Ipoh on York - street eats

Malaysian cuisine has taken off somewhat in Sydney, although not to the extent of Thai restaurants in the past decade or Mexican joints in the past two years.

But it does mean that quick and easy mamak style (Indian Malay) street eats are now readily available in town - none more convenient for the CBD's rat racers than Ipoh on York.

Chicken satay at Ipoh on York, York Street, Sydney

In a spacious, underground location (a few doors down from new small bar The Barber Shop), Ipoh on York looks a little like a fast food chain at first glance. Brightly lit menu boards and cash registers greet diners coming down the stairs, but then so do the Malaysian/Singaporean accents of the staff.

It's all too easy to pick out the mamak favourites from the menu, pay, sit in the extensive dining area and await the delivery of your selected Malaysian dishes.

Four sticks of satay arrived in a serve of the chicken variety, smothered in a nutty, creamy satay sauce with just not much of a spice kick. Raw chunks of cucumber and Spanish onion complete the satay appetiser, which is easily lovable and hard to get wrong.

Roti canai with plain curry

The plain roti canai is my favourite style of the fluffy, grilled flat bread and it's not too bad at Ipoh on York. Not quite as thin and delicately layered as that of Mamak, the roti still has great chew and texture for mopping up the accompanying bowl of spicy curry sauce.

Hainan chicken rice

It's hard, if not impossible, to go past Hainan chicken rice when it's on offer. My favourite part of the dish is actually the chicken stock flavoured rice, which is seriously decent at Ipoh on York with a definitive ginger aroma.

The gently poached and chopped chicken was typically lukewarm and smooth in texture, served with traditional condiments of pickled green chillies, ginger and shallot sauce and fresh coriander, with sliced cucumber on the side. Meanwhile, the bowl of chicken broth was a little on the salty side but included some greens.

Wonton mee soup

Least impressive of our order was the wonton and noodle soup, where the wonton dumpling wrappers were about as soggy as could be. Probably cooked at an earlier stage and reheated for serving, the wonton were at least tastily filled, with a fair bit of greenery in the bowl atop the still al dente noodles.

A relatively cheap feed in the Sydney CBD - that's Malaysian street eats for you.