Twilight Hawkers Market

The City of Perth has been holding twilight hawkers markets at Forrest Place very Friday evening from 1700 to 2000 until March 2012. We stumbled upon it on Friday and took the opportunity to try a few things.

Out of about 20 stalls, at least four served halal food- the Love and Care Malaysian Café stall, a Singaporean one, a Malaysian satay stall, and a Turkish gozleme stall. The lady at the Maya Masala stall told us that the chicken dishes are halal. Other stalls include Two Fat Indians, Marcelita’s Empanadas, Brazillian churros, Moroccan Journey, an ice creamery, one selling three types of paellas (none of which was vegetarian/purely seafood) and Maison St Honore, selling pretty pastel French macarons.

We tried the roti paratha with veggie curry ($5) and fried noodles ($5) from Love and Care, a cheese sausage ($5) and lemon ice tea ($1) from the Singaporean stall, and a plate of chicken satay with cucumber pieces and rice cakes ($8) from the most olfactorily enticing stall.

The food we had was nothing to shout about. The chicken satay was nice but we wished the peanut sauce wasn’t so pallid and sugary.

We didn’t stay long but apparently there are usually performances to liven up the atmosphere.

If you’re in the area, check it out one day. You can’t miss the spiral of smoke and mouthwatering aroma of satays cooking on the charcoal grills.

Guilford Road Curry Stop

We received a brochure in the mail about a new halal Indian cafe some months ago and immediately decided that we need to try it. The words ‘brunch buffet’ intrigued us.

Indus Café on Guilford Road, Maylands was our destination for dinner (we thought we’d sample individual dishes for dinner and then decide if we would spend $34.95 per person on a weekend brunch).

Between three of us, we ordered lemon rice (lemon flavoured basmati rice), garlic naan (not actually on the menu but they were happy to accommodate), plain naan, butter chicken, lamb vindaloo and palak paneer. If you have been reading our previous posts, I’m sure you will feel a sense of déjà vu. Yes, we like what we like.

We are accustomed to punchy flavours and so the very mild flavours of these dishes did not bedazzle our tastebuds, but we had a filling meal. The masala tea was excellent though.

Each dish was ~AUD11.99, rice AUD 3.99, naan AUD2.99. Much cheaper than our frequent curry stop, D’tandoor, but there is far less meat/paneer in the dishes.

There is a drive through and 7 days a week home delivery.

If you’re ever in Maylands and looking for halal food, this is an option. Let us know if you try out their brunch buffet.

Malaysian Day Out

Malaysian cuisine is extremely varied, reflecting the many races and cultures of the country. 

We recently had a Malaysian Indian lunch at Rasa Sayang Cafe at Spencer Village in Thornlie. It was at least 35 degrees but that didn't stop us from eating spicy, heaty food. In an un-air-conditioned cafe at that! Even though it was past normal lunchtime (2.30pm), the place was teeming with customers having their mamak fix.

We ordered a plate of biryani rice with chili chicken, mixed veggies and dhal from the bain marie, egg paratha with lambshank curry and iced milk tea. The mee goreng mamak (mamak fried noodles) is so popular there was none left by the time we got there.

Regardless, what we had was satisfying (LARGE portion of rice and dishes) and tasty. There is a table full of complimentary condiments including mango chutney, fried yoghurt chillies, and papadums. The fried yoghurt chillies are a must try- salty, crunchy and just a touch of spicy fire. The food is very down-to-earth and the South Indian flavours are different to what most Indian restaurants in Perth offer. Our meal amounted to less than AUD30.

For dinner, we explored another type of Malaysian cuisine. D'nyonya on Albany Highway, Victoria Park specialises in food from the Peranakan culture, sprung from the intermarriage of Chinese immigrants to the settlements in the Straits of Malacca and local Malays. The men are referred to as ‘Baba’ and the women ‘Nyonya.’

Our meal consisted of colourful drinks (ice lemon tea, bandung, iced lychee, and teh tarik) and fried rice, mee goreng and curry laksa. We have been to D’nyonya multiple times since its opening a few years ago (it was called Rasa Nyonya Penang Restaurant then) and quite enjoy the food there. Small bone to pick would be the lack of chicken or meat in the fried rice/noodles dishes (most have seafood). So if you are ravenous for meat, order rice and separate dishes. We recommend the salted egg chicken and black pepper beef (both also noted to be chef’s recommendations on the menu).

We heard that D’nyonya has opened a branch on Hay Street, just east of the city centre (where Oleh Oleh Café used to be). 

The dessert of the day was enjoyed in the air-conditioned living room of some good friends. In keeping with the Malaysian food theme of the day, it was boxes of exquisite XO frozen durian from the Oriental Cash and Carry in Canning Vale.

XOXO,

Halal Food Gossip

Rasa Sayang Cafe 

Rasa Nyonya Penang / D'nyonya

Our pantry

Here are things from our pantry and fridge that we usually have, all from Woolworths/ Coles/ Asian grocers. These are things for breakfast, things to pack for lunch, ingredients for a quick dinner and snacks. It's easy to find halal food in Perth, if you know what to look for. Not all products have the halal stamp, so we will endeavour to show you halal products that can be found at your local supermarket. 

For example, Harvey beef (which we bought from Coles) is certified halal although individual products do not carry the halal stamp. Ducks from Luv-a-duck are also halal.

Here are more photos of random pantry and fridge items which do have the halal stamp: