Cnr Market and Castlereagh St Sydney NSW 2000
Creating their own style of dishes
With the release of lots of new eateries on Level 5 of Westfield Sydney it seems to have reignited a feeding frenzy amongst the lunch time crowd. I'm suspecting it's due to everyone wanting to try something new so time will tell if people are willing to pay the higher prices and if it meets their expectations. I'm always drawn to trying Malaysian dishes so I give Sassy's Red a go. My friend orders the Chinta Laksa with chicken and sugar snap peas in a spicy coconut curry soup ($12) which is quite heavy on the coconut cream. It's unusual to see sugar snap pea in a laksa but I guess this is Sassy's way of making it different. I'm all for getting my intake of greens but it's an unexpected combination. There's a lack of soup broth due to the amount of noodles being used making the laksa more sauce-like rather than soup-like. I still prefer Malay-Chinese for my favourite laksa in the city for it's style and depth of flavour.
My Donny's Chicken Rice ($11) comes with fragrant ginger infused rice served with chicken, ginger, shallots and chilli sauce. When I see chicken rice on a Malaysian menu I think of the classic Hainanese Chicken Rice but this version is far from it. It includes sliced cucumber and tomato but that's where it ends. Served in a bowl I think there's an oversupply of rice for the dish making it more like Donny's Rice + Chicken. The chicken is fried but unfortunately is a bit dry inside and doesn't have that freshly cooked to order quality you'd expect of a crispy skin with moist juicy meat. I'm not sure where the ginger and shallots come into play but I'm assuming with the chilli sauce perhaps. I think the description is a bit misleading, especially to any Malaysian visiting a Malaysian eatery. A side soup would have helped to wash down the rice. The side of lettuce was looking a little sad and didn't really add anything to the dish except for the colour green. I would have preferred freshly cut iceberg lettuce to mix with the rice like a Vietnamese salad.
After eating and passing by Sassy's Red I bumped into the passionate owner Simon Goh who seemed like a very likable and down-to-earth guy. He mentioned how they're trying to create their own take on Malaysian dishes to make them more unique. I guess there's some credit to be given in trying to do so but I think there's also a danger that expectations won't be met if the menu is alluding to the classic Malaysian dishes which are highly sort after by many devotees. I hope to find some dishes on the menu that I like which might meet my expectations of how it's described and named.
PROS: Central location amongst many other eateries, Selected seating for customers but limited, Buzzer used for orders, Menu dishes sound tempting to try
CONS: Expensive compared to other Malaysian eateries around town, Seating is limited during peak times, Dishes seem to have been Westernised and not as authentic as hoped
MUST TRY: Other dishes on the menu to compare
Chinta Laksa with chicken and sugar snap peas in a spicy coconut curry soup ($12)
Donny's Chicken Rice: Fragrant ginger infused rice served with chicken, ginger, shallots and chilli sauce ($11)
Lettuce looking a little bit too beaten up
For me it was an excessive amount of rice in the bowl
I spotted the same chicken dish served on a plate due to probably running out of bowls but I think it's a more appropriate dish to serve it on
Buzzer to notify you when your order is ready — pretty good idea
Simon Goh owner
Customer seating and service counter