Malaysian Stews Come To The FiDi At The Mamak Cart

When Midtown Lunch contributor Brian clued me into a new cart serving Malaysian food in the financial District late last week, it just happened to be when I was heading out the door for lunch and I changed my plan of what to eat that day.

Mamak showed up at Hanover Square between Pearl and Water streets at the top of last week, with plans to be there daily. Their specialty is rendang stew, of which you may have eaten the beef version at some point in your life. There are three kinds on offer at this cart, but you’re going to break the $10 barrier for the privilege of trying them.


mamak menu

The short rib beef bowl is $13 – steep for a cart or anywhere really. I got the chicken stew which was comparatively cheaper at $11 and contains free-range poultry, coconut infused padamus jasmine rice, a hard boiled egg, pineapple achat, cucumber, papadum and sambal chili. There’s also a vegan and gluten free vegetable curry that contains a lot of “green stuff.”

Other options are roti with curry dipping sauce, a warm salad called pasembur, pineapple achat, barley lentil soup, along with a couple of desserts.

At first I was dismayed at the amount of food I got for $11, but it turned out to be more filling than I’d thought thanks to an equal amount of chicken and rice, with some of that sweet and sour achat to break up the monotony of coconutty meat and carbs. There was a fair amount of heat in the chicken curry but nothing too crazy.

I liked the subtle coconut flavor of the rice, but my only complaint was it was a bit dry and clumpy in spots, and not in the good way that sticky rice is clumpy. I could have used a bit more sauce from the chicken to help out the rice, but it’s a minor quibble.

In the end, I found this a satisfying lunch that left me full until dinner time (not sure the veggie curry would do that), but I’m pretty sure I won’t be paying $11 for it again. If this cart sticks around, I’ll be back for some of the lower priced items.

Mamak, Hanover Square between Pearl & Water streets, on Twitter 

ADVERTISEMENT

1 Comment

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    The prices have been lowered. The beef short rib bowl is $11, and boy is it delicious. :)
    (The chicken or veg bowls are $10. The burger is $6, and is on my list to try next time.)

Leave a Reply

You must log in or register to post a comment.