hawker's cuisine sambal kang kong

I have actually blogged about Hawker’s Cuisine before. But since it was early last year and it was when I was still using my old format, with the claustrophobic 4-picture-in-a-frame photo, I feel like a brand new post is warranted.

I have been to Hawker’s Cuisine a few times since then and I haven’t been disappointed with the food yet. The service, on the other hand, is another matter. When you get a nice waitperson like I had this time, you’ll have the best service. But, when you get a rude one, well, I would just say to myself, I’m here for the food. Such are Chinese restaurants, you have to take the good with the bad.As with typical non-high-end Chinese restaurants, the décor was an afterthought. A few lanterns here, Chinese paintings there, an aquarium, bright orangey-yellow chairs, bright colour wall and presto. It’s definitely not a first date kind of restaurant, it’s more like a 30th date sort of place.

taurus hawker combination hor fun in egg sauce

The last time we went to Taurus, my brother-in-law told me that this was his most favourite place during his uni days for affordable, honest-to-god good Malaysian food. It's not because he's a sentimental bloke that he kept going there every so often even after graduating more than 5 years ago.

I've got to warn you, the restaurant is nothing fancy, it's hawker style after all, so no fancy decor, no fancy table and chairs. Just fast service, delicious food and it can be a bit rowdy during lunch time so get in early or have it for take away.

1. Snacks
3. Combination laksa
4. Combination hor fun in egg sauce

I always get the silky smooth combination hor fun in egg sauce, my sister the mi pok and my brother-in-law the combination laksa. But other than the great food, they also have Malaysian/Indonesian/Singaporean snacks, but you gotta be there early, they sell like hotcakes (I always wonder about this phrase, why hotcakes? Why not gummi bears or chocolate cakes?).


Taurus Hawker Foods
Shop 10, 113 Collins Road
Willetton WA
Open Tuesday-Sunday 11am-9pm

assam fish

This recipe is another keeper from Food Safari (google: SBS food safari). I got a chance to do this one because the cleaner at my work just came back from a fishing trip and she gave me two steak chunks of mackerel from the fish that she caught herself. Thanks Flossy, you're tops!

I kinda butchered this recipe, because I couldn't find a mortar and pestle to grind the rempah to a fine paste. So I used a blender which couldn't make the rempah into a fine paste. Added to that, silly me, I tried to stir the rempah with a chopstick while the blender was still on. Can you believe it? So I had to throw away that chewed up chopstick and start over. In the end, I think I did an OK job. Maybe that'll teach me next time to stick to the instructions to a tee.

hawker's cuisine marmite prawns

My cousin, who is an epicurean even more avid than I, introduced me to Hawker's Cuisine. I didn't understand why he was singing the praises for this place. The restaurant was quite clean, though its location may not be the best. The ground outside the restaurant was this black cobblestone, that gave me the feeling of dinginess. Unfortunately, that is a normal attribute of a China town.

The ambiance, or lack thereof, almost got me fooled. But the food spoke, loud and clear, for itself. We ordered marmite prawns, this fabulous crispy skinned prawns with sweet marmite sauce. Marmite is yeast extract, typically a British staple. It did a great job accentuating the prawns' natural sweetness. The fuzhou tofu, was also another stellar dish, even if its appearance might not be appetising. We also ordered the coffee spare ribs and shaoxing drunken chicken. What I didn't get to taste this time was the sambal kangkung, which I vowed to order next time.

Coffee spare ribs - $14.00
Marmite prawns - $20.80
Shaoxing drunken chicken - $14.00
Fuzhou tofu - $15.80

The great thing about the food was, unlike typical Chinese food, it was not at all oily. But like typical Chinese dining, it is about sharing, I recommend that you go with 3-4 friends, that way you get more variety of dishes. I also ordered the herbal drink to get the full Malaysian Chinese cuisine experience.


Hawker's Cuisine
17/66 Roe St
Northbridge WA
Open 6 days 5pm-1am, closed Mondays