Masak Masak

Good lunch deals and easy, quick service. The veggie laksa was pretty amazing actually. I was told the pork belly was really nice as well.
Also enjoyed the ice cold, fresh coconuts — perfect for a warm spring day.

A really special dining experience. We will be back for the best chilli crab claws with fried bread I have ever had. You can’t be shy you need to get your hands dirty to enjoy this one. Try the fresh coconut drink too! Just superb and great value for money. Service is also great.

CONCEPT RESTAURANT, HALF HEARTED.
Let me start by saying Masak Masak does have a potential of being a 4 stars. The interior of the restaurant is really hipster and looks like a nice place to hang for youngsters. The staff are really friendly and very polite.
However…
They only got 10 main courses. But when I ordered salted egg calamari, turned out they running out of calamari 5 minutes later. I don’t understand how other Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese restaurants have 50 main courses and still manage to stock up their food. So yeah it’s unacceptable.
Then I ordered Nasi goreng and other snacks. But all the food is so spicy! NOT ONLY THAT, I feel so sick after eating their chicken, I went home almost throw up and the next day I still feel sick.
I feel like they’re trying to sell their modern Malaya concept but it’s a try hard and fail miserably. They have nice Teh Tarik, interior and cool cups/​plates. But you can’t EAT those.
Also, I don’t think it’s well priced, Mel P. Most of Malaysian place is cheaper and has many more choices. The chicken skin portion (5 bucks) is probably only 25% size of Paparich chicken skin portion which tastes way better.

Finally, after viewing this place with a keen interest a few times while walking along Smith St the past couple of months, I decided to go in and give Masak Masak a taste test. Having been recommended the place by a friend in addition to seeing it always quite busy on the weekend, I figured I’d be in for a delicious and authentic Malaysian treat. Contrary to going in with an optimistic mind and an interest to discover another Malaysian gem on the north side of town, I left with disappointment and regret.
So what was the problem? Well, it started out okay…
~ DÉCOR
This place is a very traditional Collingwood hipster establishment. Looking more like a casual café than a restaurant, Masak Masak embraces the fusion of hipster culture and Malaysian food. Plastic tables, coloured metal stools, and teh Tarik served in tin cups can be expected here.
~ FOOD
We started off with ordering the buffalo wings, the chicken skins, and the wok tossed salted egg calamari main. However, the waitress returned a few minutes later to let us know that the calamari was unavailable tonight. For a restaurant that has a one page menu, with only ten mains on there, you would think they would ensure they have sufficient ingredients for all of the mains. Especially calamari, which is commonly found in many Malaysian dishes. I found this deeply disappointing, so we asked for what the waitress recommended. She «umm“‘d and «ahh“‘d for a bit, failing to give us any recommendation at all, and we went up just going for something else, that ended up being a spicy disappoint!
Both the main and the buffalo wings I ordered were absolutely LOADED with chilli and spices. I am often suspicious of food with excessive quantities of chili, simply because it is often used as a mask for poor quality meat or other food. I’m not sure what the story is at Masak Masak, but the food was almost un-​eatable because it was just too hot. Not much enjoyment from this food. :(
~ MUSIC
Background noise, ambience and music is one of the things that really make or break a good restaurant for me. Sadly, Masak Masak had terrible music in a few senses: it wasn’t Malaysian, it was clearly being played from an employee’s iPod or phone, the volume kept changing between tracks, and the music kept ending and the room would be silent for a few minutes before another song was selected to be played.
~ STAFF
The staff I experienced here for dinner were consistently lovely and helpful. In fact, I think the helpful and kind staff were the only redeeming aspect of my experience. Kind, courteous, and, when my dinner partner left the restaurant leaving their water bottle behind, one of the waitresses ran down the street after us in order to give it back. Lovely!
~ PRICE
The price for the food was about average for the area. A little bit high for Malaysian food. The prices for drinks were definitely overpriced — $ 6 for a fresh coconut? $ 4.50 for a teh Tarik? There’s a lot of pricing competition for Malaysian drinks in Melbourne, and Masak Masak offers a very small range for a very high price, which I also found disappointing.
Overall, with the quantity of other delicious Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne and the competition caused due to this, I think Masak Masak is sadly falling behind. You can find better Malaysian food and drink for cheaper elsewhere in Melbourne, and while my experience here wasn’t terrible, I definitely don’t think I will be back any time soon.

It had been too long between trips to Asia and I had a hankering for an abundant meal of spicy goodness alongside some rice. Masak Masak had been on the list for a while and so I dragged along the family and we ordered the #2 set dinner which the menu advised was good for 3 – 4 people and consisted of:
1 x dish from the «Bites» list (we got the baby anchovy, chili and peanuts)
1 x mixed charcoal grilled satay (3 chicken, 3 beef)
1 x sigh from the «Snacks» list (we went for prawn dumpling. 6 fat and juicy dumplings floating in broth)
2 x dishes from the «Larger Plates» (We went for the stingray and the Hainanese chicken rice)
1 x dish from the «Little Bit More: list (some greens)
For some reason I didn’t think this sounded like much food — maybe because it was only $ 69 for all of this — so I got an order of Nasi Goreng as well.
Wow, what exceptional value! Even without the Nasi Goreng we would have found it to be too much food. The two large plates were gigantic and both very well executed. I loved the chili sauces that came with the Hainanese chicken rice and I would come back especially for this dish, perhaps at lunch time when it’s only $ 10. Bargain.
To finish the meal we were each brought a scoop of passionfruit icecream drizzled with salted caramel sauce and some peanuts. What a brilliant combination — refreshing and just big enough to fill the dessert stomach after such a feast.

I love Masak Masak.
It’s Malaysian served to fit into Collingwood’s cool funky vibe of mix customers.
Asian families, couples on dates, and small group of friends catching up all flock to this little affordable and crowd pleaser joint.
The decoration is street style cool, utensils are hawkers style, and the price is super affordable with extra luxuries like wine list and Lux bite desserts.
We had the satay chicken, stingray, flaming BBQ ribs, prawn wonton and chicken skin. We were full. But the we ambushed the coconut and lime gelato and passion fruit sorbet, and lux bite’s chocolate dessert.
Everything was perfect, there’s the traditional favourites with some unexpected twists (is that jelly fish with my chicken skin bites? Ooh look, salsa with my stingray! Ooh em geeee, the flaming BBQ is literally on fire!!) boom! Flaming!
When he saw me taking photos, he said. «do you want more flames?» «Hells yeah!»
Also. It’s was 30deg when we visited, the street lost power and he continued to cook in what would be 60deg oven kitchen. Still bright in spirit and smiles all around. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought the smoke was part of the street food ambiance.
Smokin, Masak Masak!

High quality and well priced Malaysian cuisine. Got the kon low mee and will be coming back. If you like going to authentic places don’t miss this one.

Deep in the post-​holiday blues after a visit to Malaysia, the man and I headed to Masak Masak for a tasty recap of our trip.
Specifically we had been eyeing off the BBQ stingray on their menu. Not a common dish in Australia and we loved Masak Masak’s take on it. Spicy sambal with a pineapple and coriander salsa made for a bright and interesting meal.
It’s incredibly well priced too. Set menus for dinner offer more than enough food at a price for the table, not per person. On a Good Food Week special we stuffed ourselves on satay, stingray and beef rendang for $ 30. Total. Another round of teh terik please!

Don’t play play, Masak Masak is top of the Malaysian food chain in the Fitzroy/​Collingwood area. Think smoky hot Char Kway Teow, delicious Kon Low Mee, and Satays that will rock your tastebuds. Table service is good, and there are a whole variety of Asian drinks that will help you beat the spicy heat that some of these dishes might provide.
With lunch specials going at $ 10 M-​F, I don’t think there is a reason for you not to visit this cool joint.

I wanted to like this place and there were elements that were «nice» but the food didn’t rock my world. We tried the seafood hot pot (broth was OK but the content was lacking and the seafood was over-​cooked), sting ray (umm was OK but just OK), and the pork belly (all belly no pork). The staff were lovely and enthusiastic.

OK, seriously? Yum! I freaking love this place. They have ridiculously affordable (and filling) lunch specials — I’ve had the chicken curry laksa and beef rendang, and they were both delicious. And for only $ 10! The fit out is pretty cool too, with a sort of urban-​graffiti-​art-​means-​Malaysian-​street-​hawker vibe. Definitely among my «regular» Collingwood lunch spots.

This place is the freaking best. Authentic street food, lots of gluten free options and staff are awesome. I just came here with my girlfriend and it was closed, the chef happened to be on the street and overheard our disappointment so he opened it up just for us! Legend!

Most authentic satay I’ve had in Australia. We ended up ordering 2 serves it was THAT good.
Highlight dish is definitely the beef ribs.
Service was friendly.
Not sure if they plan to get a liquor license, but their teh tarik is a winner.

Smith street finally has an authentic Malaysian restaurant. Owner Travis Tong cooks with passion and you can tell from the flavour. Amazing satays. And don’t miss the chargrilled beef ribs. Menu is expanding leading to a formal opening soon.

Cool fit out! Not a huge lunch menu but priced well! Had an amazingly filling curry luksa for $ 10! Can’t beat that! :)