Review - Straits of Malacca

*April 2012  Straits of Malacca has closed at the venue @ 188 Little Bourke St, Melbourne. Petaling Street taken over this venue.
*July 2012  Straits of Malacca has taken over the Petaling Street venue @ 162 Swanston St, Melbourne

24 January 2012

Straits of Malacca
1st Floor, 188 Little Bourke, Melbourne
Cuisine: Malaysian, Japanese, Asian

Remind me never to blog about a buffet again. I need a shoulder massage after loading 41 photos!

This is a new restaurant which opened about 1 1/2 months ago. Our group of 12 persons went for lunch on a Tuesday. The restaurant is large enough to comfortably hold several large groups of diners. It was about a quarter full on this day.

The lunch buffet costs slightly less earlier in the week: $19.80 Monday to Thursday, $22.80 Friday to Sunday.

Check their website for the current prices http://www.malaccaasianbuffet.com/ 

They are also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MalaccaBuffet

Have you ever tried sampling from over 50 selections while attempting to take photos and maintaining a conversation with friends! I gave it a go but it was impossible to try everything.

To give you a general idea of the layout: there is a small selection of yum cha food, a Japanese food section, a roast duck and belly pork station, handmaking of Peking duck in crepes, a noodle soup station,  a main buffet table with Bain Marie food warmers, a side dishes section, a large dessert section and a bar which doubles as an ice kacang stall.

The Bain Marie food warmers contained: Braised Vegetables, Deep Fried Prawns with Special Sauce, Beef Rendang, Ma Po Tofu, Green Curry Seafood, Lotus Leaf Fried Rice, simple Fried Koay Teow, Braised Chicken with Mushrooms, Hong Kong Style Steamed Fish Fillets, Deep Fried Celery and Roast Pork Belly, Sweet & Sour Pork Belly Ribs and Braised Crab Meat Soup with Mushroom. I tried the prawns (good), rendang (good), tofu (good), green curry (good), fried rice (didn't quite like this), koay teow (good), chicken with mushrooms (good) and steamed fish (just okay).  I found the green curry not overly spicy but one person did, which was surprising as they had an Asian background and are used to hot spicy food.

There are three varieties of noodle soups:  Curry Laksa, Ramen, Udon. You don't select the ingredients as these are pre-determined (see photo below).  I tried the Curry Laksa -the soup was quite nice.  Again, I was okay with the spiciness level of the laksa  but a couple of people with Asian  background found it too spicy. The ingredients were simple and the serve was small, but this is adequate for a buffet situation. 

The Peking duck in crepe was reasonable. I did not get a chance to try the side dishes.

The desserts looked attractive but overall, we found the taste did not live up to the looks. The colourful jellies, especially the blue ones, looked really nice but tasted fairly ordinary.  I managed to get one piece of nonya kueh as the tray was not refilled - the flavour did not stand out.  Neither did any of the creamy mousse-type desserts.  If I had to pick one dessert cake, it would be the Napoleon slice.

We had the ice kacang last. It was interesting to see this being prepared at the bar where the staff member did a great job assembling the ice kacang. The taste was good but we were surprised to find the kidney beans was so undercooked that they were hard. This was the only letdown to what would have been a nice refreshing dessert.

The service was good. The staff were attentive and promptly cleared empty plates from the table. There was usually one staff member to keep an eye on the main buffet table to make sure it was in order.

The general consensus was we were impressed with the large variety of food on offer, and for a reasonable price of under $19.80. There was something for everyone and no one left hungry.



Taste Rating: 7/10   Value Rating: 8/10



   Click photos to view larger image



Straits of Malacca 
Love this photo of
Chinese Parasols on a Hot Summer Day in Chinatown

Yum Cha food



Japanese Food



Braised Vegetables



Deep Fried Prawns with Special Sauce



Beef Rendang



Ma Po Tofu 



Green Curry Seafood

 

Lotus Leaf Fried Rice



Fried Koay Teow





Braised Chicken with Mushrooms



Hong Kong Style Steamed Fish Fillets





Deep Fried Celery and Roast Pork Belly

Sweet & Sour Pork Belly Ribs

 Braised Crab Meat Soup with Mushroom

Roast Duck and Roast Belly Pork Station

Making Peking Duck in Crepes

Peking Duck in Crepe
 

Noodle Soups - Curry Laksa, Ramen, Udon

 Curry Laksa

Varieties of Mushroom

Greens

Century Egg & Pickled Ginger



Black Fungus (Mushroom) with Vinegar Sauce



Smoked Salmon



Octopus with Superior Sweet Chilli Paste

Salad Prawns in little boats

Smoked Duck Sichuan Style

 

Condiments

    

Multi coloured Desserts

More Desserts

Napoleon Slice Dessert

 Nonya Kueh Dessert

Selection of Desserts

 Fruits

The Bar ... also serves as an Ice Kacang stall

Carnation Milk ...
one of the key ingredients of Ice Kacang

Assembled Ice Kacang and some of the ingredients
(grass jelly, sweet corn, kidney beans)

Ice Kacang

That was lunch! ...

... @ Straits of Malacca



Promotional Voucher - Wagamama

Hi Everyone,

Here is a voucher you can use at Wagamama, a Japanese fusion restaurant. It is valid at Wagamama restaurants in Australia until 26 Feb 2012 (excluding Fridays).

If you are in Melbourne, there is a new Wagamama @ Southbank which opened in Nov 2011. There are two other Victorian restaurants - Wagamama @ Flinders Lane and Wagamama @ Chadstone.

I go regularly to the Wagamama restaurants. Their prices are higher than what you would normally expect to pay. But I have to say that Wagamama is very generous when it comes to promotions. Especially their 'Buy 1 Main Meal, Get 1 Main Meal Free' promotion (voucher attached). And the staff always cheerfully accept these vouchers. Unlike some places where smiles drop a notch if you use a promotional voucher!

They are happy to accept the voucher whether there are two people dining, or a large group.

Hope you find this useful.


Cheers,



If you are unable to view or print the attached voucher image, click here to go to the Wagamama site and print the voucher from there

Review - Cinta Raya

22 January 2012

Cinta Raya
1381 Ferntree Gully Road, Scoresby
Cuisine: Malaysian, Asian

This is a new restaurant which opened about 4 months ago. We had been here once before and I was happy with the food and impressed with the variety of offerings on the menu. So I was quite happy to come back with other people to try more dishes. I made a booking to make sure we had a table. We came for dinner early on a Sunday evening. The restaurant misplaced our booking but was able to put together a table for us as there were only two other tables of diners at that time. The restaurant started to get busier later in the evening.

We ordered Spicy Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab, Assam Fish, Udang Raya, Belachan Kangkung, Honey Chicken, Fried Kuay Teow, Seafoo Tom Yum Noodle, Cantonese Beef Hor Fun and steamed rice. For desserts, we had Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk, Green Tea Ice Cream with Red Beans, and Lychees with vanilla ice cream.

The Spicy Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab was very good - as nice as when we had it the first time. The Assam Fish was not bad, as was the Udang Raya. The presentation was very simple which made the dishes appear home cooked. One drawback of the sitting arrangement was that we were placed under the wall mounted air conditioning unit which was blasting cold air directly towards our table. It was a hot day but the direct air conditioning was not good for dining as our food became cold within minutes. Dishes like the Assam Fish and the Udang Raya became gluggy as they cooled. The Belachan Kangkung was about average - some people may prefer it spicier. The honey chicken was tasty and the batter was not overly thick like at some other places - I don't normally order chicken in batter in an Asian restaurant but if someone did want a battered chicken dish, I would suggest this. The Fried Kuay Teow was good - we had also ordered it the first time we were here. The Tom Yum Seafood noodle soup had a good variety of ingredients. The Cantonese Beef Hor Fun was not bad and would be even better if it was more savoury. The rice was served in individual bowls and charged per bowl. I prefer rice to be served in a rice bucket which is shared amongst the diners at the table - individuals can help themselves to the amount of rice they prefer as the meal progresses, and not worry about having to order more individual bowls of rice.

The desserts were well received by all at the table. The Green Tea Ice cream had a good flavour - I prefer green tea ice cream on its own and not paired with red bean but others at the table liked this combination. The Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk was nicely presented and tasted good - it is very sweet so will appeal to those with a sweet tooth. The Lychees with Vanilla Ice Cream was standard fare. On our previous visit, they had complimentary house desserts but this does not seem to be available any more.

Overall, the food was reasonable and there are more varieties to try from the nicely put together menu. I like the photos in the menu which give a good representation of the dishes - handy when people are selecting their meals.

The owner seems enterprising and we are happy to support people who are working hard to make a success of a venture. This place has the makings of a good Asian restaurant. Cinta Raya has made this quiet corner of Scoresby worth coming to for a visit.



Taste Rating: 7/10   Value Rating: 7/10





Spicy Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab

Assam Fish



Udang Raya

Belachan Kangkung

Honey Chicken

Fried Kuay Teow

 



Seafood Tom Yum Noodle 

Cantonese Beef Hor Fun 

Green Tea Ice Cream with Red Beans

Sago Pudding with Palm Sugar and Coconut Milk

Lychees with Vanilla Ice Cream

 One of the Menu pages





Review - Don Too

19 January 2012

Don Too
330 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Cuisine: Japanese

The food is served very quickly here. You order, pay and pick up your food at the counter. Usually, before you can put your change away, the food has appeared at one end of the counter, ready for you to pick up. Most of the menu items are ready-cooked and able to be quickly plated by the staff in the tiny kitchen. 

Don Too has two adjoining tiny dining rooms, with tables close together.  The name at the door says Don Too. The menu says Don Don. It hints to a connection between Don Too and the other Don Don restaurants in Melbourne. Don Too doesn't take bookings. It is very popular with office workers in the area. At lunch times there is usually a long, but fast moving, queue to order. Takeaways are as popular as dine-ins, which is understandable given there is limited seating.

We arrived at lunch time and managed to get a table for three; this was made possible by having one person scout for a table and then sit at the table, while the others order at the counter, othewise we might be stuck with food and no table!

The menu is a simple one page with 11 main items. We ordered the Don Don Box, Chicken Curry Don and Beef Curry Don. The Don Don Box is certainly value for money - a large bento box containing a generous serve of teriyaki chicken, sukiyaki beef, rice and salad of vegetables and fruits; the fruit varies depending on their supplies for that day. "Don" is abbreviated from "Donburi",  which is Japanese for "bowl".  The Chicken Curry Don came in a bowl and consisted of teriyaki chicken on rice, sitting like an island with a mild curry gravy to one side of the bowl. This is considerate as it enables you to mix in as much, or as little, gravy as you like, rather than the whole lot being innundated with gravy on top.  I like the chicken teriyaki in the Don Don Box and the Chicken Curry Don; it was presumably pan-fried, with a nice grilled texture on the outside and randomly coated with a thick, slightly sweet, soy-based sauce. The Beef Curry Don was sukiyaki beef and rice, with mild curry gravy to one side of the bowl, like the Chicken Curry Don arrangement. I had eaten the beef sukiyaki before and been happy with it. However, the sliced beef today had large slices of fat. Some diners do like a large amount of fat with their beef. I prefer not to have to trim off large pieces of fat from my sukiyaki beef before I can eat it. Japanese curry is mild, unlike the hotter, spicer curries from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, or South Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka.

The cutlery provided for both takeaways and dine-in is plastic. Plastic cutlery is awkward to use; this is unnavoidable for takeaways but it would be nice to have proper cutlery for the table. Despite being a cheap place to eat, the place looks clean and has an agreeable darkened atmosphere with rustic solid wooden tables and chairs, and not the garish lighting and cheap furniture of other budget eateries.

Overall, I was happy with the food and dining experience.



Taste Rating: 6.5/10   Value Rating: 7.5/10

Don Don Box

Chicken Curry Don

Beef Curry Don

Don Don Box, Chicken Curry Don, Beef Curry Don

Don Too Menu