Masak Masak — Gastrology

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of MATRADE's Malaysian Kitchen Program.

Masak Masak serves Malaysian hawker food with a twist.

Masak Masak satisfies Melbourne’s unquenchable thirst for South East Asian cuisine in the heart of Collingwood.

The dining room is casual and contemporary with subdued grey walls complemented by comfortable furnishings.

The menu features Malaysian flavours with an Australian twist. Travis Tong is a Malaysian born chef who is clearly passionate about food. This passion translates into the dishes that flow out of the kitchen - each dish was full of flavour and unique.

Chicken skin crisp, jelly fish, kewpie

Having studied at the acclaimed Le Cordon Bleu in Sydney and worked in kitchens such as Assiette, Aperitif, Sailor Thai and Sepia Restaurant and Bar before moving to Melbourne, it is no wonder the food presented by Masak Masak displays great quality and are of a high standard.

Sticky anchovies, peanut, chillies, kicap manis

We began our Masak Masak culinary journey with a couple of items from the “Bites” section of the menu. It was a delicious start; the sticky anchovies were remarkably addictive while the chicken skin was beautifully crunchy.

Satay chicken and beef with condiments

We adored the succulent, aromatic, freshly grilled meat on skewers. We loved how the satay was authentically served with cucumber, onion and delicious ketupat which helped soak up the decadent and perfectly spiced satay sauce.

Prawn wonton soup

The wonton soup was delicious. The wontons were fresh and full of flavour and succulent bite. The clear chicken broth possessed a rich earthiness courtesy of being made from high quality stock.

Beef rendang

The full-bodied, pungent Beef rendang gravy was stunning. The accompanying bowl of fluffy white rice was the perfect canvas for the melt in your mouth morsels of beef.

Grilled stingray, pineapple and coriander salsa

The grilled stingray brought us back to Malaysia’s hawker stalls. The belachan based sambal paste was beautiful. It had the perfect level of heat and had been coated liberally on the perfectly cooked stingray.

Beef ribs (cooked for12 hours) served with sambal oelek

Continuing the trend of the evening, the beef ribs were excellent. The ribs were flavoursome and had benefited from their time on the grill thereby boasting the optimum degree of outer charring.

Our evening concluded on a sweet note with a modern take on cheesecake served with sesame ice cream and a beautiful chocolate dessert from Luxbite which was served with passionfruit ice cream.