 
Yummy! that looks great! as my little cousin would say: yummy yummy for my tummy.
Yea..pretty good place for M’sian. Cant wait for the restaurant to open down the road..
If you didn’t already know, I thought you might be interested to hear that the new kaki lima restaurant is open and according to the staff it has been ‘overwhelming’. I saw the menu in the old shop an it looks really good with some niche stuff like the beef dendeng, ayam percik and of course the keuh. I was planning to go to kopitiam tonight but may swap for this 2x kaki lima in one day!
Feel free to leave this unpublished if you like!
Hi Beau-Hehe that’s so cute!
Hi siauruo-Yes I was pretty happy with most things there
Hi Adam-Thanks for the heads up! That is great
I love the kueh I have to say.
Post a Comment