Our clever friends Cliff and Kathy discovered Mamak, a little eatery in Chinatown specialising in authentic Malaysian roti and satay.
Apart from being ridiculously cheap, the flavours here are authentic and addictive, and the atmosphere reminiscent of street stalls in Malaysia and Singapore. The restaurant operates on a no-reservations basis, and there is often a cheery queue out the front, waiting to be seated. It doesn’t take long though, as the service is fast and friendly, and the tables turn over very quickly.
The core of the menu is the roti canai (pronounced “chan-eye”) – an Indian bread made by folding, flipping and frying a thin batter. They’re traditionally served with a couple of dipping sauces – in this case a spicy curry sauce and a dahl puree. The dish below costs a tiny $5 and would make a perfect late night supper (the restaurant opens until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays).
The roti planta, for a dollar more, is a wicked buttery bread, again served with the curry dips.
Also on the menu was this traditional nasi lemak (coconut rice), served with peanuts, half a boiled egg , kari ayam (chicken curry) and cucumber.
Mamak serves authentic Malaysian satay – small (as opposed to the large clunky ones on offer at most restaurants) and charcoal grilled, then plated with a sweet and spicy sauce that doesn’t taste like peanut butter!
Finally, dessert was a roti bom (photo at the top as well) – a decadent, slow-cooked caramelised pastry, served with vanilla icecream. Fantastic stuff!
. . . . .
Mamak Malaysian Roti and Satay
15 Goulburn Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 02 9211 1668
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Oh, I want to make that buttery bread….. (since I will never be able to travel there… :-)
What a meal! Amazing!
(on a side note, the link that came with the email notification for new post was broken, gave me a 404 page not found, so I simply clicked on the home page to get the new post, but thought I should let you know… )
Thanks for letting me know, Sally. That was my fault, I posted the piece with the wrong date, and when I went to correct it, the link changed. Apologies for the inconvenience!
It was a great meal, and the buttery bread – known there as roti planta, but also as roti paratha is wickedly divine, although I’m too scared to make it. I think once I know exactly how much fat is actually in it, I’d have to think twice about eating it! You can sometimes find something similar in Indian stores, but the Malaysian version is just too good. Hmmm. I’ll see if I can find a recipe for you…
Celia
Roti, roti, roti…. I love it all. Will have to have a look at this place- sounds too good not to try.
Have you tried roti with condensed milk- thai style? Thailand has these amazing little street food carts that go by just cooking sweet roti. You can have it topped with banana or chocolate and just rolled up in a little paper. Maybe 50 cents?
Mmmm, roti…
Gosh they look good…particularly on a wet Sydney morning…
Thanks so much for blogging about this place. I am always after inexpensive but tasty places to go in the Sydney CBD.
It’s hypnotic watching them make the roti isn’t it! :P
CHFG, I’ve never tried the Thai version, sounds wicked…
SG, was it enough to tempt you out for lunch? :)
Peta, you’re most welcome – this was an exciting find for us too!
Lorraine, I was standing with my face pressed against the front glass window for ages!
You’re making me hungry, Celia. I love roti (all sorts) and nasi lemak – mamak’s my second fav malaysian restaurant in sydney after makan@alice.
Wink…ooh, I haven’t tried Alice, I’ll have a look, thank you! My fave at the moment is a little place called Albee’s Kitchen in Campsie – cheap and very authentic.
oh yum. the roti bom looks like a pretty good dessert for me to keep in mind for next time :-) have you had the roti tisu yet?
Simon, thanks for stopping by! :) Yes, we had the roti tisu as well, but the pic didn’t come out (it was late, and I refuse to use a flash). It was amazing – came out in the shape of a giant inverted cone – a bit like a crunchy waffle!
Stop it! You’re killing me with those pics of gorgeous Asian food. I live in an Asian food desert. I’ll be back in Sydney next month and I cannot WAIT to get my hands on some gorgeous Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, etc etc etc.
SK, you’ll need to start training now so that you’re match fit when the eating marathon starts…LOL…
If you want to do some research on Sydney restos – Simon’s blog (see comment above) and Lorraine’s blog (www.notquitenigella.com) have lots of reviews!