Faheem Fast Food, Enmore, Sydney

Mixed katta kat $12.00
Beef liver and kidney cooked with exotic spices
and traditional Pakistani hot curry

I have a theory...

Offal is the fat kid in school.

All the pretty things - lobster, salmon, scallops, rib eye and rack of lamb - get the instant double-take and the whistle of appreciation. They're the cool kids. Like the tall, blonde and beautiful, they could be wearing a paper bag and still make friends.

Offal has to work a little harder. Squat, spotty and hopelessly uncoordinated, it rarely bothers to rely on its looks. Quietly and patiently, it loiters in casserole pots, mingles with spices, and given enough time, will slowly win you over with personality, heart and sometimes--unexpectedly--a wicked sense of humour.

Oh offal, I believe in you.

I often find myself drawn to tripe on a menu. Not for the sympathy vote--oh no, offal deserves more than that. An order of katta kat at Faheem's Fast Food, a dish of "beef liver and kidney cooked with exotic spices" is my reward this evening. It's a dark and moody dish, cubes of liver and kidney cooked in garlic, ginger, cumin and tumeric with the slow burn of chilli that builds ferociously on the palate.


Okra lamb $12.0
Okra pieces with tender lamb
cooked with onion, tomatoes and medium spices

Faheem has grown since I last ate here. The brightly lit family-style restaurant is now twice the size. Drinks, cutlery and glasses of water are still help-yourself though, and the tandoor oven at the front is always busy cooking enormous skewers of chicken, beef mince and fish and rounds of fluffy naan. The tables are on a constant rotation with families, uni students, theatre-goers and the occasional taxi driver, all getting their fix of Pakistani and Indian food.

The okra lamb isn't as hot as the katta kat. Milder in spice and heat, the lamb falls apart with ease, and the okra is soft and pliable with its trademark stickiness.


Basmati rice with cardamom pod $2.50

We eat our curries with Basmati rice, mopping up the dregs with garlic naan, piping hot from the tandoor.


Garlic naan $2.00


Kashmiri naan $3.00
Naan stuffed with ground almonds and sultanas

The kashimiri naan is always a highlight, generously studded with fat juicy sultanas that mingle with coarsely ground almonds and dessicated coconut. I always consider it my dessert naan, althought the sweetness of the bread often works well with the curries.


Mango lassi $3.50

A plastic cup of mango lassi will extinguish any tastebuds on fire. The yoghurt drinks are the perfect complement to the meal, acting as both palate refreshers, tongue tamers and stomach soothers.

Style or substance? Give me the fat kid, every time.




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Faheem Fast Food
194-196 Enmore Road, Enmore, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9550 4850 or +61 (02) 9550 4803

Opening hours
7 days 11am - midnight dine-in and takeaway

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Faheem Fast Food (Oct05)

Mamak, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney

Usually it's just me.

After a dinner out with friends, as we file out the door, I'll casually say "soooooo... does anyone feel like dessert?"

I'm already thinking of options and looking forward to sweet closure when someone, the self-nominated Voice Of Reason will say "Omigod, you're joking aren't you? I'm sooooooo full. I totally couldn't eat another thing."

To which I will smile and laugh, "Oh of course I was joking! I mean, dessert! After eating all that! As if!"

*cue sinking heart*

The problem with hanging out with food bloggers is there is no Voice. Of. Reason.

"Dessert?" someone will ask.
"Yes! Yes!" comes a reply.
"Second dinner?" another will pipe up.
"Okay!" chimes the response.
"Let's go!" seals the deal.


Teh tarik $3.50
Classic Malaysian sweetened tea, "stretched" for a frothy topping

Which is how Billy, Suze and I end up at Mamak, immediately after our Merivale Winter Feast at Teppanyaki.


Milo tarik $3.50
Malaysia's hot chocolate

We make it into the doors with about five minutes to spare before the 9.30pm closing time. Cold hands are cupped around hot mugs of tarik - Billy has the standard tea teh tarik whilst I have the Milo tarik, heavily influenced by novelty. It's not as intensely malty as I usually make mine at home, and it tastes as though it's made with half milk, half water (just as my Mum used to do) but it's a welcoming warming drink.


Nasi lemak $7.50
with sambal calamari $4.00

Billy is definitely ready for a second dinner, ordering a serve of nasi lemak with sambal calamari. The calamari is a misnomer, as it's actually cuttlefish that is served, a completely different texture and flavour, with a more jelly-like bounce.

An orb of coconut rice is surrounded by little piles of roasted peanuts, cucumber chunks, ikan bilis small fried anchovies, a pat of spicy sambal sauce and half a boiled egg. Billy attacks with gusto.


Roti tisu $9.00
Paper-thin, extra crispy and served tall

Suze and I move straight onto dessert. We both have a bit of an obsession with roti tisu...



...which is why we order a roti tisu for each person, because really, why would you want to share?

Having now seen the light, I must implore you all to say no to ice cream and demand a side of condensed milk. Revel in the joy of drizzling that sweet and sticky milk syrup all over the top of your roti tisu mountain. It will ooze its way down the hillside. And don't waste a drop.


Top hat

Rest your little tub of condensed milk upside down on your mountain peak. Use your fork to bash in the sides. Eat chunks with your fingers. Lick your plate if you please.





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Mamak
15 Goulburn Street, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 1668

Open 7 days (no reservations)
Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm
Dinner: 5.30pm - 9.30pm
Supper: till 2am on Friday and Saturday

BYO $2 per person
10% surcharge on public holidays

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Mamak, Haymarket (Jul09), (Nov07) and (Oct07)

Malaysian -- Kopitiam, Ultimo (Dec08), (Apr07) and (Apr06)
Malaysian -- Makan at Alice's, Thornleigh (Feb08) and (Jun07)
Malaysian -- Malay Chinese, Sydney (26 Apr 07) and (3 Apr 07)
Malaysian -- Mc Lucksa, Haymarket
Malaysian -- The Malaya, Sydney
Malaysian -- Tan's Malaysian, Ultimo
Malaysian -- Temasek, Parramatta (Jan09) and (May08)

Teppanyaki, The Ivy, Sydney - Merivale Winter Feast

The diner looks around, confused. "Oh when you said we were going to Teppanyaki, I was expecting a chef doing tricks at our table".

I overhear this comment from our dining neighbour. We're all seated at the huge wooden communal table which runs the length of this dim and moody Asian-themed eatery in the Ivy complex. I can only smile wryly at the confusion.

Whilst we can see the chefs at work in the open-plan kitchen, we're in no danger of being attacked by flying bowls of fried rice, or raw eggs batted toward us at lightning speed. Instead we sit beneath a row of black tasselled lampshades, in ambient lighting that is a food blogger's nightmare, whilst tended to by chic waitstaff wearing kimono-style dresses.



Tonight we're trying out the Merivale $35 Winter Feast, an offer that includes three courses at Teppanyaki, plus a glass of the nominated white wine, red wine or beer. I'm dining with Billy, Suze and Myriam.


Appetiser: King fish sashimi (2 pieces)
King fish sashimi with shiso leaf and an Asian salsa

We take the advice of our waitress and opt to share our appetisers. The king fish sashimi is served on deep-fried wonton skins, like crispy tacos, that have a satisfying crunch but perhaps overwhelm the delicacy of the king fish and shiso leaf.


Appetiser: Balmain Bug wonton (2 pieces)
Fried - sweet chilli and cucumber sauce

Balmain Bug wontons also seem a little lost in the huge expanse of crispy deep-fried wonton sheet with a tiny pocket of Balmain Bug flesh hidden within. It seems a shame to deep-fry this, and I would probably have preferred this gently poached in a miso soup.


Appetiser: Wagyu penny burger (2 pieces)
Mini wagyu beef burgers with cucumber, tomato and house sauce

Wagyu penny burgers don't fail to please. There's always a child-like appeal with miniature-sized food and we scoff these with glee.


Main: Ocean Trout
Served with crispy skin, pickled cucumber, black fungus and chilli salad
with sesame dressing

Ocean trout doesn't quite have the crispy skin promised on the menu, but the flesh is reasonably moist and flakes quite easily.


Main: Wagyu striploin 100g
Oakleigh Ranch marble score 5+ striploin with
wok-tossed shiitake, buckwheat and soybean

Between the four of us, we can't go past three orders of the wagyu striploin. It's a shame that we find all three portions a tad overcooked, the meat more chewy than melt-in-the-mouth. I do love the log of grated daikon on top the steak, and the shiitake mushrooms have a lovely meatiness to them with a slight smoky flavour. The little nutty grains of buckwheat scattered throughout give an added textural dimension.


Dessert: Black sesame ice cream with seasonal fruits

We're disappointed to discover that dessert no longer includes the sesame pannacotta raved on about by countless others. The black sesame ice cream is our consolation, the ice cream rich and creamy and topped with a black sesame studded wafer biscuit. The selection of accompanying fruits provides virtuous refreshment.


Dessert: Banana tempura with a sake chocolate fondue

Not so virtuous is the banana tempura with a sake chocoolate fondue, but that's probably why we all enjoy this dish so much. We can't detect much of a sake flavour in the chocolate fondue but there's plenty of fun to be had dripping the deep-fried battered banana segments in the pot of runny silky chocolate.

Overall this is a wallet-friendly introduction to Teppanyaki, even though deep down I really am hoping the chef will suddenly throw a few knives, bowls or salt shakers in the air.






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Teppanyaki
Level 2, The Ivy (Merivale Group)
320-330 George St, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9240 3000

Opening hours
Tuesday to Friday open for lunch and dinner
Saturday open for dinner only

$35 Merivale Winter Feast Teppanyaki menu (changes regularly)
Offer valid Tuesday to Friday 12pm-2pm and 6pm-8pm

Bankstown Bites Food Festival 2009: Discovery Food Tours

The Bankstown Bites Festival is always a calendar highlight.



This year the Festival was set-up further down South Terrace, enabling better traffic flow and crowd management. "Fast Ed" Ed Halmagyi was the feature chef this year and stalls sold a range of foods from Korean to Peruvian, and German to Lebanese.


Traditional Korean drumming


Chicken skewers


Churros

My favourite aspect of the festival is, of course, the Discovery Food Tours. Manned by council volunteers, these are organised into different themes, a tasty showcase of the diversity of Bankstown, an area that is home to over 130 different nationalities speaking more than 60 different languages.

Whilst in the past the tours have been free, a nominal fee of $2 was levied this year. This didn't stop huge queues of people lining up to register on the day (half the spots were allocated online, the other half were opened up to registrations an hour before tour departure).

I ended up on three tours:
Purple Tour - Grocery Explorer - India, Philippines and Africa
Orange Tour A - Treats from the Middle East
Pink Tour B - Sweet Treats (Vietnamese).

Purple Tour - Grocery Explorer (India, Philippines and Africa)


Purple Tour Stop #1: Lotus Spices and Video

I've been in this shop several times before, but it's amazing what you spot when you're eagerly documenting your travels with a camera. Catering to customers who are from India, Fiji and the Pacific Islands, there's a huge range of foodstuffs on offer and I was particularly taken with much of the packaging, so different to the bland sameness you see on our grocery shelves.


Breakfast crackers


Parle-G Gluco Biscuits


Talofa tuna flakes that taste like Wahoo - tricky marketing!


Jungle Oats - loved this pack design


Amul Kool in Kesar flavour - a milk drink flavoured with saffron


Lifebuoy soap


Thali divided dinner tray


Talofa soy sauce - I didn't even know that New Zealand made soy sauce!


Fiji's 100% pure ghee


Indian snacks to sample


Gulab jamun, Indian snacks and milk pudding samples


Steamed cassava to sample

For many tour participants, this was their first time trying steamed cassava. There's not much flavour, tasting much like a fibrous sweet potato.


Purple Tour Stop #2: R&R Mini Mart

The cosy little R&R Mini Mart held a huge amount of stock. We sampled squares of the store owner's homemade cassava cake, cooked with sugar and condensed milk and baked to an almost butterscotch sweetness at the edges. "It's my specialty!" she said with obvious pride in her voice. It was so good I bought a tray to take home.


Homemade cassava cake $4.75


Kalamay ube
Contains glutinous rice, coconut milk, sugar and food colouring


Cuchinta

Made with lye water, flour, sugar, water and food colouring, this isn't as sweet as it looks.


Sliced pimientos

I'm always intrigued by Filipino cuisine which has such an intricate mix of Spanish, Latin American, Chinese and American influences.


Young tamarind leaves bottled in jars


Curly Tops milk chocolate cups


Dried agar agar sheets


Brittle Pilinuts $4.70

I was first introduced to pili nuts by Mrs Ed. Pili nuts are native to the Philippines and have a mild taste much like almonds although more crumbly in texture, almost biscuit-like. These are covered in a toffee brittle, and are terribly addictive!


Dilis crispy fried anchovies


Frozen baby milkfish


Champ-O-Rado chocolate rice porridge mix
Just like a chocolate milkshake only mushy?


Coco Jam with jackfruit

I bought a jar of this and whilst it tastes like liquid coconut candy, it doesn't have as strong a jackfruit flavour as I expected.


Barquiron with cashew nuts

A traditional Filippino sweet, these are like little wafer rolls filled with a crumbly mixture of cashew nuts, buttermilk and sugar. They taste a bit like sweetened milk powder.


Saba squid tins


UFC banana sauce - apparently this tastes similar tomato sauce


Antonio Pueu Rollos $4.65

This packet contains 8 tablets of cacao, sugar and skim milk. The entire roll is dissolved in hot water and mixed with evaporated milk or cream to create Spanish hot chocolate, or so the packet promises. I nabbed a roll immediately, and am looking forward to a decadent night featuring Spanish hot chocolate soon.


Purple Tour stop #3: Sierra Food Market

There's no way you would bump into this African grocery store, almost hidden down an arcade on Restwell Street. The shop is small and unassuming with not a great deal of stock, but owner Francis is ultra friendly and there are some unusual items here.


Banku mix - to make fermented cassava and maize dumplings


Hausa koko - millet porridge


Fresh chillies - super hot


Tinned aubergines - I love that these are called garden eggs!


Dried African hot chilli powder from Nigeria


Bitter leaf powder from Sierra Leone $6.00


DVD movie selection


Huge 3kg tins of granulated beef booster


Homemade dishes for sampling


A little bit of everything

We enjoyed a taste of homemade African cuisine, a mixture of curries on rice with steamed cassava and taro. The green stew was made from bitter leaves and tasted like a more complex version of spinach. We also relished the quiet heat of chilli underlying the dishes.


Orange Tour A - Treats from the Middle East

Orange Tour stop #1: Bankstown Lebanese Grocery and Mixed Business

The tour here was the most organised, our lovely host welcoming us with a little speech and taking us on a quick walk-through every aisle with brief explanations on the stock on offer.


Fresh vegetables on display


Borlotti beans


Fresh figs


Rose water


Corn oil - has a very high smoking point which makes it ideal for deep-frying


Goat yoghurt


Kingdom country cheese - on the shelf in jars


Loose olives


Cotton candy in flavours of green apple, strawberry and orange
- loved the cheerful packaging


Lebanese bread chute from the ceiling

The shop makes Lebanese bread upstairs and everyone was impressed with the time-saving chute installed. Whever more Lebanese bread is required, they simply press a buzzer downstairs and voila, replenishment stock is pushed down the chute and directly onto the shelf.


Homemade Lebanese fare for sampling

We feasted on freshly made Lebanese bread with dips of toum, baba ghanoush and hoummos as well as lamb sambouseks, kibbeh and homemade tabouli.


Kibbeh - burghul croquette stuffed with lamb mince and pine nuts


Homemade tabouli


Lamb sambouseks


Orange Tour stop #2: Bankstown Lebanese Halal Butchery

We only had to head next dor for the second stop, a family-run butchery that stocks halal meat.


Our host at the butchery


Kafte (kofte) mince


Butcher at work


Samples of Lebanese sausages and kofte


Orange Tour stop #3: Chehade El Basha & Sons Sweets

Desserts - my favourite!


Kanafeh


Pre-packed gift baskets of pastries


Ladies arms


Mafrouki


Ashta - a clotted cream made from skimming boiled milk

Pink Tour - Sweet Treats


Pink Tour stop #1: Jenkins Cake Shop

Tired yet? Hey, at least you're sitting down!

We commenced our final tour, deliberately scheduled as a sweet one. Last year I did the Lebanese sweets tour. This year I ended up on the new variation which focussed on Vietnamese style sweets and drinks.


Jenkins cake display


Cake samples at Jenkins cake shop


Pink Tour stop #2: Nhu Y Juice Bar


Making our fresh juice blend for sampling


Watermelon and mixed fruits juice

I don't often order fresh juices so I'm surprised by the refreshment of watermelon blended with pineapple, honeydew, rockmelon, carrot and oranges.


Pink Tour stop #3: Cafe Nho

We finish for the day at Cafe Nho which actually translates as "coffee to remember". Still quite new to the area (the cafe opened on February 14 of this year) it is already hugely popular with locals.


Tropical fruit smoothies

We sampled a range of their cold drinks and desserts - I found the jackfruit shake tasted a bit metallic, and the mung bean drink was mild albeit a tad starchy.


Avocado and durian shakes and ice kacang

Already a fan of avocado shakes, the addition of durian added an extra dimension, one that many found a bit too pungent I expect, given the leftovers!


Ruby water chestnuts

Ruby water chestnuts were a surprise addition in the ice kacang. Cubes of water chestnut are coated in coloured tapioca flour and then simmered, giving a slighty chewy exterior that gives way to the crunch of water chestnut.

In amongst the tours we found time to explore the stalls in the festival, the shops in the area, and make a quick visit to my favourite spice shop too.


Kids activity stall - decorating biscuits with ready-made frosting and sweets


Cakes decorated by local youths in the
Bankstown Multicultural Youth Service Cake Off Challenge


Purple sugar cane


Soursop


Mangosteen


Valley View Continental Groceries & Spices


Packed pulses, grains and flours


Instant Bechamel sauce


Loose lemon verbena tea


Dried hibiscus flowers


Spices

It's the spice section I love best. The freshly ground spices are piled into eye-catching pyramids, a sunset of colours that tantalise the eyes, their heady aroma wafting throughout the room.

You'll find fenugreek seeds, falafel spice, sumac, cassia bark, smoked paprika and mastic. Most spices are priced at $16 per kilogram, a huge discount on supermarket prices and probably much fresher too.


Plain curry powder


Ground oregano


Chilli powder

Congratulations - you've made it through 96 photos. And no, this isn't the longest post on Grab Your Fork so far, that would be the 108 photos and 3 videos on the 2009 Good Food & Wine Show!


This year's Bankstown Bites Festival was held on Saturday July 25, 2009.


Business addresses:

Purple Tour - Grocery Explorer
Lotus Spices
8-9 The Appian Way, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9791 6400

R&R Mini Mart
11/137 Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9790 1467

Sierra Food Market
5/12 Restwell Street, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9708 6898

Orange Tour A - Treats for the Middle East
Bankstown Lebanese Grocery and Mixed Business
287 Chapel Road South, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9708 3976

Bankstown Lebanese Halal Butchery
289 Chapel Road South, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9790 1054

Chehade El Basha & Sons Sweets
288 Chapel Road South, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9796 4818

Pink Tour B - Sweet Treats
Jenkins Cake Shop
1/335 Chapel Road South, Bankstown
Tel: +61 (02) 9796 8659

Nhu Y Juice Bar
44a Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown

Cafe Nho
64 Bankstown City Plaza
Tel: +61 (02) 9709 6820

Also check out
Valley View Continental Groceries
Shop 40, The Appian Way, Bankstown
Tel: 61 (02) 9790 0465

Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Bankstown Bites Food Festival 2008
Bankstown Bites Food Festival 2005

Bankstown - El Bahsa Sweets
Greenacre - Sabbagh Patissery
Yagoona - Nhu Quynh (fresh tofu and soy milk)
Yagoona - Rodriguez Brothers (chorizo, jamon and smallgoods)