Makan @ Alice's, Thornleigh

Teh tarik

I miss Malaysian food sooooooo much. It wasn't so bad when my Mum was visiting because she was constantly cooking curries, noodles, bah kuh teh, pumpkin kuih and other goodies. But now she's returned to the happy happy food land and I am left missing everything. Lucky for me, there is only a short train trip to Alice's to satisfy those Malaysian food cravings.

It's a miserable night, wet & freezing cold. A & I are so hungry that we go for a super early dinner at 6pm, which is when Alice's opens. A was expecting us to be the only people there that early but the place quickly fills up. The restaurant is very unfussy, there are lots of small tables as the place is mainly geared to its lunch business. A small wall sign advertises the Lunch and Weekend specials (assam laksa, yum!).

Roti canai & lamb curry

It's cold, we're wet and tired and we feel like the old faithfuls. We order and the food comes out minutes later, it's like lightning! In fact, the slowest thing to come out was my teh tarik (with a warning about that from the waitress) since they take a few minutes to make a fresh one. When it does come out it definitely hits the spot-warm and frothy. I quite like that it's not overpoweringly sweet like some of the ones you get in Malaysia (I always have to ask them to make it less sweet).

I don't usually feel right having roti canai anywhere in Sydney except for Mamak, but I have a real hankering for it so we decide to order it for comparison's sake ;) It is very decent, crispy and golden on the outside. You can choose either chicken or lamb curry. We choose the lamb and it is extremely tasty and full of big chunks of tender lamb meat.

A developed a strong love for nasi lemak while in KL so he chooses that for himself. It comes with beef rendang but I also hear the waitress tell the table next to us that you can get chicken rendang as well. The beef rendang is pretty good, packed full of flavour and the meat is very tender. The coconut rice was okay, but the sambal was fantastic: extra dark and spicy with a smoky & concentrated prawn flavour.

Nasi lemak

I order the Hainanese chicken, and receive the most enormous portion of chicken and rice. The rice smells and tastes great, though Ginger and Spice still top my list of favourite chicken rices. I love the generous amount of garlic and soy drizzled all over the meat. I am also pleased to find that lovely melt-in-your-mouth gelatinous layer that forms beneath the chicken skin after it is chilled. A is freaked out by it but it's one of the most important features of a good Hainanese chicken! The breast meat is a little bit drier than I would prefer but it's just the type of dish I was craving so I was easy to please :)

Hainanese chicken rice

Sorry, I always forget to note the prices of the dishes I ordered, it must not have been too expensive or I would have remembered better! I was probably too busy trying to convince A that we should buy some of the tapioca cake that was sitting there so invitingly on the counter. He gently pulled me out of the door before I could get it :(

Update July 09: We now have made Alice's a regular of our cheap eats, it's great for those times when you really miss Malaysian food! Managed to get my hands on some of Alice's Kuih Serimuka which was amazing and the roti was even better the last time I went. As chocolatesuze mentioned in the comments, the butter soft shell crab is amazing!

Makan@Alice's
262-264 Pennant Hills Road,
Cnr & Entry via Bellevue St.
Thornleigh, NSW 2120
(02) 9484 8288
lunch: tues - sun 11:30am - 2:30pm
dinner: thu - sun 6:00pm - 9:00pm