KCH

Traditional hawker chow on North Perth’s chic Angove Street.

A restaurant that blends into its surroundings, but take a second look. The menu, a journey through the Chinese-Malay heritage of chef Calvin Chong. It’s vibrant, exotic, classic hawker fare. Inside, a mock supermarket-style counter stacked with santan and vermicelli noodles separates diners from the semi-open kitchen, where woks hiss and sizzle, and a Sarawak waiter darts in and out. The food: grandma’s meat roll, or ngo hiang, a succulent deep-fried pork and prawn meatloaf straight out of Kuching. The KCH fried chicken is (without copyright infringement) finger lickin’ good. Char kueh tiew, a classic, is imbued with the smoky flavours of wok hei (‘breath of a wok’) and generously loaded with lap-cheong (Chinese sausage), prawn, chicken, crunchy bean shoots and shallots. The mee goreng is a little lighter, with yellow noodles fried in a tomato base with prawns, chicken and bean shoots for added crunch. Dishes come in under $20 and BYO adds extra value for an excellent Friday lunch stop, or easy post-work meal.