Malay Malay Haymarket — Restaurant in Sydney

The hunt for a good rendang continued into Malay Malay. Sitting opposite Market City in Haymarket, this narrow Malaysian restaurant is popular: that’s a good sign. It’s also booze-free. On arrival we’re offered a small table, or, if we agree to spend sixty bucks, a bigger one. We take the bigger table and glasses of iced lemon tea ($7.50/each). After two failed rendang experiences in the last month, we’re gun-shy, so opt for a smaller portion of the classic beef and coconut curry: beef rendang roti canai ($16.90). It’s creamy and aromatic with falling apart beef and decent heat levels. It’s slightly milkier than others I have enjoyed, but I am counting this one as a win.

The signature kam heung clams ($23.90) are also pretty good. The ‘golden fragrance’ sauce employs Chinese, Malay and Indian ingredients, including dried shrimp and curry leaves or curry powder, so they’re best eaten over coconut rice ($4). Chee cheong fun ($10.90) pours a hoisin-based sauce over rolls made of wide rice noodles. The little rolls of noodle are incredibly sweet but against the creeping heat of the rendang, fun ways to give your palate a break. Four treasure vegetables ($22.90) is a stir-fried collection of okra, eggplant, green beans and onions flavoured with sambal and more dried shrimp. The eggplant in particular was...

The menu has changed. Each item had a price raise between $2-$3. I have attached photos of new menu for reference

I went on weekday 2pm. Very quiet and clean.

I had “braised pork rib soup”. The taste is ok. Mostly pork belly and some tribe, only two small pieces of rib. I thought the large size is for sharing. So I had small. It was indeed small. Probably a starter size in many other Asian restaurants. I don’t eat a lot anyway. So that wasn’t a big problem for me. But for an average person, you probably need to order a large.

Ice Cendol Red bean with Coconut milk——as a dessert, it has a reasonable size. I liked the shredded ice, with coconut milk and red bean. But not a fan of green Cendol. I was told it’s made of green bean and pandan leaves. I liked both of the ingredients. But this tastes a bit strange, as if there is salt in it and some bitterness that cannot be covered by the sugar syrup.

About the service, most of the time there wasn’t anyone at the counter/floor. I had to go to look for staff whenever I needed to add something. So wasn’t much service. Maybe it’s different when there are more customers. There is 2% surcharge for cards.

In summary, it was ok. I’m not impressed in any way. Not as good as many...

We recently checked out the Malay Malay restaurant in Haymarket. My overall rating for this eatery is 4 out of 5 stars. However, I did experience some initial confusion with their opening time. While Google stated they open at 11, the sign at the door said 11:30. But, to my dismay, the kitchen didn't open until noon.

Despite the rocky start, I was pleased with the food. The street food offered was incredibly authentic, particularly the assam laksa, which had strong bold fishy flavours. The soup boasted a good kick and the spice clung to my throat - a real delight.

The char koay teow was also a solid offering, with good "wok hay" (the breath of the wok). It was a typical oily dish, loaded with lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and pork lard. However, the final product was slightly moister than I would have preferred, and I concur with other reviewers that it may not be for everyone. I too would usually like it to be drier. I would say avoid it if you preferred a drier version of CKT as it felt a bit heavy and "jelak".

Prices were quite affordable too, especially by Sydney standards. Overall, Malay Malay is not bad, and worth a try. I will be back to try their...