There’s a new restaurant in Newport, that is making a lot of locals happy. Fragrant aromas of Malaysian herbs and spices float up and down the road as you approach Berempah Malaysian Fusion restaurant. They are the smells that provoke happy memories of honeymoons and holidays in not too distant lands.
Upon entering Berembah, you are very warmly welcomed by the friendly waitstaff, and instantly notice that everyone within the restaurant seems joyful. That is because you are well taken care of, from the moment you walk in the service and food is heart warming.
We started our meal with pulled pork buns, which were delightful. The light texture and slight sweetness of the bun, combined with the crunchy, fresh authentic Malaysian herbs, and sauce was scrumptious. My only criticism would be that I would like some more bight to the pork, as it got a little sloppy (for want of a better word) with the sauce.
The second dish I ordered was the “pecking” duck wrap. Unfortunately I foolishly forgot to declare my peanut allergy at the beginning of the meal. But I did think to ask about what ingredients were in this dish, and I was very impressed by our lovely waitress’ knowledge that there were peanuts in it-allbeit disappointed, because Mark tells me that they tasted every bit as good as they looked.
My favourite dish of the evening, which surprisingly was Mark’s too, was the Sambal Kankung. Crispy green water spinach stir-fried in sambal sauce was next level delicious. Our waitress giggled when I told her that I could eat that dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner….and she told us that it is her favourite dish on the menu.
We finished off our meal with a ling fish curry. Do yourself a favour, and don’t pay more for the salmon, the ling fish is delicious, and the perfect texture for this dish. This curry was the perfect level of spice for me. I often can’t handle a lot of chilli in other cuisines, but this Malaysian curry was well balanced with coconut milk. It was a beautiful, multi-dimensional dish with tomatoes, parsnip and the perfect amount of sauce to dribble all over my rice, and scoop up with the best roti I’ve had in years….it was so delicious that we ordered a second round of roti.
No doubt our first visit to Berempah restaurant was more enjoyable because it was the first date night we’ve had in ages, and we weren’t trying to get active little people to sit quietly and eat all their veggies, but I’m really looking forward to going there with the kids. There is a whole vegetarian section of the menu to try (which can be made vegan on request), and the restaurant opens at 5pm, which makes it a perfect family dinner outing.
Northern beaches folk, and visitors, put Berempah on your must try list, and let me know what you think of it. And if you were wondering, it is BYO, and sells wine.