WE have missed eating out and I couldn’t wait to get back on the brunch trail after lockdown.
The first foray out was to Sedap Place, a favourite spot in East Victoria Park, which offers some traditional Malaysian food.
The word sedap means delicious in Malay and every time we visit this restaurant; we always leave saying how delicious the food was.
When I visited with my mum and her partner, we were a little lockdown crazy and ordered a feast.
We started off sharing a plate of six chicken satays ($12.90) which had a smoky flavour that permeates the chicken from being cooked on a charcoal grill, served with a delicious peanut sauce, cucumber, onion and rice cake.
My family loves Malaysian cuisine and our favourite dish would have to be roti canai ($7.90), which is a layered flat bread served with a dhal and a curry sauce. Sedap give you two roti with each serve and Mum added a side order of beef rendang ($15.90) for her and her partner to share. She said it was the most delicious version of rendang she has eaten in Australia and she has been to Malaysia many times.
To eat the roti traditionally you break off pieces of the bread and dip it into the curry sauce; we all felt that eating this dish transported us back to Malaysia.
For our brunch feast we added a serving of one of our favourite noodle dishes char koay teow ($12.90) which is stir fried rice noodles with prawns, bean shoots, spring onions and some fried bean curd.
It’s very spicy, even the medium spicy is very hot, so be aware to order the mild version if you don’t like it too hot.
Nasi lemak ($14.90) is a Malaysian national favourite breakfast dish and includes coconut rice, a boiled egg, acar (pickle vegetables), cucumber, peanuts, fried anchovies and a sambal.
I ordered it with chicken rendang. Other side options include beef rendang, curry or fried chicken.
We washed down the spiciness of the meal with a cold tea tarik, which literally means pull tea in Malay.
It’s another Malaysian specialty and is black tea with evaporated milk which has been poured from a height to give a frothy top.
Mum said that when she has visited Penang you find tea sellers on the street who can pour the tea from about four feet, making it a very theatrical experience.
Tea tarik can be either ordered hot ($4) or cold ($4.30) with ice. Sedap also serve it in a tower for the table to share.
There is a large selection of Malaysian favourites on the menu including laksa, curries, variations of roti and noodles, delicious Malaysian desserts including ice kacang (shaved ice with different toppings) and lots of Malaysian specialty drinks.
Sedap is well priced and the service is quick and friendly.
The restaurant is very popular so it’s definitely worth making a booking; we have waited on the street several times when we have turned up without one, but it’s always worth it.
Our borders may be closed but a visit to Sedap Place makes you feel like you have just been to Malaysia.
Sedap Place, 876 Albany Highway, East Victoria Park.
08 6161 0741
www.sedapplace.com
Open Monday to Sunday 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5pm to 8pm
