Old Town Kopitiam Mamak
Sunday arvo in the city and we had paused in our shopping for a cold iced coffee (Journal: not too sweet, good espresso flavour). I checked my twitter stream and read that Old Town Kopitiam’s new outpost in QV was open for business. It’s a bit dull bite-wise in the CBD this time of year so this was good news. We weren’t really *extremely* hungry – but a snack is always in order.
“Arty” shot of the back wall – decorated with condensed & evaporated milk cans, huge Horlicks cans, Milo cans and the like.
We ordered three dishes to share, Ban Cheng Kui $4, Satay Chicken $8 and Roti Planta $4.50. The Ban Cheng Kui came first, and well, as it is a sweet crepe filled with coconut (kaya?) and peanuts, that was a bit weird. It was pretty yummy though – the outside crispy and the filling not too soggy. Just how I love my crepes!
The Roti was delicious and hot, with a fantastic flaky texture. They make them to order and it was amazing to watch them spreading the dough very thinly before cooking them crispy. The sides were a chilli sauce and a laksa-like sauce.
The chicken satay were again freshly cooked and very flavoursome. I liked the sides of cucumber and red onion. The presentation is definitely functional rather than “cheffy”.
To drink – we couldn’t go past the Root Beer Float. (well – who could?)
The drinks took a while to come, but when they were delivered staff explained that the fizzy drink was fizzier than they expected and they had had trouble “dealing with it” – with a wide grin on their face and an honest apology. The staff seemed to be relishing the steady stream of customers not long after opening, and I would guess, having more space between the tables and lower requirements to move customers on than at the sister restuarant in Chinatown.
The fit out is modern and clean and situated as it is on the QV square it looks out on to the (fake I guess) grass area outside. If they could stop smoking in the outside area it would be a nice place to sit in the sun and enjoy a Malaysian style coffee, or dessert, or snack.
Old Town Kopitiam Mamak
Level 2, Shop 11 QV Square
QV Building
9654 2682
[…] read other reviews of Old Town Kopitiam Mamak, check out Addictive & Consuming, Essjay Eats and My Food Trail. For other dish-with-rice options in the CBD, try Jolly J’s Curry Shack […]
Pingback from: HOT: Old Town Kopitiam Mamak, Level 2, Shop 11 QV Square, Melbourne | MEL: HOT OR NOT
[…] I love kopitiam mamak. The first thing that I do when I land in Singapore airport is to head to Changi Kopitiam to pick up a kaya toast and a Milo dinosaur before heading for the luggage. Can you imagine my excitement when Old Town Kopitiam first opened on Little Bourke. Alas it was not meant to be. I was totally disappointed. You can find out why here. So I was really skeptical about this new place and was not keen until I read the delicious tweets from @tummyrumbles and the blog post from essayeats. […]
Pingback from: Old Town Kopitiam Mamak QV Part 1 | Addictive and consuming
Excellent dinner – really hit the spot after a brief workout. The rotis were fresh and delish (we tried the plain roti canai and the roti telur) and we shared a plate of the nasi briyani with three dishes from the nasi kandar menu. The bandung I had would have soothed a much fiercer curry, though – I’ll have to see if there’s something really spicy. Service really friendly and it’s great to see that rather dull square at QV buzzing after being such a wasteland.
Stickyfingers was tweeting pics of her meal tonight, too, so I’ll have to go back and try the satays and the mee goreng! I wish the satays came with lontong…
Comment from: Injera
Penny: we’ll eat them out of roti if we’re not careful!
Injera: finally enough people have commented that you’re willing to trust us! 🙂 Hope it’s good tonight, let us know what you think.
Mellie: ahh- thanks. That’s what the sauces are. Seriously – anchovy sambal? OK.
I’ve got cravings right now! yummy
Comment from: essjayeats
Hi Jetsetting Joyce – welcome! Food is pretty good at the sister restaurant, though some people disagree. The Roti is better at QV for some reason. But the space is the thing – much bigger – easier to get into. And you don’t have to move along quickly. Let is know what you think when you’ve tried it.
Comment from: essjayeats
Ooh this looks so good and I’ve been following all the twitter raves about it. Didn’t know that they had a sister restaurant in Chinatown – is it just as good?
Jetsetting Joyce
Comment from: Jetsetting Joyce (MEL: HOT OR NOT)
That roti is absolutely to die for – the perfect balance between flaky and chewy. The curry gravy and the anchovy sambal was also rockin’.
Glad you enjoyed it! We should meet up for a weekday lunch there sometime…
Comment from: mellie
Saw this a couple of weeks ago and wondered what it would be like (have been burned by promising looking Malaysian places often enough that I really wanted someone else to be the guinea pig on this one!). Sounds fab – so rare to get freshly prepared roti here! We’re heading there tonight and already I can’t wait.
Comment from: Injera
Yum! I could not wait for Mister and went down myself. The roti is defintely as good as it gets here. heading back for more!
Comment from: penny aka jeroxie