Best Singapore / Malaysian Food in Sydney

There were not more than a handful of Singapore/Malaysian restaurants in the CBD areas back in the 1980s. Fortunately, diners have more choices now as the proportion of Southeast Asian migrants have multiplied by leaps and bounds.

A sign that we have arrived in a diverse and multicultural society is the availability of popiah - yam bean, lettuce and prawn wrapped in fresh pastry skin and not deep-fried.

Nonetheless, SM cuisine especially hawker fare / street food are considered pretty exotic stuff. To make up for the higher price, the customer usually gets huge servings with king prawns and quality ingredients.

Fried Rice Noodle - Char Kway Teow

IMO, the best Singapore and KL char kway teow (fried with dark soy sauce) in Sydney metro area can be found in Thornleigh while the best Penang fried kway teow can be found in Ryde.

Prawn Noodle Soup or Har Mee is a combination of yellow noodles and fine rice vermicelli steeped in mildly spicy prawn stock.

A stone's throw away, another Malaysian restaurant Istana serves a Malay version of prawn noodles call Mee Yok which is equally good. Don't forget to check out their fried mee siam (unlike the gravy version). They are famous for dishes such as the Udang Istimewa better known as cereal chilli prawn with crispy curry leaves.

Mee Rebus : I love this KL version. The prawn and onion fritters accompaniment are tasty and the noodles takes in the smooth and thick curried sweet potato gravy. Makan@Alice only serves this dish every Sunday fortnight.

I'm not particularly fond of KL Hokkien noodles which is a tad too salty as the noodles are drenched in thick dark soy sauce.


Temasek used to be the rare oasis for homesick Malaysians and Singaporeans to seek solace. Sited in Parramatta, the second largest city in NSW after Sydney CBD, it has built its reputation on more than 20 years of stellar food. However, the prices have creeped up yearly and the service is slow and snooty. A couple of years back, former staff of Temasek set up their own upmarket restaurant in the affluent north shore area and named it Ginger and Spice.

To's Malaysian Gourmet in North Sydney specialises in laksa lemak and serves up hundreds of bowls each lunch time to the working elite in the vicinity.

Singapore Kitchen at West Ryde is known for its Singapore style Hokkien noodles which is better known as fried prawn mee. Another recommendation is fried oyster omelette which is actually inexpensive at $14 considering the large fresh oysters embeded in crispy egg crepe fried in high wok heat.

Both the Kopitiams (under different management) do not live up to expectations. The one at Ultimo (near Chinatown) is a well patronised small eatery. The pricing is affordable so don't expect large portions and marvellous food. The other Kopitiam in the northern suburb of Eastwood shop no. 282 on the other hand has many expensive items on the menu.

Those who have the time and courage to prepare your own chilli crab at home could do so by all means. The Flemington and Cabramatta markets sell mud crabs by the kilo at half the price charged by restaurants (currently at $40 upwards per kilo). Kuali is well known for the curry crab while Harry's in the city and Singma in Kensington (south of the city) have established a reputation for chilli crab.

For more good eats in Sydney, please refer to the following link :

http://www.eatability.com.au/au/sydney/cuisines/malaysian.htm

I will be taking a friend visiting from overseas for the "best" noodles. I hope the standards of our restaurants do not disappoint.