KK Malaysian Cuisine, Epsom

Having decided to take a sabbatical from eating out for profit* (this is a joke), we decided to go for a last slap-up feed at one of the best dining establishments in town. This is also a joke. But only because you would never call the KK Malaysian Cuisine a dining establishment. That would be pretentious and the KK is anything but pretentious.

I have no idea what the KK stands for: possibly nothing. Perhaps they got the name at some shady shop which sells restaurant names and things with which to decorate your restaurant.

It is fair to say that the KK hasn't blown the budget on such niceties. There is a "Lucky" bamboo languishing in a pot, one of those mad Lucky cats Asian restaurants are so keen on, a lump of dusty crystal, and - lovingly displayed - a gourd with 95c written on it. I'm not sure whether the catering-size jar of Marmite was ornamental or used for some unknown purpose in the kitchen.

You don't come here for the decor. You don't come for the loos either. I wouldn't want to put you off the food, which is good, so it's enough to say that you should hang on until you get home.

Just to be contrary - and because I'd recently eaten some tofu in Hong Kong, which almost made me think this stuff could be regarded as a food form - I ordered some here. The bloke wanted some Malaysia Tom Yum soup. My tofu came in an enormous stack, slathered in sweet chilli sauce and nuts. It looked pretty; it was almost edible, if you like that sort of thing. But his soup was the best bowl of anything we've had in a year of dinners. It had bits of fish and, we thought, fish balls, some veges. But that wasn't the point of it. The point was the broth, which was silky and subtle in a way that most Tom Yums are not. It was also a large enough serving to do for a meal.

But we pushed on despite the warning of the diminutive woman who was cooking and waiting tables. "That a lot," she said. She also asked twice: "You sure you like spicy?" I'm not sure whether she decided we couldn't handle spicy, because there was nothing to frighten the diners in either our sambal prawns or the beef rendang. This was an absurd amount of food and we left an embarrassing amount.

The prawns, with their skins left on, were terrific: crispy, piping hot and wonderfully messy. But the rendang was something else again: perfectly tender beef, as spicy as a spice bazaar, a silken sauce. This was food that tasted as though it had been made in the home kitchen of a cook who really knew what they were doing.

The place was packed. You need to book because it is tiny. I'm not sure you need to go there to eat: it does takeaways. But it's quite a lot of fun to do so because it's bustling and smells terrific. And if you want something to look at, you can always puzzle over the decorative qualities of the gourd.

* Grateful restaurant owners can send food vouchers

Address: 463a Manukau Rd, Epsom
Phone: (09) 630 3555
Open: Tuesday to Saturday, 11.30am-3pm, 5.30-10pm
Wine list: BYO
Vegetarian: Lots of lovely vege dishes for your lovely discerning vege friends. I don't have any
From the menu: Satay, $6/$9; mummy chicken, $16; Malaysia-style sambal egg plant, $16, curry fish, $32
Bottom line: Busy, bustling, tiny. The food appears in random fashion but it's so good you don't much care