Nan Yang Tea Club Haymarket 南洋茶館 (Sydney, AUSTRALIA) ★★★☆☆

We have a pretty action-packed schedule today. After taking the train from Mascot to Central Station, we enjoyed a brief walking tour of Haymarket and Chinatown before finally setting foot in Market City. Once we walked towards the Market City complex, memory started coming back to me. I remembered on my first-ever trip to Sydney some 15 years ago, I was here having baked rice with pork chop in one of the restaurants on the street. That was a long long time ago. (And the restaurant was no longer there.)

This time around, we already had our sight set on a Malaysian restaurant on the top floor of Market Square called Nan Yang Tea Club (南洋茶館).

Both Jelloman and I are big fans of Malaysian food so it didn’t take long for us to find the dishes we like.

Teh Tarik – This tasted a little more like Hong Kong style milk tea to me. The tea wasn’t strong enough and a tad too watery.

Roti with beef rendang – I have been longing for some freshly baked roti for quite some time so it was a no-brainer.

The beef brisket was really tender and juicy and the lovely spicy flavors coming from the sauce was just perfect to go with the warm dough. But if I want to be picky, I thought the roti was a little too crispy. They weren’t bad but I prefer my roti to be a little more pillowy and chewy (in a good way) in the middle. I guess just a personal thing.

Hainanese chicken – Not bad but the meat was a little firm.

Char Kway Teow – Probably the best dish of the afternoon.

The rice noodles were stir-fried to perfection and the busy dish also came with so much ingredients (especially Chinese sausage and three pieces of tiger prawns!). Just a bit of spiciness would be perfect.

We didn’t mind some desserts after the savory stuff but since we have such a busy schedule ahead of us, we agreed to settle the bill and begin venturing over to Rhodes. Both of us have never been there so I his should be a lot of fun!

Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 3.11 Market City, 9-13 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000, Australia

Closest Train Station: Central

Tel: +61 2-9281-8787

Website: www.nanyangteaclub.com.au

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 8:30pm (Mon - Thu), 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 9:00pm (Fri), 11:30am - 9:00pm (Sat), 11:30am - 8:30pm (Sun)