Informal Description: Along Victoria St, between La Porchetta and Video Ezy
I must admit that when my housemate first started raving about how awesome and authentic the Char Kuay Teow (CKT) is at this place, I wasn't exactly rushing out the door to put his claims to the test.
Which is quite odd, considering I'm an authentic-Malaysian-food-deprived-individual who is living overseas.
However, after listening to all the "you MUST go and try"s over the next few days, Lohon and I caved in to social conformity and we decided to have dinner.
I was skeptical because
But when the waitress set this plate down in front of me...
I suddenly remembered why CKT has always been my trusty Plan B :) a simple dish of oh-so-comforting and familiar fried noodle.
And I have to admit, it probably is one of the most authentic CKT's I've came across in Melbourne. Not too oily, not too salty, not too sweet and not too spicy. In other words, perfect! :D Lohon really enjoyed his dinner.
As for myself, I ordered Claypot Lou Shi Fun, a dish that has always been a personal favourite of mine. Random piece of trivia but I've always preferred lou shi fun over other types of noodles like bee hoon or hokkien noodles because as a child, I thought that the other noodles were too long to fit in my tummy and would somehow cause me internal injuries.
hey, no one said personal logic had to make sense, right? :p
But going back to the Claypot Lou Shi Fun...
They were super generous with the servings of noodles, minced meat and the black fungus thingie (note to self: find out what the more appealing name is). Cooked to perfection and just the right touch of seasonings. Tastes just like it came from a dirty roadside stall somewhere in KL. Love it!!!
And ever since, I always order the same thing whenever we go back to Gurney Drive :)
On a more recent dinner, we decided to order a few other things to try as we could share it among ourselves. I have been craving for these for as long as I can remember and is nearly impossible to find: sotong kangkung and rojak!!!! *japanese fan girl scream
After not having these within driving distance for the last 7 years, you simply cannot imagine the withdrawal symptoms I had to go through!
As such, the verdict on these two dishes will clearly be biased :) the sotong kangkung was surprisingly good, with the sotong texture being chewy, not rubbery, and the kangkung blanched to be soft enough yet leaving you with a bit of crunch at the ends. The one and only (tiny) criticism I had was that the sauce consistency was a little watery for my liking. Otherwise, perfect!
As for the Rojak, our panel of reviewers were impressed that there was dried sotong on the rojak as well! *nods and hums of approval* it was a quiet few minutes as we each savored the mixture of mango, cucumber and pineapple with the slightly salty rojak sauce and were transported back to the places we used to have it.
Overall, the food coming out of the kitchen at Gurney Drive has received positive reviews from our judges as well as the general public. Prices are reasonable (will provide more detailed info on that soon) and service is quick and friendly.
Note: If you visit during the lunch and dinner rush, be prepared to wait for up to an hour if you haven't made a reservation!
Till the next post! Yum!
