449 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
Phone (03) 9329 6401
Malaysian Chicken Laksa ($8.50) comes with sliced fresh chicken meat, bean curd puffs and vegetables
If there’s one noodle dish that gives my palate a boner as much as ramen, it’s laksa. I would wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night craving the stuff, but alas, a really good laksa in the CBD is as elusive as decorum at a B&S ball. We would often have to venture out to the mighty Laksa King for our fix, but that might have all changed now that we’ve discovered Coconut House, near the Vic Markets. The first thing we noticed when we first passed this place was that they offered kaya toast, one of our favourite things to have for brekkie. Alas, they have taken this off the menu, but we’ve passed this place many times since and it’s always packed to the rafters, with queues snaking out the door. I also noticed that they used orange plates that reminded me so much of *sniffle* Singaporean hawker centres.
We decided to try it last Sunday when, after a night on the turps, my liver demanded a spicy flavour hit to get it working again. The House is set up like a small cafe, where you order and pay at the counter, fetch your own cutlery and water, then try to find a seat where you can. We had to sit outside as there were no spare seats inside, but my fuzzy head was thankful for the fresh air. The menu was seemingly divided into their specialties, including several versions of laksa, nasi lemak and chicken rice, with several other hawker classics thrown in for good measure. Prices were reasonable, as befitting a popular student haunt.
Hainanese Chicken Rice ($7.30)
Mellie’s chicken rice was curiously served on separate plates, rather than everything piled on at once. Curiouser still was the yellowness of the rice. But, it tasted great and had good flavours. The boneless chicken pieces were nicely tender and moist, but the chilli sauce lacked oomph and was not accompanied by the other two sauces that make up the requisite trio of condiments. The soup was not a classic chicken consomme but a double-boiled pork rib and peanut soup. It was tasty and Mellie marvelled at the size of the peanuts, but it was perhaps a little too rich for chicken rice and therefore did not complement it too well. Our iced teh tarik ($2.50) was a better fit IMO. All up, a decent chicken rice but we’ve had better elsewhere.
The laksa was very good indeed, arriving as a bowl filled with a fiery broth that looks like it’s suffered an oil slick from a coconut tanker. The first sip revealed a real depth of flavour, not too spicy but with enough lemakness to rival a pina colada. Swimming in the broth were tender chicken pieces, egg, bean curd puffs, (very tasty) fish cakes, beans, and a noodle combo of egg and vermicelli. Sadly, no laksa leaves, but plenty of curry leaves floating around. The broth was a tad oily, but overall this was a damn good laksa! Not as good as Da King, mind you, but definitely one of the best in the city. It’s highly recommended as culinary Viagra that also doubles as a hangover cure. We look forward to going back and trying out their nasi lemak and beef rendang!
New blog post: Coconut House http://bit.ly/152ud5
I’ve visited Coconut House as well! Their chicken rice always finds it’s way into my mind and I highly recommend this place if you’re up for a some nice chicken rice in the Melb city. It’s one of the better ones I’ve tasted around the city.
I agree that the laksa is pretty good and so is the ban mian. And you wont regret the nasi lemak as well. This is my review on this place – Coconut house
oooh, whenever i had cravings for chicken rice, i come here. i love it and the teh terik is good too.My review on this place is coming up soon, will let you know when it’s done.
Penny, which type of nasi lemak did you have? There were like 4 types there.
reckon Chatterbox in CBD has pretty darn good laksa.
Daniel, agreed about Chatterbox, the laksa is very good though it’s a little too “curry” for my delicate stomach. I haven’t been in a while so might go back and try it again. Cheers
[...] home. Come here for the chicken rice because it’s really fantastic. Do check out the other reviews as [...]
Yum their cold noodle is also the best!! i love korean, miss it!!
~emmelyn~
Regarding the curiousness of the chicken rice, this is actually how it is served back in Malaysia. If nothing else, this is the closest to chicken rice from Malaysia that I can find so far in Melbourne =)
hmm… good laksa eh? mighthave to give them a second chance!
the BBQ chicken was ok…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/3313929374/
but i definitely prefer the Garlic Roast Chicken of Rose Garden a few shops away. Now *that* really reminds me of the ??? Roast Chicken Rice from KL!
maybe i should try the Hainanese chicken rice instead
Haha.. Coconut isn’t that great actually. But then, cant really get Malaysian food as good as this (*maybe) in Melbourne already.
http://foodiesnplaces.blogspot.com
Actually we’ve since been back and had a rather blergh meal, and to be honest, I don’t think we’ll be going back.
Could have been sooo good if they had some good food hygiene practices going!
What are the opening hours? I can’t seem to find any info on that. And when I tried calling, there was no answer
i believe they were closed for renovations over Summer, but they should be open again.
can’t see any business hours in the shopfront:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/3313926806/
they just opened. got more good food, malaysian wonton noodles, pork noodles…is very nice…teh c peng 5 layers
I haven’t tried the Laksa there, but love love love the roast chicken rice!
To scratch my laksa itch I either go to Laksa King or to Old Town Kopitiam on Lt Bourke st. I love the Old Town Kopitiam one for its Nyonya-influences sour-ish taste!!! *drool*