Mamak Restuarant (Chinatown)

As expected, when I arrived at the Mamak restaurant several minutes before opening time at 11.30am on Sunday there was a queue to join.  This queue was there not because there was a lack of food outlets in the vicinity.  Chinatown is just a stone’s throw away as well as the many other restaurants on the same street, so I presumed that there must be some very worthwhile food inside. 

The décor inside is very basic and reminds me of a fast food restaurant with many tables aligned in rows under fluorescent lighting.  The service is very quick and efficient with wait times of only a few minutes for food to arrive.

The restaurant had advised me that there were dishes that could be veganised such as Nasi Lemak, Kangkung Belacan and Nasi Goreng.  However, I should talk to the staff on the day.

I decided to order the Nasi Lemak and advised the waitress that I did not want the sambal (sauce that contained fish), anchovies or egg and that they should be replaced with vegan options.  The waitress’ English was limited so it took a little while to convey this.

My dish was brought out a little while later and I asked the waitress “Is that it?” when I saw it. It was rice, peanuts and some chopped up cucumber.  I was very disappointed as they had not veganised the dish, just removed the offending non-vegan items.  Another waitress who had earlier proved helpful asked if I would like a sauce or curry to go with it and I replied that I would.  I expected this would replace the missing items, but I was charged extra on top of the regular price for the dish. 

The coconut rice was lovely, but the overall meal was nothing spectacular.  It was the type of fare you could find in any food court across the city.

So as not to base my opinion on just one dish I ordered a dessert even though I was fairly full.  I order the Ais Kacang which is a dish made of coconut milk, shaved ice and some grass-green noodles.  Although this one tasted fine (again, nothing special) I was slightly put off by fishing around for extremely green noodles in a sea of creamy-coloured liquid. 

Overall, I was very underwhelmed. This is one restaurant I wouldn’t recommend going back to because as I said above, you will find dozens of restaurants and takeaway shops with similar offerings without the waiting lines.