(This venue is closed.) Turmeric balances the kaffir lime, the Penang-born chef-owner told us, but her ayam rendang isn't spiced with coriander or the like as an Indonesian rendang might be. "Just" galangal, lemongrass, ginger, onion, and garlic season her Malaysian rendition of this classic chicken dish. Oh, and roasted coconut, too, to add a further dimension to the coconut milk.
Also shown, a handful of dishes (some of them comped) from multiple meals: murtabak ($6.95), a griddled flatbread filled with minced beef and egg, served with onion pickle; pasembur ($7.95), a shredded vegetable salad featuring assorted fritters and a hardboiled egg, dressed with a sweet potato gravy; mee rebus (reh-Boos, $7.95), which deposits a similar thick gravy, and garnishes including the inevitable hardboiled egg, atop egg noodles; assam pedas (peh-Dass, $18.95), a sour-spicy curry flavored with tamarind, kaffir lime, chilli, laksa leaf, and belacan; bubur pulit hitam ($3.95), black glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and palm sugar. The just-softened texture of the rice was especially appealing.
This halal restaurant, named for Malaysians of South Indian descent, also serves a number of exotic-sounding weekend specials, the likes of which I've never seen in New York (and which I have yet to try). Reportedly, however, the weekend bestseller is the classic nasi lemak that first brought the chef to notice at her delivery and catering business, Mami PG's Cooking.
Mamak House
35-20 Farrington St. (Northern Blvd.-35th Ave.), Flushing, Queens
718-886-4818
www.1.MamakHouse.com
