Chinta Ria - Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney

It's Eat Like a Cow's first birthday commemorative lunch par-tay!!!!
Actually, I think dinner is more suitable, but due to serious time constraints of our *very* busy blog writers, a lunch is all we could do. I suggested this place simply because I haven't been there for 3 years. This restaurant is one of the most crowded restaurant in Sydney, and reservations on weekend dinners are impossible. It's also arguably the most prominent Malaysian restaurant in town. Even during lunch, this place is jam-packed with hungry yuppies that we're limited to an hour of meal time! (after an hour, we're expected to shoo away to give our table to queuing customers)!


The place is dubbed, "Chinta Ria - Temple of Love" and they're not kidding about it. They actually put a giant-sized Laughing Lucky Buddha statue inside (I'm not a Buddhist, but I wonder if it's appropriate to put a Laughing Buddha statue inside a restaurant!)
All in all, it's a kitschy, gimmicky place, I suppose - but the food, although surprisingly expensive for its kind - is quite delectable.

Nasi Lemak
(Coconut Rice)

Roti Canai Ayam
(Mamak-style flatbread with chicken curry)

Sambal Prawn
(Prawns in chilli sauce)

Ayam Ria

(Literally means: "happy chicken")

Tofu Cinta

(Literally means: "Love Tofu". In actuality: Tofu with minced chicken and belacan prawn paste)

Mamak - Haymarket, Sydney

I've been wanting to go here for ages, but when this place opened last year, they're always jammed packed with people inside, with an extra 10 - 20 people lining up, waiting for tables. That's what always made me change my mind and eat somewhere else. Now, about half a year after their successful opening, I finally get to try it, even if I had to eat like, 5.30 in the afternoon when they just barely opened their doors.

The restaurant is simply called 'Mamak', which for those unfamiliar with the term, refers to the widely popular Muslim Tamil Indian stalls / eateries in Malaysia. It is (I think) officially Sydney's first mamak shop. They've got most of the mamak fare, from Milo Ais (Iced milo) to Roti Canai. Too bad they don't have murtabak - the food both popular in Malaysia and my country Indonesia (where it's known as martabak) which I am constantly craving for when I'm outside Indonesia.


However, lately, the long queue had subsided significantly. At first, I thought that people just got bored or something. But to my surprise, I discovered why now less and less people visit this place - the food is nothing special, really. Very marginal. Cla said that the food used to be better when they just opened the shop. It's a pity, really, since I really like Malaysian mamak food.

Nasi Lemak
(Coconut cream rice)

Roti Canai

Teh Ais
(Iced milk tea)

The food here looks cheap (only 5 - 6 bucks per item - mainly because the portions aren't big), but since you might want to order several different types of food per person, the total bill can be quite a lot if you're eating alone (I spend about 16 bucks for all this). I know that 16 bucks isn't a lot, but considering that a full satisfying mamak meal should not exceed 15 Ringgits (that's about AU$ 5) in Malaysia, I find the price difference rather appalling.

Mamak

Chendol
lacking ingredients... its like.. "just chendol" *in just jack intonation*

Milo Ais

Satay
so miniii....

Roti Canai

Roti Kaya
before the awkward silence (with curry)

after the awkward silence (with curry + ice cream)
kaya + curry is just too er.. funky... LOL


other than the fact that they charge outrageous prices for what we can get for cheap as in malaysia, it got seal of approval from resident malaysian food critique (we all know who it is...)

these was from visit no.3... (i have embarassingly been to the place 4 times in the past... er 2 weeks?) other recommended: teh ais, teh tarik, mee goreng!

forget nasi lemak here... $1.50 ones form sg hawker tastes 1000000x better.. :P