Reality TV winners put Indonesian food on show at CBD restaurant Makan
Two Melbourne reality TV champs are putting Indonesian cuisine on show — along with a winning rendang and classic nasi goreng, don’t miss the traditional street snack that’s like the poshest Chiko roll you’ll ever eat, writes Dan Stock.
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Makan is a restaurant so polished, professional and completely unique that’s serving such damn delicious food, it’s hard to believe it was born out of reality TV.
Not only that, if you were to guess which of the cooking comps on the telly its owners found fame on, I bet you wouldn’t choose the show judged by the saucy one and the scary one.
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But here are My Kitchen Rules’ 2016 champs, sisters Tasia and Gracia Seger, in the kitchen of their first restaurant that opened in July.
The space is fabulous. A bit tricky to find — look for the laneway entrance off Lt Collins when dining at night.
During the day, you find Makan at the back of the lobby of a posh Collins St office high-rise.
But this is no beige, corporate join-the-dots fit out of a beige, corporate join-the-dots restaurant.
Lit in soft purple neon, the large but demarcated room is a mix of brushed and textured concrete and curved wood slats, glass and black steel and woven canvas partitions, with supremely comfortable banquette seating.
It’s cool, but timeless; warm and chic and a credit to the designers (Zwei Interiors).
With the sisters busy in the kitchen, they’ve cleverly partnered with seasoned operators in the venture — Randy Dhamanhuri and Valerie Fong of cafes Operator 25 and Middletown, as well as Joseph Haddad of Code Black Coffee — and that experience shows through with strong service systems in place (wines offered to taste and poured at the table; prices with verbal specials; good menu knowledge) and means the space runs at a comfortable groove eight months in.
Growing up in Indonesia, India and Australia, the sisters’ mother and grandmother inform much of their cooking and Makan — which means “to eat” in Indo — is their attempt to elevate Indonesian food here above cheap and cheerful uni-student fare.
Mum’s beef rendang, for instance, takes pride of place on the menu. It’s a must.
Brisket cooked until perfectly soft and sunburn pink comes in a deeply rich, dark slick of gravy that, along with coconut cream, has the added heft of toasted desiccated coconut folded through the lemongrass fragrant paste.
It’s terrifically satisfying and, at $26, a big serve that’s generous to a fault.
Another classic – nasi goreng – is executed with equal class, the rice coming with good wok stickiness, the little colourful crackers it’s served with a nice touch ($16.50).
But after that you’ll have to call in the glossary, for the rest of the large menu is strewn with terms I at least was unfamiliar with (I Haven’t Been To Bali Too), highlighting how generally ignorant we are of the food of our northern neighbour compared with other South-East Asian fare.
I learnt that sambal matah, for instance, is a simple Balinese condiment of shallots and bird’s eye chillies that’s hot! hot! hot! usually served alongside chicken or fish but here accompanies a crisp-skinned pork hock. It also comes with a bright, tangy broth (bembu genep) that adds saucy cut through to the pull apart meat covered in cracking crackling ($30). It’s another win.
The fried crepe roll is a popular Indonesian street snack, but is more like the poshest Chicko roll you’ve ever seen, the crisp-crumbed crunchy pastry filled with a chicken and veg mix; a sharp, tangy peanut sauce the perfect accompaniment ($12).
As is the chilli heat in the tomato padang sauce that’s slathered over whole soft shell crabs nestled in fluffy bao ($15 for 2), but perhaps the biggest revelation of the night was that Bintang — the beer that’s adorned a million tank tops — is a great summer beer even in the city, and perfectly suited to putting out the fires here (though, at $11 a bottle, will have every holiday-maker spluttering over their rupiah).
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The small wine list is likewise filled with fare-friendly drops — bright, fragrant whites and juicy reds from all over — but with nothing under $55 a bottle (and heading quickly north), the booze is priced at odds with the food menu that rarely tops $30 a dish and is excellent value.
And while I’ll be back to make a dent on the rest of the carte – the whole grilled fish with tamarind glaze and crisp Ubud duck spied on other tables have my name on them – I’ll pass on revisiting their take on another Indonesian popular street snack, pisang bakar, for no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reconcile the crisp cheddar crisps with candied banana and chocolate ice cream.
Salty cheese and chocolate is something it seems you have to be born to like ($14).
But the rest of Makan? It’s a win for us all.
MAKAN
Score: 14/20
360 Collins St, city (enter via Collins Way off Lt Collins St, after 5pm)
Ph: 9642 3109
Open: Lunch Mon-Sat; dinner Wed-Sat
Go-to dish: Brisket rendang
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