Malacca Straits is headed by Chef Tan. His years of experience and culinary understanding come through in his food, in such dishes as angel hair prawn (crispy prawns served beneath a cloud of egg floss, decorated with curry leaves) and the kam heong baby squid (baby squid stir-fried in a delicate combination of bird's eye chillies, curry leaves and dried shrimp).

Malacca Strait’s nasi lemak - a staple among menus at Malaysian eateries - is right at the top of the list of Sydney’s best. The coconut rice is fragrant and mellow, the rendang is rich and absurdly tender, and the sambal is punchy but sweet. The nasi goreng is just as worthwhile, and at $13, the classic fried rice dish is an absolute steal.

If you prefer doing things yourself, you can even bring yout own mud crabs, which the chefs will cook up in Singaporean chilli, dry curry, or kam heong style for an easy $20.