Kreta Ayer466 Anzac Pde
Kingsford, Sydney
Kreta Ayer is a bustling Malaysian restaurant in the suburb of Kingsford, in Sydney's East. It's close proximity to the University of New South Wales makes it a popular choice with students It's always full and most evenings, there is a queue of people waiting outside. This evening The Counts were dining with two dear friends, who's love of Malaysian food is almost as strong as ours making them the perfect companions.
We arrived early on a Friday night and found a table almost immediately (and also avoided the queue which later became quite long). The restaurant has a real street food ambience. There are picnic style tables, with benches or stools. When it comes to Malaysian food, we generally know what we like and what we are going to order before we even look at the menu. Tonight was different though, the menu at Kreta Ayer has over 200 items on it.
Roti is a standard item we order at every Malaysian food experience we have and tonight was no exception. We ordered two servings (we like it a lot) and here at Kreta Ayer they serve it with a lovely curry sauce.
The Roti was delicious, buttery and flaky.
The curry sauce was a great dipping agent too.
Satay Skewers are another favourite of ours.
We deviated away from our usual chicken satay order and went for the mixed skewers which comes with beef skewers as well as chicken.
It was nice to try something different and to our surprise, the beef with satay sauce was actually a good combination.
Next up some Tauhu Goreng. A traditional Malaysian dish which has tofu (deep fried) and is covered in fresh and crispy bean sprouts and cucumber. The tofu is quite tasty on its own but becomes a taste sensation with the amazing sauce it is served with. A thick sauce prepared with shrimp paste, soy sauce and tamarind juice. Not sure what it's called but we loved it.As we finished our starters, we enjoyed a glass of wine from a bottle we bought conveniently at the liquor store just down the road. Kreta Ayer is BYO both wine and beer, which is fantastic. Count N tried an Iced Ribena Soda with Longa, a refreshing and sweet non alcoholic drink. It was bursting with flavour though a bit on the sweet side.
Our first main to arrive was the Malaysian Crispy Fried Chicken. This was a huge serving of golden pieces of fried tender chicken.
They were cooked well and were extra crispy on the outside but soft with very juicy meat on the inside.
It was hard to stop eating this dish.
Next up some Sambal Squid. Now Sambal is a traditional Malaysian sauce made with quite a lot of chilli and other flavoursome ingredients like garlic and ginger and this combined with squid makes a very tantalising dish.
Just a warning folks, this one is quite spicy so be prepared for some squid with quite a bit of kick.
Moving away from the hot and spicy but still on the seafood theme, we also tried the Kreta Ayer Soft shell crab which was crispy and served on a beautiful salad bed. It was a vibrant and fresh dish.Kreta Ayer also caters very well for vegetarians, with quite a few vegetarian dishes on their menu, so don't worry if meat or chicken isn't your thing.
Finally, no Malaysian food experience would be complete without Nasi Goreng so despite us being quite full, we ordered it as a finisher to the evening. Now, when you are eating a good Nasi Goreng, you expect a dish that is full of flavour, has a hint of spice and of course some egg. The one here at Kreta Ayer ticked all the boxes. It was delicious.
Kreta Ayer has a pleasant relaxed atmosphere, a huge variety of food on their menu and and is very well priced. We definitely would consider going back next time we are in the mood for some Malaysian food, you should to.
The Counts, who review for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, visited to Kreta Ayer supported by the Malaysian Kitchen Programme.
