Melbourne's best roti at Mamak

Queues.  With the rise of internet banking and self-checkout at the supermarket, they're slowly becoming a thing of the past.  As a teenager, I remember sitting on the pavement outside the Arts Centre quite literally all night in the queue to get Grand Final tickets, legs wrapped up in a tartan blankie and sipping on a thermos of hot chocolate, chatting with excited fellow footy fans all around.  I'm sure these days it's all done by some extremely efficient and boring electronic ballot process.

But queues are making a comeback at Melbourne's hottest restaurants, and new Malaysian eatery Mamak is no exception.  As Nina Rousseau wrote in Epicure last week, this Sydney export is already winning hearts and tummies left, right and centre.

If you have to wait, you will get some street theatre of sorts to whet your appetite - Mamak specialise in roti, made from scratch and expertly stretched until almost translucent.  On a Monday night, we only had to wait five minutes for a table of six, so it's definitely worth trying your luck.

It's functional inside but still pleasant.  The "mamak" in Malaysia are Indian by ethnicity and often Muslim by religion, their forebears having been brought to Malaysia from southern Indian by the British (who colonised both India and modern-day Malaysia).  Now, mamak street stalls are popular across Malaysia and Singapore, specialising in roti, satay, mi goreng noodles and more.  See Bryan's delicious post about "roti prata" in Singapore.  (My secret:  Sometimes if I am having a bad day, I find this post and look at the roti man's face.  There is something about him that is so purely, simply happy.)

I love Mamak Melbourne's tiny, specialised menu.  If you're looking for laksa, you're in the wrong place.  Mamak knows where its strengths are and knows how to work them.

Chicken/beef satay, one dozen for $16

Fantastic satays!  Bite sized morsels of tender chicken and beef, threaded onto long, dainty skewers and with the most delicious satay sauce for dipping.  Seriously, I could have eaten this with a spoon by itself.  I'll guess that it featured lemongrass, ginger and tamarind, with nary a spoonful of commercial peanut butter in sight.  Awesome.

Roti canai, $5.50

If some roti is like puff pastry, this was like filo - almost impossibly thin, elastic dough cooked on a hot grill and gently curled on a silver tray.  I could happily eat it on its own, but it comes with a traditionally thin lentil dal speckled with nigella seeds, a creamy curry gravy, and a dot of dried anchovy-rich, full-flavoured chilli sambal.

WE HATED IT.


Teh tarik, $3.50

This is tea sweetened with condensed milk and "aerated" by pouring in long streams between two mugs.  I liked this, which might mean it's not authentic - it's supposed to have a very bitter, tannic edge that doesn't appeal to me.  Bryan is kinder than me - when I described it to him, he said, "Maybe it's gently authentic".  :-)

Roti telur bawang, $7

I didn't mind this roti filled with egg and sweet onion, but really, I'd be more than happy to stick to the original, feather-light version.

Kari ayam, $16

Next up were curries - first a fantastic, full-flavoured chicken curry with whole cloves bobbing in the rich, thick sauce and big, tender taters.  The chicken is on the bone, so if you're having a bit of a bone wuss moment, you might not fully appreciate it.

Kangkung belacan, $14

This is kangkung, also known as morning glory, water convolvulus and other less rude other names.  When eating Vietnamese, next time you want a vegie, don't get the Chinese broccoli and oyster sauce - try one of the kangkung options, maybe with just garlic or my favourite, "stinky" preserved tofu.  This version was cooked well but the belachan or fermented shrimp paste was almost imperceptible.  As my dad put it - "Not enough old underpants".

Sambal sotong, $17

"It's very hot," warned the edible young waiter.  "Yes, we love hot," we replied.  Fresh leaves of squid came luxuriating in thick, jammy sambal.  Sambal is a chilli-based sauce that can be anything from just pounded fresh chillies with a little lime to an intense blend of shrimp paste, sugar and citrus.  While at first bite the sotong tasted sweet and tangy, the addictive chilli rush crept up slowly afterwards.  Delicious.

Much rice for soaking up all the sauces...

...and salad to cool the burn.  While the ingredients were good and fresh (cucumber, fried tofu and jicama) , I wasn't a huge fan of this rojak - the dressing was very sweet and somewhat one dimensional.  I'm not very familiar with Malaysian-style rojak though so this could be authentic.

Lamb murtabak, $11.50

Bringing up the rear, our murtabak or stuffed roti finally arrived (it does say to allow extra time).  Filled with small pieces of lamb and onion, I found it unexciting compared to the unbearable lightness of the plain roti and the flavour acrobatics of the chicken curry and sambal sotong.

So get thee to Mamak!  There's a grocery across the road that sells Japanese beer and super kawaii individual glasses of choya, Japanese plum wine.  BYO is a mere $2 per head.  Service is efficient but friendly - one waitress even speaks Auslan!



Mamak
366 Lonsdale Street, City
Phone:  9670 3137
Hours:  Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30-10pm


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