Sri Pinang

By GRAHAM HEPBURN for viva

We have a long-running joke with the manager of Sri Pinang, who was convinced for some time that one of Jane's friends was her sister. Over the years, we've had several dinners with the friend concerned at the K' Rd restaurant but whenever we went there without her we were met with the inquiry: "You not bring sister tonight?" It's one of the heart-warming quirks of the family-owned and run Malaysian restaurant that, despite your infrequent visits, they remember you with a smile.

Sri Pinang, which has been open for 11 years, is definitely what most people would describe as a cheap and cheerful eatery - except it makes virtues of those two attributes that are normally used in a dismissive fashion.

The decor is what could best be described as spartan and it's not the sort of place you'd hang out in for a bit of Ponsonby Rd-style posing as it has minimal street frontage and no indoor-outdoor flow. But it is always busy at peak times so booking is essential.

Turn up early enough in the evening and you'll catch a few K' Rd regulars having a meal before they head home - usually guys by themselves reading the newspaper over their chilli prawns or a couple of after-work buddies sharing a curry and a few beers.

Sri Pinang is strictly BYO (wine and beer) which makes it quite rare these days - so much so that you feel an illicit thrill when you stash your six-pack of brews under your table and help yourself to it through the night. They also trust your table with its own bottle opener. It's also smoke-free.

Four of us settled in for dinner. For entrees we ordered a platter ($16.50), which consisted of such things as barbecued pork, spring rolls, prawn chips and squid rings; along with chicken satay ($6) and prawn on toast ($5.50). All great value for money and Jane swears the prawn on toast is made in heaven, or close by.

For mains we went for the curry laksa ($10.95), chicken curry ($12.95), tamarind prawns ($22) and curried vegetables ($11) to share around. The laksa is worth ordering for the visual spectacle alone - a huge bowl packed with prawns, tofu, surimi, squid, bean sprouts, noodles and boiled egg in a spicy coconut cream soup. It would intimidate even the largest appetite. The giant tamarind prawns looked appetising even to a non-prawn eater such as myself but weren't entirely to the taste of one of our companions, who didn't really know what he was ordering and took a punt.

If you are ordering in a group, the vegetable deluxe ($11) is another worthy main if you're after some greenery to offset your meat/seafood.

For dessert, the banana fritter ($3.50) is highly recommended despite (or, perhaps, because of) the sniggers that accompany its arrival. A whole banana in batter - like a banana hotdog - it looks very phallic but is dreamy with its smothering of syrup. Jane had the sago pudding ($4), served cold in a glass and topped with coconut cream and palm sugar - a delicately flavoured treat.

So, the four of us were out of there and happily on our way for $107 (including $4 corkage on our two bottles of wine). And next time we might even bring the sister.

Sri Pinang, 356 Karangahape Rd, Newton; phone (09) 358 3886.

Open: Lunch Tuesday to Friday, 11 am to 2.30 pm; dinner Monday to Saturday 5.30 pm to 10 pm.

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