Saturday 11 December 2010

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak @ QV, Melbourne (An Asian Snack Food Tasting)


I have been very slack with putting up this post. So slack that I've been letting it slide since September... So here it goes...This is quite a visually long post :P

Thanh decided to host a Asian Snack Food Tasting at Old Town Kopitiam Mamak in QV... and it was also my first time meeting Agnes and Thanh in person (Twitter really does not count) :P Now this is a branch of Old Town Kopitiam located in Chinatown (and I'm quite sure of the one in Malaysia)... and this outlet caters for those wishing for a taste of Mamak (that just sounds wrong)...

Click here for their menu, as it is quite different from the menu at Old Town Kopitiam in Chinatown...


Roti Telur

As I was there early, the Boy was with me (he hadn't decided to run errands on his own).. so we were seated and ordered some Roti (as per normal Malaysian breakfast)... He had the Roti Telur (Egg) and I had the Roti Kaya...

Roti Kaya
The Roti Kaya unfortunately was a big disappointment... it was thick (the bread) and it felt like I was eating sweet cardboard... a total fail...

For drinks we had the sugar cane juice (which they had advertised on their TV screens and on each table) as well as a teh tarik (hot pulled tea)...Take note of this.. only because we were there at opening time around 11.30am.. and when the rest of the gang arrived around 12pm, and wanted to try the sugar cane... we were told that it was sold out (this happens very often in this outlet)...sometimes they even tell us, that the sugar cane juicer (machine) is not functioning... I wish they would spend the money used on advertising that they have on sugar cane, to get a better sugar cane machine... *sigh*

So to this I add, sugar cane availability... varies...

Roti Tissue
As a group, we ordered heaps of food... Agnes arrived with her hubby in tow and Thanh arrived with his partner in tow... which was great as we discovered that both her and I were Malaysians!... Hence, we could be the best judge for this place...

Mamak Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles)
Beef Noodle
Siamese Laksa (which kind of suspiciously looks like Asam Laksa)
Curry Laksa
Nasi Kandar
What can I say? The last number of times in which I've been there (yes, I have returned) the quality of the food is dependent on the time, day, and kitchen staff that are working there. And yet, people keep coming back for more (as do I), and I'm not quite sure why...

I'll put up another post on my other visits back to this Mamak joint.. but I can assure you, if you can get over the sometimes good and sometimes bad service and food, you'll be alright with a visit here... it's really quite typical for a Mamak store (not quite so for an Australian outlet)

So would I return? Yes.. I have done so many times

A wide range of cuttlefish
For the taste test... after stuffing ourselves silly with the food above, we started on our taste test (surprisingly, no one told us off either for taking up space in the restaurant which was excellent.. typical Mamak!! Local hang out joint)... 

Anyway.. we had a heap of cuttlefish and one of the ones I bought was amazingly BAD... tasted rotten... we made Agnes take notes... so her posting will be the best...

I loved the sugar coated cuttlefish as it was what I had grown up with.. however Thanh was ANTI it... :P
A wide range of preserved fruits
Then we moved on to preserved and pickled fruits... and the sure winner was the Mangoes from COSTCO!! Yeah I said it.. it's extremely addictive and NO ONE can say anything bad about it!

To read more about the Asian snack food tasting, head over to Agnes's and Thanh's blogs:

*Disclaimer: All food ratings are purely based on my own experiences and how I feel about the service, food and quality

Food/ Cuisine: Malaysian Hawker (Mamak)
Dining Style: Cafe/Restaurant
Overall Food Rating (Based on the Dining style): 5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10 (just like an upper end Mamak, I guess)
Service/ Attitude: 5/10 (and it has not improved)
Value for money: 7/10

Address:
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Tel:(03) 9654 2682

Website:www.oldtownkopitiam.com.au

Email: contact@oldtownkopitiam.com.au

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak is open from
Monday-Wednesday 11:30AM-9:30PM
Thursday 11:30AM-10:30PM
Friday-Saturday 11:30AM-Till late and on
Sunday from 11:30AM-10:30PM


How to get there:

View Larger Map

Old Town Kopitiam Mamak (QV Square) on Urbanspoon

4 comments:

  1. Oooh, that roti tissue looks amazing! I've never had anything like that. I'm most excited about the mango, though! I bought some last week purely because Agnes told me it was good, so I'm happy to hear other people love it just as much! I'll have to open my packet soon...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that dried mango! I also remember being a little disturbed at the descriptions of some of those cuttlefish packs... :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to say I still haven't been to any of the kopitiam, I think I am too afraid of being disappointed lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. Did we really have that lunch in September? It feels like it was AGES ago. ;)

    ReplyDelete

Share this with your friends!

Popular Posts