Takeout stakeout
IN: The centrepiece of the menu and the place’s unique selling point is the “hawker roll”, which is a small Malaysian-style dish served sandwich-style in flaky roti canai, making it easy to eat, easy to order and thereby taking the relatively exotic Malaysian cuisine and making it more accessible to non-Asian audiences. On the restaurant’s Uber Eats app, the hawker rolls are the dominant item. There’s soy and sesame eggplant, Malaysian chicken, roast duck and hoisin, and so on. There are also plenty of non-roll offerings, including dumplings, spring rolls, chicken wings and salad. The menu’s easy to understand and navigate, not too big, but with a good spread of choices.
OUT: The rolls are presented in double-walled brown paper bags, sealed with bright yellow stickers printed with both the Chinese character and English translation of the roll within (pork, beef, etc) in red. Inside, the food sits directly on Hawker and Roll-branded paper inserts. Sides like wings and additional roti canai are served in small cardboard slot-sealed boxes. In short, the presentation is about bringing comfort and class to a traditional cheap eat.
THE TAKEAWAY: Delivered in less than 35 minutes. We’d ordered two rolls: the beef rendang and sticky pulled pork rolls (both $14) along with an additional roti canai ($5) and a side of Malay spiced fried chicken wings ($14). The rendang was especially vibrant, with good heat, freshness and zing but both rolls worked as a flavourful centrepiece to the meal. The wings were so thick and goopy with sweet, tangy flavour as to call into question whether they were meat at all. Call it meat candy. Call it a treat. Call it a good feed all round.
Greg Bruce