Baba House (closed) : Hainanese chicken rice and more
My parents used to work a lot – they would regularly work 12+ hour days. The exception to these long days was Sunday, when the shop didn’t open until 3-4pm (depending on how my dad felt). On Sundays we usually went out as a family for lunch.
It was during these Sunday lunches that my Bro and I were introduced to Hainanese chicken rice – white chicken served with rice that has been cooked in chicken stock. We always had it from a stall at Wakefield Market foodcourt (in Wellington). The rice from this small stall was heavily impregnated with the flavour of chicken – it was very oily and fatty. Eaten with the silky cold chicken, it was a real treat, but fortunately for our arteries we only ate it occasionally!
This version from Baba House ($8.50) was not as oily or fatty as the dish I remember from Wakefield Market but still tasty. The only downside was the MSG thirst that persisted for several hours!
Baba House is our “outside kitchen” – that is, when I can’t be bothered cooking, Alastair heads there to pick up dinner.
I’m always on the look out for a good char/fried kway teow as it’s on my (rather long) list of favourite things to eat. Baba House do an acceptable version ($9.20) with well seasoned wok fried flat rice noodles, prawns, fish cake, dried mussels, calamari, egg, crunchy bean sprouts and a hint of chilli. Personally, I like more chilli and would love that hint of chilli to be upped, but that’s a personal preference.
I should also say that the last time I had this from Baba House it gave me an MSG thirst like the chicken rice did. It seems that only recently there has been an excess MSG problem. I’ll have to remember to ask for no MSG for future visits.
(By the way: If you know of a place that does an outstanding char kway teow, please let me know!)
I have saved my favourite Baba House dish (and unfortunately, the worst photo) for last. Although it looks a bit like poop in a bowl in my photo, I can assure you that the Nasi Lemak ($9.20) is good! There’s so much to love about nasi lemak. Coconut rice. Tick. Dried anchovies. Tick. Sweet/sour crunchy pickles. Tick. Spicy, tender beef rendang (there’s also chicken or lamb if you prefer). Tick. Crunchy peanuts. Tick. Hard boiled eggs. Tick. Fortunately, there was no MSG thirst when I ate this one. :p
Alastair has the laksa 90% of the time ($9.20). The soup is fragrant, spicy and creamy and it’s chocka with noodles, chicken, fishcake, beans, eggplant and fried tofu. He loves his laksa and says that it’s better than Laksa King.
Baba House – so much food to love. What a great outside kitchen to have!
Baba House
34 Errol St, North Melbourne
Phone: 9329 1762
claire
October 15, 2007 @ 11:41 am
Great review! That nasi lemak photo is making my mouth water… I’ve blogged about the nasi lemak at Norsiah’s Kitchen, Chilli Padi and Riks Maha, looks like I’ll need to make Baba House my next destination!
Ginger
October 15, 2007 @ 8:47 pm
oh yummy yummy! i miss hainanese chicken rice.great blog!
Agnes
October 15, 2007 @ 9:20 pm
Thanks Mutemonkey – will have to check out your archives, I love a good nasi lemak!
Thanks for the visit, Ginger. ๐ Hainanese chicken rice is so tasty, isn’t it?
DC
October 17, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
Hooray for fried kway teow, this is a dish I hunt around for myself.
The oriental version of a chicken parma in my opinion ๐
Maybe I should take a lead from the http://www.superparma.com guys and start http://www.superfriedkwayteow.com!
Agnes
October 17, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
DC – ohmygod, yes! Do it! ๐
Anonymous
February 4, 2008 @ 2:19 pm
There’s a pretty good char kway teow at Malaymas on St. Georges Rd, Fitzroy too.
Gat
February 6, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
Fried Kway Teow – the ‘must go to’ is ‘Laksa King’ on Racecourse Road Flemington (Newmarket). It’s hard to find a good one – this is a great one – they have a version with clams too!