Nanyang Kopi Sydney Review - Malaysian Food, Laksa & Nasi Lemak

Nanyang Kopi is a Malaysian restaurant on Liverpool street in Haymarket, Sydney. It's popular with a young Malaysian crowd and has classic Malaysian dishes like laksa, Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai. Find out what the atmosphere is like and what it's like to eat there.

First things first Dear Reader: Nanyang Kopi is not where you want to go if you want a quiet dinner. Maybe it's the room or maybe it's the crowd this evening but this is one of the loudest restaurants I've ever eaten at when it is at capacity.

Thankfully we have some distractions of the food kind. Nanyang Kopi has a menu full of classic Malaysian creations from laksa, Hainanese chicken rice, Char Kway Teow and an all-day breakfast of kaya toast and eggs. Nanyang Kopi means South Seas Coffee and Nanyang is a term Chinese immigrants used to describe Southeast Asia.

The menu is a large all colour picture menu so there's no mistaking what you'll get. Unfortunately the blood cockles, which are red cockles, have been out of stock for a while now and as such, they're not available tonight. One thing to note is that customising is easy here- you can take things out or add things in and adjust the chilli level. Laura lived in Malaysia as a young child so she has her nostalgic favourites that she loves so ordering centres around these dishes.

We start with some drinks: a kopi or coffee for Laura, which she finds a little too sweet and a little weak on the coffee. I really enjoy my apple juice with plum that tastes like a crisp Granny Smith apple that is tart and drinkable.

Once we add the menu items via the QR code, they start arriving fairly quickly although everything is best shared because they come in waves. The first item to arrive is the radish cake. Both of us love this dish of crispy edge short logs of soft radish and rice flour cake as it has a wonderful wok hei, or the breath of the wok smokiness. It is so moreish and served with scrambled eggs.

The next dish to arrive is the char kway teow, again with a similar wok hei. The wide rice noodles are served with lup cheong or Chinese pork sausage with four fat peeled prawns on top. We decided to add duck egg for an extra dollar but it didn't really add a big difference from chicken egg. We also removed the bean sprouts from this because Laura doesn't eat them but this is a very solid number.

The laksa arrives next and you can order it with a variety of toppings from shredded chicken, big prawns, fried chicken, seafood or vegetables. We have it with the Hainanese chicken because I love the texture of the chicken. We choose a mix of vermicelli and Hokkien noodles. The flavour is wonderful from the noodles to the tender pieces of gently poached chicken and spongey tofu.

I enjoy wonton mee because it's kind of a thing that we eat a lot at hawker centres in Singapore. It's a simple dish with just egg noodles that are served "dry" aka not in a soup. Instead the seasoning is a soy based sauce. It is paired with pork wontons, vegetables and roasted char siu pork. Make sure to toss the noodles because the sauce can pool at the bottom and make the top noodles quite dry. It's not as bold or gutsy as a laksa but it's very comforting.

Next up is the roti canai. The roti is nice enough although a touch dry but it is flaky and the curry has a lot of potato and some chicken in it that is broken up into smaller pieces.

The fried chicken nasi lemak is also fantastic with a fillet of crunchy fried chicken, tender on the inside and a mound of coconut rice, crunchy ikan bilis or fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, egg and a divine sweet and salty sambal on top. This is a meal and a half and deeply satisfying.

I love chicken rice but Laura doesn't like the poached version so we try the roasted chicken version. This is also delicious with a bit more flavour to it and sits in a soy based sauce with what tastes like pan juices. The rice is excellent with the aroma of chicken broth and this comes with a bowl of chicken broth and chilli sauce.

Somewhere in the mix our breakfast arrives. I always love breakfast foods but I don't like eating at breakfast time so I love that the kaya toast is available all the time. The kaya toast is a lightly toasted sandwich spread with kaya or coconut jam with a wedge of butter. It comes with two very softly boiled eggs and some soy sauce and white pepper. You add both of these seasonings and then whisk the egg and then dip the sandwich in it for a fantastic breakfast. Or dinner :)

For dessert there are a couple of choices: cendol and ice kacang. I love cendol but only the ice kacang is available tonight so we order that. It's a mountain of shaved ice, pink rose syrup, condensed milk, gula melaka hiding a base of corn, squares of grass jelly and beans. Laura is lost in her nostalgia for this, her favourite childhood dessert.

So tell me Dear Reader, are you a fan of kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs for breakfast? Or would you happily eat it for dinner like me?

This meal was independently paid for.