Rating: 7.5/10
Address: 164A Great South Rd (cnr Market Rd & Great South Rd)
Phone: 09 520 2998
Cuisine: Malaysian
Malaysian food has been a favourite of mine since hitchhiking through there in my early twenties. I can still recall the steaming bowls of spicy lentils and fragrant curries served with roti canai, the flaky flatbreads, available from street vendors any time of day or night, for about 30 cents.
Aside from traditional Malay style food, this is a country where the cuisine is a melting pot of influences from all those who have settled there over the centuries - Chinese, Indonesian, Indian and more. So after driving past the corner of Market and Great South a few weeks ago and spying a new addition - Sri Mahkota Malaysian Restaurant - it wasn't long before I was back to check it out for dinner.
When we arrived we were post-work ravenous so opted not to muck around and got our orders into the kitchen pronto. It was a good strategy as the place started filling up fast and before long there was a line of diners at the entrance waiting for a table.
The style of eating where you order a bunch of dishes to share has many up-sides, one of which is that you get to sample dishes you might not ordinarily order yourself (remember the jellyfish from last week's column?). Now anyone who knows me well will know that I am not a big fan of tofu. In fact I have been known to scorn the food as tasteless and boring. I've rebuffed every vegetarian who has tried to convince me that it is the perfect vehicle for flavour, like rice and potatoes. So when my friend ordered the fried tofu and vegetables I muttered "you know how I feel about tofu" and promptly chose some dishes of the more fleshy variety.
However, I have a confession. When the tofu dish arrived something strange happened to me. Perhaps it was the after-work hunger and the fact it was the first dish to arrive but I found myself giving it the glad eye. The pile of neatly cubed, golden tofu was mixed with crunchy mung bean shoots (the large white ones), fresh cucumber, slices of red onion, crunchy strips of red peppers and the whole lot drenched in sweet chilli sauce and crushed peanuts. It looked spectacularly appealing. The fried tofu, which I've often found to be rubbery and spongy, was crispy on the outside but silky smooth on the inside. I was falling in love. Tofu can be fabulous and Sri Mahkota will show you how.
Next up was the curry chicken - and it took me right back to that first visit to Malaysia. Plain and simple, this yellow curry, mildly spiced with turmeric, ginger and coconut milk was full of flavour. I have always liked the habit in many Asian cuisines of using a cleaver to chop the chicken into pieces, as opposed to cutting it at the joints. For some reason this makes the food seem more "streetfood-ish" and rustic and I like that.
In addition, cooking meat on the bone produces a more flavourful dish and in this simple chicken curry the meat fell easily away from the bone so was easy to eat. The accompanying roti was divine - flaky, oily, spun layers of deliciousness. Scooping the gravy up with the torn pieces of this wonderful flatbread was my idea of heaven.
We'd tossed up between beef rendang and the nonya sambal beef but the latter won out when the waitress said it was one of her favourites. It is said by some that Nonya cuisine came about as the result of inter-marriages between early Chinese immigrants and the local Malays where the wives attempted to adapt their Malay style cooking for the Chinese palate. It is typified by being spicy and a little sour with the addition of tamarind and shrimp pastes along with root spices and lime juice. The sambal beef dish at Sri Mahkota incorporated all of these nuances. The beef was tender and the dish had enough heat in it to satisfy our yearning for a spice kick.
Sri Mahkota's menu is an excellent representation of genuine Malaysian cuisine. I skipped happily out of this modest eatery with my tastebuds alive to the memories of Malaysia. That is what a good restaurant can do - transport you.
From the menu: Chicken curry & roti chanai $11, Nonya Sambal Beef $18, Stir fry vegetables & garlic $17, Fried tofu Malaysia style $17
Drinks: BYO
