FoodieChat

The premises have formerly housed the QANTAS headquarters, a bank branch, and there’s even an optometrist next door.  So it was quite a surprise to workers in surrounding buildings to discover that a new Japanese restaurant suddenly staged a low key opening - appearing suddenly without much fanfare.  The saying to not judge a book by its cover holds true in this case as you are impressed from the moment you walk in.  What looks like a quickly flung together room of tables and chairs looking in from the outside (and also spectacles) is in fact a buzzing room of long pale timber banquettes, with half a dozen cozy couched nooks that offer more private dining on the other side.  The large sushi counter with its sushi train (that even runs through a wall) dominates the space, and provides a moving feast for the eye and a focus from the room.  And the food is GREAT, and certainly, surprisingly priced for the Sydney CBD. 

We took the spacious couched booth and had the salmon sashimi - melt in the mouth tender, juicy and sublime - and fresh; and two other a la carte sushi rolls - soft shell crab roll and prawn and avocado roll.

Six 6 bite sized morsels - I hate it when the sushis are so huge and the nori so stale that you look like a dog attacking a piece of meat as you attempt to bite into a sushi without shoving the whole thing in your mouth. Not so at this place! So fresh and visually exciting - the crab looks like it’s leaping out the sushi (a la Sebastien from the Little Mermaid!)

Okay if I *had* to complain, perhaps they could have given me the full prawn (and also along the length of the roll) rather than the half. But the rice had just the perfect amount of bite, and the nori fresh, with just the right amount of roe to coat the inside out rolls.

Okay if I were to make another complaint it would be that the entrees came after the mains. But oh well…. I had the ebi don - three crumbed prawns with egg and onion on rice.  Egg was teeny bit runny for me (not just the yolk) and I wasn’t sure whether I preferred the prawn to be tempura rather than breaded, but yummy nonetheless.

The chicken katsu curry was text book perfect, and portions generous for city meals; and the udon hotpot was filled to the brim with slurpy soft noodles, a prawn, and an egg - still runny - so that you can swirl it in or slurp whole into your mouth! 

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The words “all you can eat meat” lights up the eyes of many males (that I know at least).  And how else to eat it - but barbequed.  But not just any barbeque - this is the table top version that Koreans enjoy - hot steaming charcoals with your meat sizzling on a metal plate on top.  But let’s start with the side dishes, including the ever popular potato noodles. Also on offer for yoru $27.80 were pancakes, pickled vegetables, some spring rolls, and of course, that Korean national staple food - kimchi.

The noodles were clear and slippery and not too oily. I’m not a fan of kimchi myself, but there were at least 9 different pickles - of cucumber, tofu, bean shoots.

And now, onto the meat - vegetarian’s worst nightmare (note: go somewhere else to eat if you are!).  The huge selection includes beef tongue, marinated beef, the ever popular bulgogi (marinated pork), chicken wings, plain pork anbd beef, pork ribs, beef ribs.

You just grab what you want, whack it on your hotplate and away you go, munching on the noodles and sides if you can’t wait for it to cook.  It gets a bit smokey and your clothes and hair are likely to smell afterwards - so don’t wear your Sunday best! A really good value feed, and judging by the clientele - authentic too!

There’s some fruit to cleanse your palate at the end and to introduce some vegetable matter to aide digestion. And notice the very helpful sign under the fume hood!  Free parking for 3 hrs at the Mandarin Centre makes this an easy place to get to.

Winter means beef noodle soup time. It’s so warming, healthy and delicious - compared to its fatty friend, laksa.  And the bonus is that it’s cheap - well most of the time, but definitely here at Pho  Noodle House. $8.50 will get you a steaming bowl of chicken or beef noodle soup, with the appropriate mountain of dunk your own condiments - bean sprouts, vietnamese basil, chillis and lemon juice.  The chicken one had more than enough meat - silky noodles, with onion and shallots touching the already deeply satisfyingi soup.   I couldn’t resist trying the summer rolls - $6 for 3 and regretted not sharing them, they were so filling, with prawns, vermicelli, lettuce and pork.  The dipping sauce one of the best - perfectly balancing sweet and savoury elements, and topped with toasted peanuts.

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I love popiah! Ever since Pauline and Eugene invited me over for a casual Saturday lunch of healthy yummy (uncooked) spring rolls Malaysian style. I must admit, I was seriously apprehensive to eat a raw spring roll wrapper. Thousands of rolls later - I am converted, and seeing professional popiah on the menu at the Malaya I was eager to go!  We had the set menu, at $40 head, which included 1 popiah each. Yum - the sauce was smeared on the inside and out, and each roll was tightly wrapped with prawns, vermicelli, chicken, beansprouts and nuts.  One is not enough! Alas no one declined theirs.  Second to come out - the ever popular Salt and Pepper King Prawns - quite good, a tad oily, but the right balance of salt and pepper and with a hint of fresh chilli.  I think they count them out exactly because one plate was smaller than the other due to our odd number. hmm.

I can’t comment on the Satay Lamb Skewers because I don’t eat lamb, but Simon assured me they were delicious and tender, smothered in peanut sauce.  I was indeed a fan of the peppered chicken - deep fried with fresh banana chillis, black beans and cashews.

We swapped the korma lamb with curried beef for me which was served with Roti Canai - flaky (oily) traditional wrappers/dippers for mopping up curry sauce. The beef was very tender and generous in size.  The Kwai Du (flat rice noodles with beansprouts, egg, prawns and chicken) was good.

And the stir fried bean sprouts with snow peas and chinese mushrooms were a refreshing break from all the meat.   More curry - prawns this time. I thought the sauce over powered the delicate meat slightly.. but by this time we were stuffed silly, and thinking about making the trek back to the office by foot to assist in balancing out the calorie intake.

 Its quite an up-market eatery - so it’s Malaysian fine dining , so expect prices to be higher than your local take away, but someone’s got to pay for the amazing views of cockle bay wharf! Good atmosphere too - the place was packed, and attentive staff.  Good for groups.

The Malaya, King Street Wharf. www.themalaya.com.au