Temasek, Parramatta

I've heard many times about how amazing the Hainanese chicken is at Temasek, so I jumped at the chance to go and try it when we went there recently with some family friends. There were a lot of us at the table so we got to sample a wide range of their menu. The food didn't take long to come out but what I noticed was that it came out in the order that we ordered the dishes with our waiter - something to keep in mind for next time! This was quite surprising because most of the time at Asian restaurants the dishes just come out whenever they're ready. 

Beef rendang - $17.80

The first dish we ordered was the beef rendang which has tender, fall-apart chunks of beef that are flavoursome from the spices used in the rendang. The sauce was also great with rice.

Sambal Balacaan Kang Kong - $16.80

Next up was the sambal balacaan kang kong - a vegetable dish with water spinach, sambal and shrimp paste. This probably could have done with a bit more chilli kick, but the shrimp paste and garlic added a heap of flavour to the vegetables. 

Hainanese chicken (whole) - $36.00

Makan@Alice's, Thornleigh

Sometimes I get cravings for Malaysian or Singaporean food but I'm feeling lazy to travel out too far. So my go-to place for nearby Malaysian food is Makan@Alice's which is a mere 10 minute drive from my place. Tonight Sir D and I arrive quite soon after they open for dinner service. Lucky we do get there early as well because half the tables are marked as reserved, and the rest fill up soon after we arrive. We umm and ahh over all the delicious sounding choices they have on the menu, and we eventually order teh tarik, Hainanese chicken and roti canai with curry.

Teh tarik - $4.50

The teh tarik, a pulled Malaysian milk tea, is generously frothy on top and has a distinct tea taste compared to the extra-sweet teh tarik at Mamak. Although my sweet tooth and I prefer the heady condensed milk flavour of Mamak's teh tarik, Sir D prefers the subtle sweetness of the one at Alice's.

Roti canai with lamb curry - $11.80