After a long day of walking (we didn't realise you need a Myki to take the trams in Melbourne!), K stumbled upon this little gem in Melbourne CBD whilst C was trying to decide whether to take a 10pm booking at Ezard for dinner. We ultimately decided on a lunch time booking for Ezard instead so K proceeded to try out Sugarbun. A quick google search revealed that Sugarbun was brought to Melbourne by twin sisters who's father runs the flagship Sugarbun in Malaysia and that part of the inspiration for opening the cafe was the lack of bak kut teh in Melbourne. This got K excited, hopeful for a decent quality bak kut teh - which is so hard to find outside of Asia.
Sugarbun specialises in Borneo cuisine. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is divided amongst 3 countries - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. The Sugarbun menu consists of a wide variety of foods, from fish burgers and broasted chicken to beef stew and of course their bak kut teh. This made us a little sceptical at first but our hunger pains took priority over our slight hesitation.
The interior is simple, fresh and minimalist. It resembles cafes we would have eaten at during our university days - except cleaner!
The broasted chicken is apparently a speciality of Sugarbun. According to google, broasting is a way of frying the chicken in a pressure cooker. The result? The chicken is a beautiful golden colour, crispy but incredibly moist on the inside. You can tell they've mastered the art of cooking this piece of protein - not overcooked or undercooked and with enough seasoning that it doesn't overpower the natural flavours of the chicken. The coconut rice is fragrant as it should be and delicious as you combine it with their sambal ikan bilis. For those unfamiliar with Malaysia food, sambal is a Malaysian chilli sauce and ikan bilis are crispy fried anchovies and are a necessary feature of any Malaysian nasi lemak
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| Nasi lemak with broasted chicken |
K of course seized the opportunity to order the bak kuh teh. The broth is not too oily and has a depth of flavours and the taste of Asian herbal goodies which you know could only be achieved through proper slow cooking. The dish comes with a serving of you tiao (Chinese fried breadsticks) and fresh cut chilli with soy sauce which remarkably adds to the flavours of the pork. Not sure if enoki mushrooms are meant to feature in tradition bak kuh teh but this did not really bother K. In the soup is also a few pork balls which have an incredible burst of flavours. We suspect they are home made but can't verify this. Overall, definitely beats any bak kuh teh that K has tried outside of Asia (that is not homemade!) although admittedly still not as good as what you can get in Malaysia!
Overall we were pretty happy with this little surprise find. It's a nice break from all the cafe eating/western food if you are like us and need a dose of Asian goodness every now and then!
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