Found myself in Newmarket during my recent 24-hour stint in Auckland. I decided to see if there were any good places for cheap eats and this is the only one that showed up in the area. I also found out that they serve a good laksa so I really could not justify not trying it out. The place is pretty basic and has an openish kitchen and besides offering free water they also offer free tea.
Pandan Chicken
This dish came with three whole chicken wings and wrapped with pandan leaves and what looked like homemade sweet chilli sauce. The wings were lightly deep-fried and nicely cooked with good seasoning on the wings. The sweet chilli sauce was really nice and went really well with the wings.
Curry Laksa
I went with chicken laksa and was surprised to see how big the bowl was in which the laksa came in. The laksa was really good with this version made with chilli paste. It was more on the sweeter side and it did not seem like it had much coconut milk in the laksa. What surprised me was the laksa was thickened with what seemed like corn flour. The shredded chicken was nice but seemed liked it was not heated beforehand and was still cold to eat. There was also dried shallots, bean sprouts, tofu and half a boiled egg. There were only egg noodles in the laksa, which I like and the noodles were a lot more dense and thin compared to the egg noodles we get in Wellington. Even though it may seem I am being picky. This was a really good curry laksa.
To conclude, I did find the ordering process weird. As someone comes to the table to order your food, you then you need to walk up to the counter to pay for your food before they cook it. They could just make it easier on themselves and just get people to order and pay at the counter. That aside, I can see why this place is popular it is cheap, food seems to come out fast and it is good. I will definitely try and go back when I need to find some food in Newmarket.
Trencherman's Travels 