As we pass between World Vegan Month (November 2020) and Veganuary (January 2021), I will not be returning to relentless carnivorism for the month of December, but I will be satisfying a few cravings that I have been feeling over the last couple of months.
Put the word hawker in the name of your eatery or make any suggestion of street food and I am there. It is not really a long time part of our Canadian food culture but I really wish that it was, food trucks and the night market (closed due to the pandemic obviously) notwithstanding. Anyway, have a good read of the story of Potluck Hawker Eatery on their website and you will be hooked as I was. This is a place to check out immediately!
They call their cuisine Pan-Asian. So we started with Malaysia and Roti Canai. This was a small order (just needed a taste) and it was very flaky and tender. The curry dip really packed a nice wallop. We were off to an excellent start!
I am a great sucker for Laksa when it is on any menu but PHE offered the option of Mami Chicken Noodle Soup from the Philippines so we tried that. Mharie was impressed and told me that it very much represented what you might expect in her homeland. It was full of excellent egg noodles that must have had a good hit of turmeric in their structure to give them a deep yellow colour. The chicken was deep fried and cut up into manageable pieces. The ultimate in comforting is what you get when you combine the deep-fried meat with the rich broth. There were garlic chips and so many other smaller contributors to a wonderful dish.
We didn't do a good enough job combining the components of the Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Nasi Lemak as we should have but tended to eat things separately. The novel serving tray with sections sort of moved us to do that but you should eat this combining a taste of this with that or with rice to really appreciate the whole. That being said, we loved some of this and were a bit meh about other parts. The chicken again was excellent! The smallish convenient pieces were crispy and tender and I assume have been brined. The coconut rice was also coconutty and good. The salted egg yolk was not a salt-cured egg yolk ( and left me craving salted egg yolk) as we expected but a hard-boiled egg yolk served on top of an admittedly amazing house-made shallot sambal which was slightly spicy, shrimpy, sweet and rich! We would have liked a little more anchovy with our peanuts (luck of the scoop?).
Finally and the most amazing thing that we have eaten in a while; Krabby Patty Sando (Chili Crab Dip). If you can, picture me making the Mark Wiens "Wow" face! This is a limited time special "while supplies last" sandwich that is being served from Wednesday to Sunday and comes with a chili tomato egg swirl gravy for dipping. We ordered Malaysian Shaker Fries on the side which had a sugary spicy topping and very cool deep-fried curry leaves. It made even the fries something special.
But back to the amazing sandwich which was made with a quarter-pound of crab and not much else! I am not sure what holds this thing together as there was no evidence of anything but...crab! Deep-fried and served on a buttery "squishy" bun, we waffled between using the perfect dip and just luxuriating in the taste of crab. This was one of those food-related experiences in life that will stay with us for a long time!
Potluck Hawker Eatery is comfortable enough and does a good job with social distancing. It is chicly colourful with displays of the aforementioned Pan Asian products. Get yourself a Krabby Patty Sando while you can!
Food 4 1/2 out of 5 Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 4 out of 5
Value 4 out of 5
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