Kawanku Malaysian and Chinese Restaurant

Kawanku Malaysian and Chinese Restaurant

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Posted 2013-02-06 by Melbournefreelancerfollow
Kawanku Restaurant located in a quiet hideaway spot in Bush Boulevard, Mill Park is my latest discovery. Having had a taste of Malaysian cuisine recently I had strange cravings that send me to Google to see what I could find hereabouts. It was worth the effort. There's nothing grand or tremendously chic about this place, but there has been an effort at creating a vibe that is warm and welcoming.


The first thing you note on entering is the bright yellow paint on the walls, with a warm red reserved for the feature wall behind the counter. The yellow brings images of sunshine, sunflowers, fresh orange juice, eggs sunny-side up, and others that bring about happy feelings inside of you.


There's a water feature that greets you as you enter that evokes a strange urge to reach out and touch it. There appears to have been many attempts to do just that for just as the urge hits you a sign asking you to please refrain from doing precisely that catches your eye. Hmmm… there's no explaining human nature.


There was hardly anyone in when we got there and for that I was grateful. It appeared to be a family run place and the hostess quickly had us seated and menu in hand. It was all brisk and business-like, with just the right amount of warmth. Soon the pot of green tea we'd ordered was brought in with little cups to drink it from. Meanwhile the kitchen sprang to life with the sweet sounds of ladles on woks amid hisses and sizzles that had our expectations soaring. I can't speak for all but for me these sound-effects work better than any appetisers.


The fried noodles with beef and vegetables, mixed noodles, and the special fried rice with chilly beef arrived shortly thereafter. Nice, warm, and served steaming there was an aroma in the air that took me back to a holiday in Singapore. The beef was just tender and went well with the assortment of vegetables. The fried noodles were crispy to the right degree and not drowning in sauce as is wont to happen often with this dish.


The hostess came over a couple of times to make sure everything was alright and we assured her it was all good. And I wasn't just being polite. I quite liked the place. There was a homely feel to it. From the dinnerware to the furniture and the pictures on the wall there was the comfort of an old t-shirt about the place. There was nothing stiff, starched, or pretentious about the service or the restaurant.


We rounded off with large helpings of plain vanilla ice-cream and congratulated ourselves on having found this little Asian gem. Perhaps it was the Chinese/Malaysian melange but the flavours here are quite different from other Asian restaurants. It wasn't what I was looking for when I'd set out to replicate an earlier experience. Nonetheless this was something different that I'd every intention of coming back to. I was happy to note they had box take-away options and a take-away menu. That's right; I plan on being a regular.

#restaurants
#north
#north -east
#mill_park
#malaysian_restaurants
#lunch
#family_attractions
#dinner
#chinese_restaurants
#asian_restaurants
%wnmelbourne
192682 - 2023-06-16 03:45:46

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