Things have been quiet in Shinobi Valley as our inaugural First Birthday approaches (with the first half of our two-part Birthday Present being released tomorrow). The Shooter is still undergoing rehabilitation after his brush with the CBB virus, and my internal organs are in dire need of detox after one too many rounds of All-You-Can-Eat ribs. Maybe it’s the blunt-axe chill of winter which is impeding our legendary regenerative processes, or maybe age is catching up to us. I emerge from my comatose state seeking old comforts, needing some simple fare to scour my insides of the remnants of a gluttonous soirée.
So I teleport out of the Valley and troop over to Makan At Alice’s, or Alice’s for short, for a nostalgic taste of the homeland I absconded from so many years ago. It’s quiet this time – weekdays crowds tend to swell and ebb at irregular and unpredictable intervals – but I know from experience that the wan-cream walls and streetside vitrines will shudder with clamour and noise come the weekend. The restaurant’s namesake and her self-taught-chef husband have featured on TV for their famous kuih, receive regular newspaper mentions for their homage to old-world Peranakan traditions in dishes like their Char Kway Teow (pictured), and are longtime friends of the Overlord. All of which are good reasons to visit (especially for stalkers enthusiastic fans of the Overlord), in this ninja’s humble opinion.
Some might point out, just quietly, that the arterial excesses of Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine may not be the best tools of detoxification in the toolbox that is Sydney’s restaurant scene. To them I say, what is life but a brief interval between points of non-existence? If the lush coconut milk, sweetly piquant sambal and tender-flaky beef cubes of the Beef Rendang Laksa make you feel revitalised, why not partake of them before your life is snatched away by an errant blade or accidental nuclear missile? I always thought the point of detox was to make you feel good, in any case. There was this one time I had to take out a target while he was on a diet which consisted only of lemons and monkey toenails. I’m sure if he’d been able to see the future, he would have chosen my sort of detox instead. Or just not stood on that very high balcony.
This meal is sweet like Alice’s Ais Kachang, comforting my faux-soul as gula melaka and rose syrup comfort my nerve endings. But it also brings to mind the endangered hawker stores and roadside vendors of a time now lying scuffled in the dirt, and that makes me a sad ninja. I have been reminded all too recently that life is too short for bad karaage, and I would hasten to suggest that it is also too short for lemon detox. If I ever fall on a mission (a highly unlikely event), clean out my arteries and I shall be fine again.
Stay tuned for Part 1 of The Birthday Present tomorrow! With humour! And zombies! Maybe!
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Makan @Alice’s
Location: 262-264 Pennant Hills Rd, Thornleigh NSW 2120
Taste-type: Malaysian
Price: $9-15 for individual meals; all desserts $5.50.
How to get there: Exit on the East entrance of Thornleigh station (Station Rd) and take a right onto Bellevue Rd. Parking is readily available but weekends may require a short wait.
Contact: 02-94840288
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Accidental nuclear missile?
pfft accidental eh? more like you’re aiming the missile at my head.
‘district 9′ tag is finally the same size as the ‘review’ tag….wonderful
Laksa! And zombies! But, especially, I always like the humour.
Can’t wait for the zombies… the prices are pretty good here, though