Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Cuisine, Parramatta
4 November 2008
14 Comments
Not as authentic as the name suggests
I find that one of the worst things to do on a beautiful saturday evening is to be cooped up at home, in the kitchen cooking dinner for the family. Obviously, Howard’s mother shares the same sentiments, as she suggested we try a relatively new Malaysian restaurant.
Unsure as to whether it would be a busy place or not, Howard insisted in making a booking, just to cover our butts. We found it a little difficult to locate the restaurant, as it was not in the central Church Street of Paramatta, but in a little side street on Wenthworth Rd. Parking was not an issue, as there was a carpark behind the restaurant, and as it is away from the happening area, we were assured of no traffic.
At 6:30pm, the restaurant was quite empty, with only 3 tables other than us that were occupied. The waitress recommended that we try their Chef’s suggestion, Banquet for four ($50). Looking around the room, we noticed that all the other three tables have also ordered this. We took the waitress’s advice, however sensing that the dishes would be inadequate for 5 people, we ordered a couple of extra dishes.
Teh Tarek $4.00
Teh Tarik is a type of Malaysian drink made up of tea and condensed milk. It is usually made fresh with a special pulling technique. The teh tarik here wasn’t very authentic at all. It took about 2 minutes from when they took my order until my drink arrived. It tasted like instant teh tarik and I am pretty adament this is what it was as I could not taste any condensed milk. Having had teh tarik many times at Mamak and being able to see them make it fresh with the pulling action, this restaurants version is an epic fail.
Grilled chicken with satay
The grilled chicken pieces were moist with a hint of herb marinade. Serving the chicken pieces covered in the satay sauce, enabled each piece to be well coated with the lovely peanut mixture. The dissapointing factor about this dish was that the grilled chicken pieces were cold when served, alluding to pre-cooked meat.
King prawn curry
An aromatic and thick curry sauce was generously filled with mixed vegetables and giant king prawns. The curry sauce was fantastic, the flavour was strong and consistent and worked wonder with the roti we ordered.
Roti Canai ($1.80)
The roti did the job in soaking the curry however it was a tad oily. I suspect that the Roti was those pre-packed ones that only needed to be fried before serving, possibly not freshly made.
Pan fried fish fillets with ginger and shallots
Tender pieces of fish were lightly pan fried and dressed with a light soy sauce and topped with shallots , ginger and chilli. The fish itself was crispy and soft but the sauce had no bearing on the taste of the dish at all.
Char Koay Teow (Wok-fried flat noodle with prawns,egg & beansprout $13.80)
Thick pieces of rice noodle were accompanied with a generous portion of beanspouts and prawns. I found this dash lacked the ‘burnt’ taste you would expect for char koay teow. Perhaps their wok wasn’t hot enough?
Ginger chilli sauce and sweet soy sauce (kecap)
Ayam Hainan (Steamed chicken hainanese style)
The chicken was perhaps the highlight of the night. Glistening pieces of moist chicken were consistently tender and tasted even better with the accompanied sauces. The fact that each piece was deboned, made it all the more delightful to eat.
Belacan Sayar (Stir kangkong with chilli shrimp paste)
The kangkong tasted as expected with copious amounts of chilli shrimp paste, fantastic.
I found our visit to this restaurant a bit of a hit and miss. The chicken was outstanding, but I felt some of the other dishes did not live up to its full potential. This is perhaps due to the insignificant flavour of the ginger sauce served with the fish and inadequate heat sauce for the Char Kway Teow. In saying that, Kuala Lumpur Malaysian Cuisine joins the ever growing list of quality Malaysian restaurants. While it’s yet to reach the heights of Mamak in Chinatown, it does a pretty good job as a Malaysian food alternative if you happen to be in the Paramatta region.
Kuala Lumpar Malaysian Cuisine
Level 1, 23 Wentworth St
Parramatta NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9687 9889
web : http://www.klmalaysiancuisine.com.au
……. Oh and here are some pictures of our quick trip to Max Brennar, since it was just around the corner.
Fondue for two $16.50
Chocolate Souffle with strawberries and chocolate lick ~ $14.00
Max Brenner
Shop 2187, Level 2, Westfield
159-175 Church Street
Parramatta, NSW 2150
Ph: (02) 9635 7566
Web: www.maxbrenner.com
Jen
chocolatesuze
Sydneyguyrojoe || 
Miss Honey
My Bug Life
linda (author) || 
Simon Food Favourites
betty
tina || 
Howard
Stumbled onto here from the OCAU forums via a link. I had no interest at all, and yet here I am finishing reading one of your reviews…
It really drew me in! Great work on the site, nice layout, easy to follow, simple yet informative. And the shots of the food are delightful!
Good stuff
.