While my favourite cuisines are a toss up between Japanese, Hong Kong or Taiwanese, my mum has always been a fan of Malaysian food, which means that we eat it really frequently when we go out and I have formed a sort of familiar affection to the food. Receiving an invite to the newly opened Pappa Rich and Pafu collaboration at Coorparoo Square then made for a perfect opportunity for Adam and I to indulge in some delectable Malaysian delights.
Heading in early, we were greeted by a warm and friendly manager, seated at a cozy corner spot with ample lighting for Adam to take his photos. The shop was far smaller than I had envisaged, roughly half the size of wintergarden or garden city. Other patrons were largely Malaysian, so I could tell that I was in for an authentic treat.
Menus were provided with the paper ordering form to avoid discrepancies and ambiguity while allowing for flexibility of added comments. Like other reviewers had mentioned, the menu here is also a condensed version of the other two stores, a few favourites we had tried previously weren't on the menu, but essentials were definitely present.
Drinks arrived first, he had the kopi cham milo, a perfect mix between strong Malaysian iced coffee but with the added chocolatey goodness of milo to keep it all fun. He said it reminded him of his childhood. I had the iced lemon tea with reduced sugar. It was crisp and refreshing, I loved it.
Food arrived gradually, and before long our table was filled. I was really glad we had two tables instead of one.
Starting off with snacks, we had Pappa's Crispy Fried Chicken Skin, served with sweet chilli sauce. The portion was abundantly generous, with quite a few pieces. The chicken skin was crispy and crunchy, erring on the firmer side.
We had thought that quails were only served in their Victorian branches, but it turns out that Coorparoo also does Pappa's signature quail. Topped with sweet aromatic soy and chilli sauce, it was flavoursome and the texture was spot on. For over $10 for two halves though, it was a little expensive.
If anything, Adam is a huge fan of Roti, being a regular at Roti Place, so he wanted to try the Roti Canai with Beef Rendang here. We were skeptical about the portion size to begin with, given only one piece of roti, but considerable portions of curry sauce and rendang beef. Turns out that the roti was really dense and heavy compared to others we had tasted before, so one piece was definitely enough to make for a main size portion. Beef was tender and flavoursome and we enjoyed the different curry sauces.
Never one to go far without a sweet, Adam also had the butter and Kaya toast. Crisp and fluffy, the toast was delectable, whilst the coconut jam was fruity and sweet. Butter provided for a good means to keep it all glued together too.
Opting for my favourite at Malaysian restaurants, I had Pappa Wat Tan Hor. Stir fried rice noodles with chicken, prawn, fishcake and veggies topped with rich creamy egg sauce, it was a very homey dish. I liked how caramelised the noodles were with the burnt bottom. Toppings were generous and the egg sauce was also well textured, making for a great main.
Not one to miss out on Pafu, especially after having seen it in Melbourne, we had two to try, a strawberry and an apple. The apple one was amazing; it was as if a croissant and an apple pie had a baby, resulting in a flaky pastry with creamy custard and chunky apple filling. If this were in the city, I'd have it every day after work. Comparatively, the strawberry was less rich but sharper and fruitier with strawberry jam mixed with the custard, also enjoyable, but not as much as the apple.
Of course, where would Adam be without dessert. He ordered the Caramel Pudding with Sago. Seeing the term sago, I immediately assumed the white milky liquid would be coconut milk, I was in fact wrong, and it was evaporated milk, giving a rich almost savoury taste to the sweet soft caramel pudding. Light and refreshing, this is a dessert I wouldn't mind ordering myself next time.
Espresso and Matcha got to enjoy this complimentary meal by freeloading off FoodieAdam's invite. But as always, my opinions are solely my own.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 8/10
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