Spice Alley at Kensington St, Chippendale

A lot of people would agree with me when I say that the hawker food scene in Asia is amazing! The food and vibe just stimulates ones senses. Imagine the sound and sight of various woks tossing, chicken being deep-fried, the beautiful aroma of grilled bbq meats and seafood etc. At Kensington Street's Spice Alley, you can experience that similar dining scene.  Expect shops with mouthwatering dishes from different Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan etc. 

Kensington St is one of Sydney's latest dining destinations and is located in Chippendale right next to Central Park. Through a little laneway (closer to the Outram Street end of Kensington Street), you'll find a wall-painted sign that will point you to the direction of Spice Alley's location. Then you'll find yourself in a vibrant alfresco dining area with glowing lantern ceilings. Choose dishes and drinks from various Kopi-tiam/hawker-style shops. We tried two stalls on this occasion: Alex Lee Kitchen and Old Jim Kee.

Alex Lee Kitchen

Padang chicken satay sticks

We ordered some Padang chicken satay sticks ($10) to share. There were 5 Singaporean-style chicken satay skewers and generous satay dipping sauce with pieces of onion and cucumber on the side. The chicken was nicely cooked and smoky. The thick dipping sauce itself had a nice balance of peanuty, sweet and gingery flavours. 

The Katong laksa ($10) was also a winner! Normally the Singaporean-style Katong laksa would have seafood in it but here, you have a choice to either have chicken, prawns, pork balls, fish balls or vegetables for your toppings. It also came with thin rice noodles and tofu. I like that it had minimal toppings but quite generous with the chicken. That way, the flavoursome laksa super lemak (aka fatty, creamy and rich) soup remains the star of the dish. 

Chatterbox chicken rice

Their Chatterbox chicken rice ($10) is pretty good too! This is their version of the Hainanese Chicken rice. Oh man! It certainly took me back to Maxwell Hawker Center back in Singapore! The shimmering and succulent poached chicken thigh was perfectly cooked. Along with the chilli ginger sauce and extra flavoursome chicken rice, it was gold!

Old Jim Kee

Penang Lobak

We also indulged in some of Old Kim Jee's Malaysian cuisine starting with their Penang Lobak (aka Loh bak or Lor bak). This Malaysian classic dish is pork marinated in five spice, wrapped in think bean curd skin and then deep fried! The skin was nice and crisped. The pork was juicy and tender bursting with five spice flavour and aromatics. You need to try this if you haven't! It is legit and off the chainz!

Char Koay Teow

Another classic is their Char Koay Teow aka CKT ($10). CKT is definitely my favourite Malaysian Chinese dish and their version did not disappoint. It had wok hei, generous amounts of prawns, lap cheong (Chinese sausage) and amazing crispy pork fat bits! Stir in the sambal on the side to give the dish a more vibrant taste!

Ice lemon tea

We also got some amazing Malaysian beverages. The ice lemon tea ($3.50) was a refreshing sweetened drink with a nice balance of light black tea and citrus flavours. 

Ice the tarik

I loved their ice teh tarik ($3.50) too! It wasn't too sweet and the amount of milk did not mask he flavours of the tea. 

For its location, food quality and amount, I thought the prices were very reasonable. I will be hitting up Spice Alley next time for their ramen at Ky-Oto and the HK-style Beef Brisket with noodles at Hong Kong Diner. Heads up! You can only pay with Paywave cards or Kopi-tiam Spice Alley cards (which can be bought in the premises). 

Spice Alley

Kensington Street,

Chippendale NSW

Hours: 11:00am to 10pm everyday

Yang's Malaysian Food Truck, Sydney

It's almost been three years since the first batch of food trucks rolled out in the city of Sydney. Since then, their popularity has grown and more has joined the scene. My homie Alexander Wong (ex Chica Bonita Manly, Queenies and China Lane) who we also know as Lex is the latest chef to join the line up with Yang's Malaysian Food Truck.

Alexander Wong aka Chef Lex with partner Chef Ngoc Tina Nguyen

Yang is actually derived from Lex's Chinese name. It's a food truck that offers Malaysian dishes but in good ol' fashion food truck style. Making dishes like Hainanese chicken rice more portable and convenient to eat. Other hawker-style dishes with the Lex twist are also available.

Ramli slider

First up, I tried the Ramli slider ($5) which is Lex's take on the renowned Ramly burger from Malaysia. It consists of juicy beef patty, fried egg, cabbage, onion, worcestershire sauce and Maggi seasoning in sweet soft milk bun. The patty was quite tasty and juicy but it was the pronounced Maggi seasoning that makes this slider different from the Western burgers.

Hainanese chicken wings with chicken rice balls

The Hainanese chicken wings with chicken rice balls ($6) was one of the dishes that I really looked forward to and it did not disappoint! It was accompanied with the classic ginger and chilli sauces. The chicken was perfectly poached and succulent. The rice had the distinct chicken, ginger and garlic flavours.

Last but not least was the soft shell chilli crab with fried mantou ($7). The soft shell crab was cooked spot on and had that delicate crisped soft with flavoursome soft innards. It was mind blowing! The fried mantou was perfect to mop up the spicy, sweet and tangy tomato based sauce. Lex's Singaporean chilli sauce had great depth of flavours.

Word is that there are more things to come out of the Yang's Malaysian Food Truck! So stay tuned! Follow Chef Lex on Instagram and SydneyFoodtrucks.com.au for Yang's next stop.

Yang's Malaysian Food Truck

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/yangsfoodtruckau

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food, Sydney

Mamak Restaurant of Sydney needs no introduction. Many of Sydney's food enthusiasts highly rate this establishment as one of the most favourite Asian restaurants in this city. The amount of awards that they have received throughout the years since opening in 2008 is a sign of their success and excellence. There are also the queues of customers that continuously form every lunch and dinner time outside their venue to prove that.    

Aside from their other branches in Chatswood and Melbourne, the team behind Mamak recently opened a new venture in the form of Hawker. It focuses more on popular Malaysian-Chinese dishes like curry laksa, popiah, and an all-time favourite of mine, char koay teow. The interior fit out has a studio gallery-like look and vibe. There are sittings for 2 and for groups of 4 or more. I was so pumped up when I heard that Team Mamak was about to open this place. I went to check them out on their second week of opening. 

Kat chai suen mui ($4) - Calamansi lime and preserved sour plum on ice

Assam laksa

The first thing we ordered was their assam laksa ($12) as I heard great things about it. It did not disappoint at all! It was pretty mind blowing. It's a rice noodle dish with tamarind fish-based broth that also contains shredded fish, cucumber, mint, pineapple, and lettuce. Firstly, my sense of sight feasted on how nice it looked and it was shortly followed by the fragrant smell of mint. The sweet, fruity and sour flavours from the tamarind and other components in broth was well-balanced and addictive. It was also spicy with hints of briney fish flavour. I would definitely come back for this dish again.

Char koay teow

They also make an amazing char koay teow ($14) which most of us also refers to as CKT. It had rice noodles, prawns, egg, beans sprouts, lap cheong and stir fried in a soy-based blend sauce. First of all, it had a lot of wok hei, which is one of the crucial parts of an excellent CKT. The smoky and sweet flavours were so distinct and everything in it was cooked perfectly in my opinion. I loved that it had a lot of lap cheong too!

Apam balik

Last but not least, we had the apam balik ($6), which is a crispy turnover pancake with crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn. The pancake part is a wafer-like crispy crepe. The crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn worked so well together with the pancake. It was buttery and sweet on the inside.

Hawker is nothing short of excellent. The staffs were friendly and attentive whilst the food was very delicious. I can't wait to return to try their other dishes like the Ikan Bakar and Curry Laksa. 

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food

Shop G.02

345B-353 Sussex Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9264 9315

Trading hours:

Monday-Sunday 

Lunch 11:30 am to 2:30pm

Dinner 5:30pm to 10:00pm