Updated: 4th July 2012; This restaurant had closed according to Urbanspoon.com.
There is a new kid in town and it is called Mamak Cafe. I am sure many of you foodies have heard about them already and some of you have even tried it already. But for those of you who have not try Mamak Cafe’s food yet, here is a great opportunity to taste it.
How does this sound?
- Private dining room (oh yeah, we have the entire private room just for ourselves!)
- You get to try Roti, Satays, Bak-Kut-Teh, Curry Chicken, Beef Rendang, Prawn Sambal, Mee Goreng, Acar, Coconut Rice.
- For drink you get a choice of draft beer, teh tarik or refillable pop.
- $12; only for chowtimes readers … and that includes HST!
The Mamak Malaysian Cafe is located in Gastown. I have never been there but I heard that it is located inside a bar.
The people behind Mamak Cafe is Charles. Charles was behind the popular Jonker Street in Yaletown which is now closed.
I hope some of you can make it a point to attend this event and I know there are a lot of Malaysian food fans out there judging from the responses we had on the Penang Delight Restaurant. Besides enjoying the food, come also for the learning on Malaysian cuisine.
Here are the details of the event …
Date: January 15th, 2010
Time: 12:00 noon
Location: Mamak Malaysian Cafe (inside Pub 340)
Address: 340 Cambie Street (near intersection with Cordova)
Cost: $12 (inclusive HST, tips extra)
Menu:
Because Charles wanted you to try as many dishes as possible, the dishes below cannot be the full servings as you won’t be able to finish them! The menu will include:
- Drinks: Choice of one draft beer, one teh tarik or refillable pop
- Roti canai with curry gravy
- Beef satay and chicken satay with peanut sauce
- Bak-kut-teh
- Main dish with:
- Curry chicken
- Beef rendang
- Prawn sambal
- Mee goreng
- Acar
- Coconut rice
I want to mention right off the bat that Suanne and I have no affiliation to Mamak Cafe. We are NOT paid for doing this and we are doing this with chowtimes readers in mind. I also want to say that I had never been to Mamak Cafe (nor Jonker Street) before. It is just that a friend of Charles knows Whitney who told them she knows Suanne and I and so connected us. Instead of us being invited for a personal tasting (which we normally don’t do these days), I floated the idea of Charles hosting a tasting for chowtimes readers. He liked the idea as it is a win-win-win plan.
Since I have never try Mamak Cafe’s food before, I can point you to the discussions of Mamak Cafe on chowhound entitled “Any Intel on Mamak Cafe?” here. For more information, you may check out Mamak Cafe’s website here. Joe had also written a piece on VancouverSlop here too.
Update 06-Jan-2011: I am afraid Charles will have to cap the number of people to 50. We currently have 42 people signed up up this this point.
If you are interested or if you have any questions, please send us an email at suanne@chowtimes.com. We will gather the responses and be in touch with you via email.
I want to go! Wish I was in Vancouver more often.
Mmmm. Malaysian food. Yes. One of my favourites. Also a great chance to compare to the others we have had in town.
Whooheee, yes, Ben & Suanne. I love Malaysian food. The menu looks great and price is amazing.
I’m eager for this Chowtimes lunch.
Happy New Year,
Doris J
I plan to be there just for the beef rendang (and rice) …… outta the way people, I’m coming through !!!!!
Hi Ben,
Please count me and Marion in.
Thanks.
Oliver.
We have a bit of a problem. We have 42 names at this point. I will need to discuss with Charles what more we need to do to deal with this situation. My key concern is the quality of the food first, others are secondary! Ben
Wow! Lots of interest for Malaysian food, isn’t there? I agree food quality is first. It would be unfair to judge when there are not equipped to deal with so many foodies. We can be quite harsh.
Hi, Ben:
Guess I’m not surprised it’s a “Me, too” response. I think to most of us, Chowtimes means good times – good food, good company, good environment. I tried out the Yonker Street Malaysian Restaurant a few years back and thought their food was exceptional good, service was attentive and friendly.
Thanks for organizing, Ben & Suanne. I know how much work goes behind this as I start to take some pictures here and there and post it on my FB page. What wonderful community you are building here.
Gān Bēi/Yum Sing!
Good to see there is such a positive response. Im sure it will be a success. Can you let us know if it’s possible to accept further invites?
Hi Eric: We have 42 right now and Charles has told me he wants the number capped at 50. So, yeah, if you could just send an email to Suanne, we will take care of that. Ben
Err ….. you know. Beer doesn’t really go with Roti Canai or Bak Kut Teh ? Try having lassi with roti canai and chinese tea with bak kut teh.
It will bring out the satisfaction in the food. 🙂
Just submit 3 names to suanne this afternoon, hope we can be counted in.
omg i was away for the holiday and stopped obsessively following the vancouver foodblog circuit for a change……am i going to miss this? noooooooooo pls count me in if the cap is not alrd capped
Hi Alice: The response was overwhelming. We have requests for 70 seats but Chef Charles said he can’t do anymore than 50. Sorry about it. Ben
Thanks anyway! I tried to go there on the weekend but not open on weekends, note to self: research thoroughly or get a smartphone like every other human being lol, but that saved me from busting my gut cos i wandered into meat & bread beforehand. i guess i’ll just have to wait for the chowtimes effect after party, now i get to know what’s good before i go 😀
For those of you interested in daily coupon deals:
“$10 for $20 worth of Malaysian Food at Mamak Cafe in Gastown” on indulgeliving.com
Hi Marike: I went to the site but I can’t find the coupon deal. Where is that now? Ben
Hi Ben,
Indulge living made a mistake on their release date. The coupon deal will be active on the 27th of this month.:)
Ben Thanks for organizing a great lunch.Charles deserves our support in his new venture.I love the “ambiance”
Hi Pinoy Gourmet: Thanks a lot for donating the lucky draw prizes. We had a great time and yeah, Charles is so likable that people want to root for him. Ben
Hi Pinoy Gourmet,
So you know someone named Rose, or related in blood? My wife keeps saying she thinks she knows you? 🙂
Hey Ben and Suanne!
It was really nice to finally meet both of you today! Thanks so much for forcing me to try the Teh Tarik, it was delicious! Marv ‘n I found the meal to be very well prepared and authentic. Thanks and best wishes to Charles and Julie! 🙂
Hi Lemondroplet: Yeah, it was great meeting you too. Oh … I am sorry for “forcing” you to the Teh Tarik! I thought you were too shy to ask for another glass and I wanted you to try it. Hope to meet up again some time again. 🙂 Ben
Haha you’re right, I was definitely too shy to do so and am very glad you insisted on it 🙂 It was kinda intimidating in such a big group setting, could you tell I was a bit flustered while talking to you? lol! My shyness has a way of taking over all the time haha 🙂
Oh no, not at all. It was great chatting with you and Marv. Wish I had more time. Let’s meet up some other time again and go hunt for good food, shall we? Ben
I wish I could have joined you all! I will be at Mamak later this week to make for it.
Hi fmed: There were two tables who asked me “where were the chowhounds?” and they meant you and the vanchow folks. There are a lot of foodies in attendance who knows venerable names like fmed, grayelf, LotusRapper, JS/TS, CrispyLechon and others — too bad they did not get to see you all in person. 🙂 Ben
Hi Ben, thanks for including me in your venerable names of foodies but I don’t think I’m up to the level of those foodies you mentioned. I’d really wanted to join you but unfortunately it fell on a Saturday and I’m not free on Saturdays. Well maybe next time. Looking forward to the next 8GTCC dinner.
Saturdays are tough for me these days as I spend all day chauffeuring my kids between extracurricular activities. I plan to Mamak very soon though. Looking forward to your report.
Hi Eric,My wife s name is Rose May.If that is her,Well We are obviously related
fmed Mamak has the potential of becoming another Bo s Laksa,The ambiance of being located inside a DTES pub makes for a “unique ambiance”
Pinoy Gourment: Thanks for the compliments! We hope you had a good time at the tasting event. 🙂
Hi All:
Mo had posted her review of the Mamak Cafe event. That was quick!! Check it out here: http://ecogreenbean.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/vancouver-eats-memak-malaysian-cafe/
Ben
Thanks for organizing the event Ben with Mamak Cafe. It was my first time attending such an event, and I must say it’s not easy pulling such an event off for a large group of folks. You are a very good host (including Charles and wife)!
I sat at mo’s table, and her blog pretty much reflected my thoughts as well. I am hoping we were just the unlucky table, as I felt the final execution of food suffered somewhat with all the 50 so hungry mouths to feed. The chicken really should have not left the kitchen at all, and this was a faux pas error that was hard to overlook for my afternoon.
Thanks again for this foodie event. I would love to attend similar ones in future.
Aargh! I failed to connect this Eric the commenter with the Eric who came to the Mamak Cafe event yesterday. Next time we have an event like this, I need people to tell me “I am Eric the commenter” or “Mo of ecogreenbean.com” … something like that. LOL! Ben
Lol. Yes, Ben. Eric is a very common name, unfortunately. At least you can put a name to face (vaguely), now 😉
What is the phone # of Mamak Cafe ??
Hi Vincent The phone number to Mamak Cafe is 778-708-9249
Many thanks to all involved in the Tasting at Mamuk Cafe. Such a well-organized, scrumptious event! Though I came alone, I felt very welcomed and enjoyed the company of my tablemates, the Mamuk Cafe owners and servers, and hosts Ben and Suanne, along with the very tasty dishes, some of which were quite new to me.
Hi Moira: Glad you could make it out to the event yesterday. 🙂 Ben