Recent addition to the collection of Tuggeranong restaurants is Nyonya (Shop 13A Hyperdome - (02) 6293 3733). The restaurant features a modern and simple decor and specializes in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. The owner is very friendly and he even gave us a free dessert (Gula Melacca) and a Roti Canai (yey!) - that's because the restaurant had just opened.
The dishes that we ordered were mainly Malaysian, as the Chinese dishes did not really appeal to us. We started with some Roti Canai and to my delight, they are made on spot. The roti was light and fluffy, served with their lovely home made sambal, dal and sugar. Loved the sambal!
Next up were the noodles, the Seafood Laksa Lemak and Char Kway Teow. My first impression of the laksa was that its portion was quite generous and it was truly seafood! By that i meant that it wasn't consisted of crab sticks and fish balls but of fish fillet slices, prawns (lotsa them) and calamari. The Char Kway Teow was alright but way too spicy for my liking and for that reason, i didn't really like it.
Seafood Laksa Lemak
Char Kway Teow
We also ordered some dishes to go with rice including the No.1 Hot Pot, Assam King Prawns, Hainam Chicken (with rice), Loofah with Garlic and Kangkong Belacan (water spinach stir fried with spicy shrimp paste). We ordered No.1 Hot Pot thinking that it would be something 'cool' but it was just like a combination hot pot (with a bit of everything). The Assam King Prawns tasted good and the sourness was well balanced; it went well with the rice and i just couldn't get enough of it!
I really liked the Hainam Chicken as it was soft, smooth and tender - even the cucumbers tasted nice! This could be nicest Hainam Chicken in Canberra so far, worth trying! Sadly the chicken rice wasn't as good as i expected it to be; i think they might have used some sort of Hainam Chicken rice pre-mix condiment.
Loofah with Garlic was awesome and i loved that subtle sweetness in the loofah. If you prefer something that is full of flavour with a hint of spiciness, try Kangkong Belacan - a Malaysian favorite! *thumbs up for both vegetable dishes!
No.1 Hot Pot
Assam King Prawns
Hainam Chicken
Loofah with Garlic
Kangkong Belacan
For desserts, we ordered the Symphony of home made ice cream which consisted of home made durian ice cream, sweet corn ice cream, banana ice cream and mango ice cream. I am usually not a fan of durian, but the taste in the durian ice cream was alright and bearable. I liked all flavours and the banana ice cream stood out the most because i wasn't expecting it to be that nice and so un-artificial! The sweet corn one was good as well and it even had some corn kernels in it. Gula Melaka (sago pudding) was delicious! I liked how the palm sugar syrup oozed out of the sago pudding blending nicely with the coconut milk around it...definetely worth a try.
Symphony of home made ice cream
Gula Melaka
Overall, the dinner was good with some hits and misses. The service is friendly but still needs a bit of work. For me, the desserts and the Hainam Chicken were definitely the highlights of the dinner.
If you are looking for a friendly and casual place to have a meal with family and friends, Nyonya is the place to go.
8 snowdrop meringues:
Char Kway Teow looks sooo good. If I could cook that I'd never eat out again
Yuki, you've pretty much named and pictures my favourite nonya dishes! I'm with you about durian but sweet corn ice cream is my favourite! :D
I can't wait to try that place!! Thanks for the review
Souds like somewhere I'd love to try. I love the look of the laksa, and want to try that corn icecream.
Hi Yuki, you do try lots of places in Canberra! It's nice to read about them cos we don't eat out that often. Thanks for the balanced review :)
@Hao: you are funny
@Lorraine: really? hehehe
@InTolerant Chef: u should go =)
go go go
@Honey: I try to...but unfortunately i can't try as much as i want to. maybe you should give Nyonya a go! Don't u miss Malaysian food?
after just coming back from holidays in Singapore and Penang, needed my char kway teow hit!
this place is just down the street from where I live and didnt know it existed until recently.
my asian spicy tolerance level is pretty high, this wasnt spicy at all! hehe.
oh and how the prices are so expensive here for food...T_T
I was in Tugga today and I checked them out :). I liked it..service was friendly and personal! The chicken and chicken rice was very good :). Will try their other dishes next time :)
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