No fakes: Sydney's own Petaling Street

I'm not sure why I given the recommendation to go to Petaling Street when I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year. For starters, I was feeling particularly ill on the day and by the end of the short-ish market walk through Petaling Street, the sight of another fake Jimmy Choo bag was going to make me physically sick.

But there are no fakes nor illnesses to worry about at Petaling Street on Sydney's George Street. Put off by a 11.30pm queue outside Mamak one night, we headed up to the new Malaysian contender which was on the quiet side of steady trade.

(Front to back) Hot teh tarik, iced teh tarik and Ribena with lemonade from Petaling Street,
George Street, Haymarket

The restaurant is long and narrow like many Chinatown eateries, with seating all up the right side as you enter, passing the glassed kitchen to the other side. It seems all the tables are set for four people, so I'm not sure how larger groups cope.

The menu is significantly larger than that of the aforementioned long-queued Malaysian eatery. While I can't resist a teh tarik, even if it does taste like it has come from a packet, others can't resist the allure of Ribena cordial with lemonade in what I can only imagine is a liquid sugar hit.

Chicken laksa

We had decided to share mains across the group and I'm sure glad we did. The laksa was epically sized and the kitchen had no problems taking out an ingredient or changing the noodles to rice ones. I'm no laksa expert but I thought there was a good kick of heat in the thick and creamy coconut-heavy soup.

Hainanese chicken rice

Hainanese chicken rice is more my kind of dish; here served with delicately poached boneless chicken doused in a quite sweet soy sauce alongside sliced cucumber and finished with fresh coriander.

I didn't try the soup served with it, but was kind of wanting the mild chopped red chilli sauce or pickled green chillies which never came. Nonetheless, I thought the rice, flavoured with chicken stock and the bird's fat, was well done although there were comments about its sweetness.

Mi goreng

My attention was most firmly placed on the huge plate of mi goreng in front of me; a giant pile of Hokkien noodles in a rather spicily seasoned sauce with goodies at every grab of chopsticks. I remember fish cake, bean sprouts and other Asian vegetables, but the rest is mostly a spicy blur.

Late dining customers continued to take tables in the narrow restaurant as we left, so it appears the word is slowly getting out - there's a new Malaysian player in town and it ain't no fake.