Norsiah's Kitchen (Singaporean Malay Cafe)

604, Swanston St, Carlton, VIC 3053

https://www.facebook.com/groups/289877955326/10151402035600327/?notif_t=like
Norsiah's Kitchen started out more than a decade ago on Chapel Street as a restaurant but this is a true home cooking family run restaurant that struggled to keep up with the speed and sleek operations of that area. You used to have to call ahead to order if you wanted to eat in a timely manner. Then, they moved to Swanston Street in Carlton, and transformed itself into a fastfood cafe. This has worked wonders for them, serving mainly from the bain-marie, with the option for ala carte dishes too. This is basically student haven with its large portions and very affordable prices.

The Place
This is a small space with a cafeteria style setting that is very informal and basic. There are some tables outside as well. All the tables and chairs are moveable to suit different numbers of diners eating together, but remember, this is a small cafe - so don't go crazy with large groups. There is parking round the side on Pelham Street.

Things to do Nearby: Lygon Street is not too far away and Melbourne Central is a good 15 minute walk.

The Food

Basic Halal Singaporean Malay home cooking. This is good for a quick meal and they do serve a basic range of dishes that are not pretentious, traditional, and not necessarily inspiring.  Some people would prefer more intense and richer dishes. They don't do that here and all the tastes here are pretty uncomplicated. You either like that style of food or you don't. Some of the highlights here include their Fried Chicken and Tahu Telur - that is of Indonesian origin, essentially a dish that has yummy beancurd deep fried in eggs, with peanut sauce and shrimp paste. Personally, I tend to find their style of curry too soupy, whereas I tend to prefer dryer curries.

The Service
The service here is always friendly, welcoming, and informal. It's almost like visiting a friend's cafe and you do feel that way. This is a great plus for the cafe.

Overall
This is a place I go to when I want a really quick meal with no fuss.

Cultural Moment
So, is there a difference between Malaysian Malay and Singaporean Malay cuisine? Essentially, the answer is no, though regional variation can occur because of slightly different tastes and preferences. The range of dishes and style of cooking are essentially the same. However, regional variations are due to different combinations of spices in quantity and balance, and also dependent on how much influence there is from sister cuisines in the area. For example, it is arguable that Northern Malaysian Malay cuisine have Thai influences, while East Coast Malaysian Malay cuisine is characterised by their access to seafood, and seafood products such as sauces and condiments. On the other hand, some would argue that Malay cuisine in Singapore has stronger Chinese influences.

Dare I say that the Malay dishes in Singapore are less spicy and intense compared to the West Malaysian cousins? I am not sure but it does feel that way. This is not to say that they have less chillies, just that it's not as rich or heavy handed in the spices used. Of course, I can easily be challenged in that opinion and hope to continue this research through actual food tasting action research ... ah! What a wonderful World!

Minh Xuong (Chinese Cafe)

209-211, Russell Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

So, I finally have the story. Once upon a time, there was a popular cafe in Richmond called Ming Xuong that was a staple of good Cantonese fare. Then, after many years of success in Richmond, they expanded their operations to a branch on Russell Street. Then, after that brief expansion, they sold both branches to two new separate owners. Therefore, now, the two Minh Xuongs are not related to each other and serve food and dishes of varying quality. I actually think that neither are as good as the original, but the Russell Street Minh Xuong is the better of the two.

The Place

This is a basic Cantonese eatery with just a basic nod to decoration, slightly grimy, and with dodgy ventilation and sound insulation. It's not a big place though there are two levels and perfect for a quick meal. You can ocassionally come out smelling like the food you are eating. Parking is difficult at the best of times in this section of Russell Street unless if you go for paid undercover parking - Mantra Hotel has some of the best parking rates in town.

Things to do Nearby: QV and Chinatown are all around the corner.



Crispy Noodles with Roast Pork (a bit salty, not a lot of greens)



The Food

With the demise of A1 and King of Kings, and the bad service of Pacific Seafood BBQ House, there're not that many good Cantonese eateries left in the area. Therefore, it is good that Minh Xuong is in the mix because they do good Siu Laap Cuisine (discussed in another blog entry and repeated in this one in the Cultural Moment section). They do all the traditional Roast Pork, Roast Duck, BBQ Pork and Soy Chicken dishes quite well and this means it's a plus for me. Look at all that meat in the window. They look good, don't they?

They also do a range of noodles, fried (crispy) noodles, and dishes on rice, with the usual Cantonese flare. Their dishes are not bad at all, though, I think they do stint on the vegetables in some of the dishes. They also do the usual Westernised dishes like Lemon Chicken (with a mean yellow sauce), and luminous Sweet and Sour Pork.

The Service

They have relatively good service here and also take time to answer questions. They are also a jolly bunch that seem to continue their banter in Cantonese quite loudly, giving the restaurant a buzz and friendly atmosphere. They pay attention to the customers and are quick to bring a pot of tea as soon as diners sit down.

OverallI would go here for Siu Laap dishes given the relatively friendly service and the tasty dishes. It's quick, it's convenient and it's affordable. Not much to complain about and good for a bit of Siew Yok on the way home from work. Yummy.

Cultural Moment

Siu Mei Heaven @ Minh Xuong

I wrote a substantial piece a while back on Hong Kong BBQ Houses which is worth highlighting again. So, this is a repeat of that here for those interested in this cuisine. It also helps you navigate the meats hanging in the window.

Siu Laap cuisine consists of 2 different sub-cuisines - siu mei consisting of the roast dishes and lou mei, the braised and stewed dishes. The most common offerings of a good BBQ house include (Cantonese names are used here);

Char Siew - popularly known in Australia as either BBQ Pork or Honey Glazed Pork. This is the red coated barbequed pork. It's not barbequed as Ausatlians know it - it's actually roasted over an open fire oven. Good Char Siew should still be moist on the inside rather than dried out. Some people like their Char Siew with any trace of fat (using pork loin) - which can make it drier. Others prefer a slightly fatty cut of meat (pork leg). However, at the end of the day, it's also dependent on the marinade. Again some people prefer a sweeter Char Siew while others prefer less sweet but a more subtle savoury taste. Char Siew is eaten on it's own but also used in all sorts of dishes such as fried rice, wonton noodles, bao, and even stir fries and fried noodles.

Siew Yok - Crispy Pork needs little extplanation. This is really roasted pork belly with really crispy skin, with 5-spice flavouring and actually my favourite amongst these dishes. Again, eaten on its own or as part of various dishes such as stir fried with bean curd, or in soups, they add a whole new dimension to these dishes.

Yao Gai - Soya Sauce Poached Chicken which is slightly sweet and mostly savoury. The chicken should still be very moist on the inside even after being hung out to dry literally in the windows of these BBQ Houses. Steeping the Chicken in the soy sauce rather than boiling it to death is the trick to good poached chicken. Also great in noodle soups.

Baaht Chit Gai - White cut chicken, cooked and steeped in stock. Kylie Chan has a great recipe for this and some places calls this Hainan Chicken. It's a basic dish and served with ginger and shallot sauce and/or chilli sauce.

Siew Ngap - Roast Duck (NOT Peking Duck) is a tricky dish because ducks are a tricky business. Unlike chickens which are usually succulent and full of meat, ducks refuse to be as consistent and can be quite lean. So, sometimes, roast ducks can be very boney and other than the breast meat, there's not a lot of meat. However, as I understand it, enjoying roast duck is also about sucking on the flavour ridden greasy bones and licking your fingers.

Mak Jyoo - is that orange looking cuttle fish / squid that some places have. Served sliced up and with black soy sauce. It's a bit tasteless to me but some people like it.
There are a few other dishes worth mentioning here. One that not many Europeans are likely to order amongst these offerings is the laap cheong - Homemade Chinese Sausage. Less common in Hong Kong but you might see it in Melboure are bbq pork ribs as well. On some special festival days, some places might also have roast suckling pig which is very expensive. A dish you would not usually see outside of Hong Kong is siew ngoh which is roast goose.

China Style (Chinese Cafe)

743, Swanston St, Carlton, VIC 3053 (Entrance from Grattan)

This is a no fuss fast food joint with a range of Chinese and Southeast Asian dishes. It is best good for a quick lunch if you are very hungry as they serve big portions. It's a basic eatery that caters mostly to students at the University. This space has seen a few incarnations since it was opened (including China Bar at one stage) - this latest offering has chefs with stronger Northern Chinese influences (rather than Southeast Asian or Cantonese).

The Place
This is actually on Grattan Street though the building has a Swanston Street address. It's a basic eating space with rows of tables in and outside. The ventilation is ocassionally bad enough that you come out smelling very much like the food they serve, especially when it gets busy. It's a bustling eating space around lunch time with many students and some staff. Expect to have someone knock into you at some point of your meal especially if you are sitting a bit far out from the table. I am never sure about sitting outside by Grattan Street with the traffic just zooming by (would you like dust with your meal?). None of these have stopped the large numbers of students who dine here. There is no parking to speak of here.

Things to do Nearby: Lygon Street is not too far off.

The Food
This is basic hawker fare aimed at a hungry crowd of students. I am just going to state it up front, if you are really into healthy food, this is not the place for you. It's not really high quality food but there's a lot of it, it's very down to earth, and has a real punch (they don't hold back with flavouring). The dishes do tend to be a bit more oily and the cuts of meat also have fat in them. In addition, the food comes out pretty quickly in order to get the students back to classes...

Some of the highlights here for me include:
Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice - (I do ask for less oil) The are generous with the salted fish and it's always quite tasty. However, there's a lot of it and it gets boring after 10 mouthfuls... sometimes, I pack it to have later... but beware of leaking oil... yes, salted fish oil is never good in the manbag.

Szechuan Style Chicken and Beancurd Rice - Again with the oil but this is spicy, sweet, savoury and yummy but it's harder to hold back on the oil. Anyone who's had Szechuan style dishes would know that chilli oil is usually part of the deal. You either like it or not. This is generally a nice dish but the chicken can be fatty too.

Black Fungus, Shredded Pork and Egg on Rice - Very easily my favourite dish here, with a healthy dose of fibre and protein with a heap of carbs. It is tasty and non-spicy, and for me, the textures of this dish is what sets it apart from all the other dishes here.

Shredded Pork and Fragrant Fish Sauce on Rice (pic to the right) - This is a classic Szechuan dish that's very popular in the region. The one here is a bit more vinegary (just how I like it) but again, it's greasy. If you like bamboo shoots and black mushrooms in a garlicy sauce, this is it. It's a huge serve as you can see.

The other dishes are ok and they do have a wide range of dishes including Southeast Asian dishes like Char Kway Teow and Hainanese Chicken Rice, but just note that they are cooked by Chinese Chefs, so it's not as authentic as you might expect.

The Service
The service is pretty basic like all such places. They are never rude and the food is usually served very quickly. As far as a fast food joint goes, this is pretty good. However, it does get busy and very harried at times, so don't expect too much.

Overall
I'd go there for lunch when I want a quick meal and can cope with the level of oil. It's not the place for a lunch meeting though, just a quick meal or a takeaway.

Cultural Moment
It is commonly suggested that you need to look at the clientale of restaurants to know the target audience of the restaurant. The clientale at China Style is mosly mainland Chinese students, most times I have been there. What I find really fascinating is the collectivistic/communal dining that I often observe here. Although most of the offerings here are individual dishes, it is totally not unusual to see the students eat off each other's plates.

The food here is very similar to some of the more basic eateries in Shanghai and the Szechuan regions. The flavours are strong and they don't hold back on the grease either. Obviously, this resonates with the Chinese students and they keep coming back. I have just one question... how do they have all that grease and still manage to be half my size? Both the men and women!!

Oriental Spoon (Korean Restaurant)

254, La Trobe St., Melbourne, VIC 3000

Given its location, this could easily have become a student hangout (nothing wrong with that) but the pricing puts it just above your average student joint. Instead it is a contemporary restaurant that's affordable for all while still maintaining relatively high standards of food and service. With 85% on Urbanspoon from over 1000 raters, this looks like a pretty good bet on several levels. Time to acknowledge my inferior chopstick skills and go for it once again.

The Place
This has great understated contemporary oriental deco and doesn't feel cramped like some other places. They still fit a lot of people in but somehow maintains a feeling of ample space (probably because of the higher ceiling). The noise level is always bearable despite the size of the restaurant. It's not a great place for children though and parking is pretty much your Melbourne Central high cost car park. The risk with many Korean places that offer the BBQ option is that you come out smelling like one of the marinaded meats. It's not so bad here at Oriental Spoon - though it is nearly impossible to go unscathed - the ventilation here actually works rather well and by and large, you tend to come out with only a hint of the BBQ aroma. So, overall, a rather pleasant place.

Not a great picture of the place... sorry

Things to do Nearby: Literally across from the revitalised Melbourne Central and the State Library is not far away.

The Food
I have been here for lunch for the Bibimbap (traditional Mixed Rice offering on Stone Bowls), Bulgogi (Sweet Marinaded Beef on a Hot Plate) and even Bento boxes. However, dinner is the real treat here. This time round, we went for the Combination BBQ and the Mixed Dumplings Casserole (Hot Pot).

The Combination BBQ includes beef, spicy pork and chicken, and mushrooms, which they cook to the side table (as pictured above), so that the smoke is not in your face. It is rather tasty though it does lack the punch of some of the places around town. Don't get me wrong, it's really quite good but it's just not as spicy as some of the places around if you are into spice. I did however, find the beef rather a tad sweet. As a person who tends toward the savoury, I preferred the chicken and the pork in this instance.

The Mixed Dumplings Casserole (pictured above) comes with hidden gems of small bits of pork belly and rice cakes. So yummy and the spice here is as hot as you want it to be. This is tasty without MSG inducing thirst and great with a serve of rice. Great for the coming winter months.

The one thing that was slightly disappointing is that for a cuisine that is so well known for the thousands of condiments, they only offered up three on the night, though, they were very happy to refill it when needed.

The Service

Bulgogi

From the booking over the phone, to the welcome at the door, to the serving of the food, the service here was really friendly and generally attentive. This place seems to be run by exclusively young Korean staff who know they menu inside out. They do pay attention to their customers' needs, which is great. As an example, we were seated a bit further away from the main crowd, and the waiter actually indicated with a smile that while we are 'far away' we will not be forgotten -however, if we did want immediate attention, to please raise our hands and he'll come to us immediately. That was nice. And we never felt neglected. The service was friendly and non-intrusive - one of the best in the city.

Overall
Overall, I think this is a good place for introduction to Korean cuisine for newbies because it has a good range of food and a great vibe. One thing I really noticed as I was walking out was that there were so many smiles amongst the diners. You can tell when people are happy and enjoying their food. This place really had a great buzz and the wait staff run effortlessly amongst diners with no fuss.

Cultural Moment
Service across the world is vastly different and people have very different expectations of what good service. Most of the time, this is culture dependent. In places where tips are the norm, wait staff almost want to prove they are you best friends and will sometimes be quite intrusive, especially if you are not the kind to chat with strangers. In Hong Kong, unless you speak Cantonese and know the maître d, you are almost an inconvenience that just has to be served to get you out of the way. In Japan, it's as if you have arrived at a friend's house and they will try to do their best to see to your needs (some might find this too much). In Malaysia and Singapore, good service is defined by basic courtesy but then being left alone until called. In New Zealand, good service is a chat amongst friends and a natural interest and curiosity.

This brings us to Australia, what is good service here? Anyone who uses reviews on Urbanspoon can get a sense that there's a multitude of expectations but the biggest complaints seem to centre around perceived rudeness and lack of engagement. In Australia, we seem to want a bit of banter (not too much or it would be considered intrusive) and and genuine interest in the customer. Unfortunately, you don't always get this even from the so called 'fine dining' spots. In particular, with Asian restaurants, some of them bring their own cultural standards without seeing the needs of Australian diners - most unfortunate. Others just struggle with English and therefore lack the ability or confidence to engage in casual Aussie banter, yet many diners expect this even at Asian restaurants. Should they expect this? I think they have the right to, with a bit of leeway for room to grow... what I like to see is an effort made to engage rather than hiding behind the order pad. I don't think that's too much to ask, but maybe I have been here too long.

Es Teler 77 (Indonesian Cafe)

164, Cardigan St, Carlton, VIC 3053

http://www.esteler77.com
Es Teler is a Halal restaurant and has been around for a long time, starting in Indonesia and now in Malaysia, Singapore and Melbourne. They must be doing something right. They started as a simple no frills Warung and have pretty much maintained the no-frills down to earth eatery feel. Being in Cardigan St., it attracts a healthy number of students from the Uni of Melbourne and RMIT University. A large number of the diners are from Indonesia attesting to the authenticity, taste and price of the place. However, this is no fine dining space... so, please don't expect any posh service.

The Place
This is a very bright cafeteria style eating hall is a just a big space with tables that are moveable. There are big mirrors that make the place look bigger than it really is. There is not a lot of deco other than big pictures of some of the dishes in one section of the wall, and some murals above the mirrors. Sometimes, when they are understaffed - clearing of tables fall a bit behind making the place look a bit messy. The seats are also getting tired and its showing clear wear and tear (to put it mildly).

Parking varies here as it is on Cardigan Street and sometimes, if you are lucky, there's plenty of spots unless if it's the weekend evenings.

Things to do Nearby: This is near Lygon Street.

The Food

Bihun Goreng

This is basic street side Indonesian hawker food. You can expect Nasi Goreng, Mee Goreng, Bihun Goreng, Soto, Nasi Uduk. They do spiciness to the max if you like it that way. You just have to request it but be careful what you wish for. The flavours are authentic with one modification, they are not as greasy as your average eatery in Indonesia. While that is a good thing, sometimes, the various fried noodles and rice can get dry if you don't eat it quick enough. Most of the dishes are really quite nice and they do good Oxtail (Buntut) too!

For me, I always like to order their Bihun Goreng Kambing (Fried Rice Vermicelli with Goat). It's not something you can get everywhere and it's really quite tasty. However, it's a dish you have to eat quickly because it's not that nice cold and dry. it looks like a basic dish but it's really tasty for lunch.

Mee Goreng

The Service
Basically, you order at the counter, pay and wait for them to bring the food out to you. It's as basic as that. You can help yourself to the water or tea (if there's any left). It's one step short of a self-service restaurant. They are never rude but neither are actually quite friendly when it's not crazy busy. It's a basic transaction. When it gets really busy, they get really harried and the place gets a bit chaotic. Also, don't expect the dishes to come out at the same time though they are getting better at having most of the dishes come out around the same time. The best news is, they are never rude.

Overall
I prefer to go during the non-peak hours when they have more time to pay attention to the customers, and cleaning of the tables. Lunch times are generally pretty crazy. This is not generally a place to loiter around, it's an eat and go place.

Cultural Moment
Indonesian desserts of the coconut milk and ice variety comes in different forms. Es means Ice. It's simple really. The following are some of the popular ones;
Es Teler was actually invented by the founder of Es Teler 77, it has a combination of coconut milk, avocado, grass jelly, pandan, jackfruit, young coconut and condensed milk.
Es Campur is more generic (Campur means mixed) and can include a variety of fruits and jellies (all very colourful) and chendol or sago and of course a good dollop of coconut milk, condensed milk.
Es Doger is a Bandung variation, that includes 'bandung' which has pink rose syrup in the mix plus all the other fruity and jelly goodies, including tapioca pearls.
Es Chendol is probably the one that translates most succesfully to neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore, Burma and Thailand and primarily consists of coconut milk and the mung bean, rice flour and tapioca mix jelly (worm like looking) and includes palm sugar.
All yummy and very very sweet.

Thai Tiki Hut

571, High St, Northcote, VIC 3070

Opened in early 2013, this place is still doing a roaring trade with its fun set up in a relatively small space. It is helping to provide new life to a couple of quiet Thornbury High Street blocks. While it is currently a relative unknown, I suspect it has the potential to become one of those famous suburban restaurants that people will travel to in the near future. It's of course, going to depend on how well Thai Tiki Hut caters to the wider audience in the medium to long run. This is a fully licensed restaurant.

The Place

Nice huh? I quite like it.

This is a fun set up with booths (set up like huts) to one side of the restaurant and moveable chairs and tables on the other side that can cater to groups of different sizes. It has a great atmosphere though I think eventually, they will have to turn the music down a little as the volume of the bustling crowd rises. The noise ventilation isn't great and it does get loud in here. One complaint I have is that the ration of plate size to table top size is not great. The tables are rather small at best but the big dinner and serving plates do not help the situation. Otherwise, I do like the space as there's a lot to see. Parking shouldn't be too bad in the evenings in this area, and there's always on street parking on Darebin Road too which is close by.

Things to do Nearby: While there's not a lot to see in this area of High Street, Thornbury - back tracking a couple of blocks back to Northcote will find you in the midst of the High Street shops of Northcote which are both charming and quaint.

The Food

The food is not bad but there are a few things that I think they are still adjusting to. Firsly, they served slightly overdone rice, and I am a firm believer that if you are a restaurant for which rice is a staple, you need to get this right and if this is wrong, you have to start again. I am hoping this is not a natural occurence and that it was a once off mistake. Otherwise, I am going to list here one highlight and one let down.



Pad Med Marmuang

 The highlight for me was the Pad Med Marmuang (Beef Stir Fry with Cashews) were better than average for a number of reasons. It's not overly sweet like some of the other places around town. The beef is really well marinated, fresh and tasty.  You can also tell from the picture to the left that tt was not greasy which is always good. It could do with a bit more black pepper and chilli but otherwise, it's pretty good.

The Larb (Warm Pork Salad) on the other hand was a let down. While the balance of flavours was there, the issue was that the meat was dry (as if it was pre-overcooked in stock/water) before being mixed in to the salad. Therefore, instead of juicy bits of mince, it was dry mince and this made for a less than ideal dish. If they can fix that, this would be a go-er.

The curry puffs here were not bad either here, served with the light peanut sauce, rather than the usual Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce.

The Service

Understated and polite service, this place works well when it is not too busy. However, I think they need more than 2 wait staff even on a busy Monday night when the restaurant was more than half full to take the pressure off. The area for improvement here is in the timing in which the dishes were served. At the moment, I think the kitchen is struggling to get the dishes out at the same time for each table. Ours was not the only table where one main came a good 7 - 10 minutes before the next. If you were sharing dishes, this would be fine but if you were not, then some are going to have to either wait a while or start first. They need to get all these kinks right to truly sustain its current wave of honeymoon popularity.

Overall

I liked this place and am looking forward to going again to try a range of other dishes. I look forward to it growing though I suspect I will be annoyed when I can no longer just walk in without a reservation on a weeknight when I feel like it. In the mean time, I have a hangy take away menu.

Cultural Moment
A Tiki Hut is a Polynesian inspired hut with the whole straw roof and outdoorsy feel. It became very popular in the 1950s and 1960s around the same time as that famous cocktail - Mai Tai (which has nothing to do with Thailand). I am not sure what the connection is between Thai culture and the Tiki - it seems to be a theme running through a few restaurants in Melbourne that combines Thai and Polynesian themes (usually Thai food with Tiki deco and cocktails).

Grand Tofu (Malaysian Restaurant)

314, Racecourse Road, Flemington, VIC 3031

There are about 4 Malaysian restaurants in this vicinity and all of them have a relatively strong reputation. This makes it really hard to compete but with a range of great dishes and also fresh Yong Tau Fu, The Grand Tofu certainly more than holds its own. How can 4 Malaysian restaurants within a 400 metre radius do well with consistent crowds most nights? The answer is relatively simple - they are all good at what they do, and each of them have their own strengths.

The Place

This is not a huge restaurant, with basic decoration and just a bustling place with no fuss. It's certainly child friendly and they have boosters rather than high chairs. It can get pretty friendly as there is not a lot of space. Lots of light and very clean... it feels like eating in one of the food courts of Malaysia. If you are going with a large group, it's best to book because there is limited space. Not that many round tables for largish groups.

Parking can be a pain, given it's on Flemington Road. You have to know the back streets which is where the parking is or park at Newmarket Train Station.

Things to do Nearby: This is set in the main shopping area of Flemington.

The Food

The food is good, there is no doubt about that. Of course, people are going to compare between this and the other Malaysian places around the corner. The fact that it gets just as crowded as all the others means that it is doing something right for many people. Having been here a number of time, I really believe that it's their hawker dishes that stand out more than anything else. The Grand Tofu also has the distinction of having a good selection of Niang Tofu (to the right). They also cook it to order with a choice of basic Chicken broth, Tom Yum soup or Curry Soup.



One important thing to note is that the food here is not greasy. So, for the health conscious, this is a great thing. Generally, I don't like greasy food but there are some dishes which really need to be a bit greasy - for authenticity and to retain the flavours better.

Here are some of the highlights;

Hainanese Chicken Rice - the Chicken Rice here is very home cooked style and the white-cut chicken is fresh. The chilli could do with a bit more vinegar but it's all pretty good.

Yummy Eggy Wat Dan Hor

Wat Dan Hor (Combination Hor Fun) - is yummy. The egg sauce and the fresh seafood taste really good even though I would have liked the hor fun to be a bit smokier.

Fried Rice

The Grand Tofu Special Fried Rice is a traditional special fried rice that takes me back to when I was a kid. Young Isaac who was with us at dinner thoroughly loved it too.

Mee Goreng

Mee Goreng - while tasty, it's a bit too "Chinese" for me rather than Indian. It has a tad too much curry powder, not enough grease and tomata. Still good, just not my preferred style.

They also have great Char Kway Teow here, which could do with a bit of grease but nevertheless, is tasty.

Meanwhile the Calamari Tentacles (below) are like Chinese KFC... it's a bit chewy but the flavours are all there. If there's one suggestion I have for The Grand Tofu, it's that there's a bit too much salt in some of the dishes and it could be taken a notch down. However, if this was a Hakka place, that's quite understandable- they love their salt.

The Service
When it comes to service, this place beats all the other Malaysian places within 100 metres (that's the other 3). Friendly, down to earth, ready to explain how things work and obliging. If you are not sure, ask and they will be happy to respond to your needs. They are much friendlier than the other places around here.
For example, we were a group of 9 and had orders quite a few dishes. When they all started coming at once, I requested that they stop and that we start again once the first 5 or so dishes were done, they did it and even apologised for 'rushing us'. Now, THAT's service to suit the diners.

Overall
I would go again especially when I want hawker style Malaysian dishes. They do a roaring trade and do it well. One of my favourite places in the area. Thanks to Niro, Justin, Al, Nishi, Jan, Robbie, Isaac and Zara for coming to this one so I can order many many things to try out.

Cultural Moment
Niang ToFu is a quintessential Hakka Dish. The Hakkas were a very migratory group amongst the Chinese, and though a smaller group as a whole, produced some of the most influential leaders in Chinese history both in China and overseas. Famous Hakkas include Sun Yat Sen, The Soong Sisters, Lee Kuan Yew and Deng Xiao Ping.


Niang Tofu pieces in the fridge, drinks in the front at Grand Tofu

Hakka cuisine is characterised by two key things; texture and preserved ingredients, the use of salt, vinegar and dehydration. These characteristics are highlighted in dishes like Niang ToFu (Yong Tau Fu in Cantonese) where the textures of the fish balls and the vegetables are key features, Salt Baked Chicken, various Meat Balls and Fish Balls, and Yam Abacus Seeds (like a Yam gnocchi), as well use of various rice wines. One interesting thing that I noticed when I went to India was that the Chinese restaurants in India had strong Hakka influences - since then, I have discovered that the Hakkas are the dominant group of Chinese migrants to India. Check out the very excellent Hakka Food Blog if you are interested.

My own Grandma, my Godpa and one of my Aunts were Hakkas and so, I am familiar with a number of their great dishes. However, it was really Godpa's family that really celebrated this cuisine and for that (and other things), I am always grateful.