Mamak

15 Goulbourn Street

Haymarket, Sydney 2000

Ph: 02 9211 1668

I've been hearing a lot about some Malaysian restaurant 'Mamak' through fellow food bloggers, and decided to come and see what all the ranting was all about. So i hear the roti's are to die for, & that they serve things with 'condensed milk', and that you can't book, & that there is usually a long line of people waiting to get seated.

I have a 'thing' about waiting in line for things, anything at all may it be food or fashion or ticket booths. But, the way the people have been talking about how great this place is, i put all that aside, and embraced 'lining up for some good food'.

I was hoping that the line wouldn't be too long (it was about 7pm when me & Richard got there), there were about 10 people in front of us? But i didn't mind waiting as we had some entertainment! Richard got this shot of one of the talented chefs working his magic on their roti's.

It's quite hypnotizing actually, watching him & the other guy rolling, twisting, throwing & spinning the roti dough.. I found myself staring with my mouth open, and having Richard nudge me to move up and fill in the empty spot in front of me.

I think we waited about half an hour before being able to get a seat. Inside the restaurant was very bustly with lots of waiters & waitresses scurrying around taking orders & serving up food.

We ordered some tea, special 'stretched' tea, that came in a pretty big mug :) They were both really sweet, just the way i like my hot drinks.

Teh Tarik classic Malaysian sweetened tea, "stretched" for a frothy topping

Kopi Tarik Malaysian White coffee, both $3.50 each.

The tea was really nice, but VERY VERY strong. Warning to caffeine sensitive peoples (like myself). i drank this at about 8pm, and wasn't able to sleep until 3 or 4am that night :(

Richard & I shared everything, because that's what we love to do hehe.

Maggi Goreng $10.50

a popular mee goreng variation using Maggi noodles

The noodles were spicy, and had vegies, tofu, was very saucy & flavoursome. Doesn't beat home made mi-goreng though :) mm..

Roti Telur Bawang $6.50

Egg & onion roti served with 2 curry dips & spicy sambal

The roti - was nothing special. They served everything on a metal plate, so our food went cold really quickly (not because of the time taken to take photo's!)

So because of that, i didn't really enjoy the curry & roti. So onto desert roti's, that i hoped would make up for the cold curries...

Roti Kaya $7.50

Filled with a traditional spread made from pandan & coconut

This was my favourite dish of the night, and made me regret getting savoury roti's at all hehe. Pandan, used to be my favourite spreading on bread when i was younger. I'd spread it on sooo thickly a jar finish off in no time. Served with icecream, i now understood why the foodbloggers love this joint so much.

Roti Pisang $7.50

a popular roti with freshly sliced banana's

This roti Richard liked alot more than my pandan one. The banana in it wasn't too overpowering (im not a huge fan of banana's actually) & even though we were full (and maybe ordering two roti's for desert was too much) we still managed to finish everything.

A few weeks later we came back for some desert only, & ordered the roti that everyone LOVEd so much.

Roti Tisu $9.00

paper thin, extra crispy, & served tall.

I was told to order this with icecream & condensed milk. The roti was soo crunchy, with sugar crystals stuck to the inside of the roti. It was like eating paper actually, i wasn't very satisfied by the end of it. It really felt like i hadn't eaten anything haha..

My verdict on the place? A tiny bit overhyped. Except for the roti kaya, which would be my only reason for coming back!