Mumu, Sydney

I finally returned to Sydney in August 2022, after nearly 2.5 years away.  I was there with a large group for a business trip, but had the opportunity to arrange a dinner for a smaller group of 10 of us.  I was prepared to make a booking at Ms. G's, one of my favorite (and fun!) places in Sydney, as I knew they did a great banquet setup, but alas, our dinner was for a Monday night, and Ms. G's, like many other restaurants, is not open on Mondays.

I started doing a bit of research, and pretty quickly knew exactly where I wanted to take the group.  A new restaurant from the Merivale group, with Chef Dan Hong (of Ms. G's, Mr. Wong, etc) at the backing: Mumu.  Located right in the Ivy, it was close by the hotel, not far from of the office, and seemed unique and fun ... much like Ms. G's, although with an entirely different focus.  Banquet menus for groups, a private room, and, well, done deal.  I made my booking for the private room easily online.

The theme is Southeast Asian street food, and I did worry it would be a bit too adventurous for the group, but, I think most people enjoyed it.  I'll gladly return.

Setting

"This inner-city hang-out (set within the ivy precinct) is the perfect place to drink, dance, and burn the midnight oil."

The main restaurant is, um, vibrant.  The music is loud, the vibe is frantic, and the single, large room with open kitchen area really is a bit overwhelming.  Not a place for a relaxed, quiet date night.  But a place to get drawn in by interesting cuisine, and have a good time?  Absolutely.

Private Room.

My group had a private room (I think Mumu has two), which was perfect.  The private room could seat 14, we had 10, which fit very comfortably.  We were able to ask to have the music lowered in our room, which was easily accommodated, and the staff shut the barn door, to really isolate us.  Sure, we missed out on the vibe, but, for our group, as part of a work function, this was a better fit.

We were a bit ignored, but I think that may be just kinda standard Sydney service.  Sure, our food was brought to us when it was ready, everything was served hot, but, we weren't checked on throughout the meal, ordering additional drinks took proactive work on our part, and getting the bill at the end of the night only happened when we physically just got up and left.  So, not the best service, but when the staff were interacting with us, it was well received.  The handled allergies and dietary preferences nicely.

Cuisine

The menu at MuMu jumps all over southeast Asia, hitting Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan & Vietnam, in a playful way, somewhat focusing on street foods.

The regular menu at MuMu is broken into 4 savory categories, plus dessert: To Start (small, mostly individual, bites), Raw/Salad/Small Plates, Seafood & Meat, and Vegetables/Rice/Noodles.  Each category is fairly large, with a variety of cuisines featured.  One could easily eat a light, refreshing meal if they pleased, or could go carb heavy and focus on noodles and rice dishes, or go big and pick all spicy cuisine, etc.  The menu really lets you choose your own adventure.

Banquet Menu. $88/pp.

For groups, two banquet menus are available (required for groups of 10+).  "Groups" can be just two people, so the banquets really are accessible to all group sizes.  Both banquet menus are made up of 12 dishes, with the cheaper option priced at $88 per person, the more premium one at $148.  They share a number of the same dishes, but, the pricier option does include lobster, scallops, and larger desserts.  Both banquet menus draw entirely from the regular menu, no special dishes are offered just as part of the banquet.

For my group, I selected the cheaper of the banquets.  We had 10 diners, 3 of whom were vegetarian, plus another who doesn't eat red meat, and another pescatarian, so I reached out to the restaurant in advance to better understand our options, as the online menus didn't really have much for vegetarians.  I was pleased to find that they actually have vegetarian equivalents of nearly every dish, so my vegetarians would not be left out at all.   

Banquet Feast.

We had a lovely feast.  Themes throughout the meal were strong (but balanced!) flavors, tons of texture, and dishes that were just actually fun to eat.  I'd gladly return, and would love to try a la carte instead of banquet dining another time.  The banquet menu was very reasonably priced for a large amount of quality food.

To Start 

Our banquet menu contained only one item from the To Start section of the menu, but, it was probably the dish I was most excited for.  The betel leaves.  I have such a fondness for stuffed betel leaves, having discovered them at Longrain (also in Sydney) many years ago.  If Mumu's version was anything like my beloved betel leaves, I'd be happy and declare the meal a success, no matter what came next.  The regular menu also has other light, mostly single bite, offerings like oysters, prawn sashimi, grilled scallops on the half shell, and their version of a play on larb.  I'd love to try the grilled scallops sometime.

The betel leaves arrived first, slightly ahead of the next dishes. 

Betel Leaves.

"Sweet pork, dried shrimp, macadamia, salted lime, finger lime, ginger, scud chilli, lemongrass."

This is a classic Thai dish.

This was a new dish for most people, so I quickly gave a little description of how to eat these, and people slightly apprehensively dug in.  For the unfamiliar, the idea of rolling this thing up (yes, you DO eat the leaf!) and taking a big bite was a bit odd, but I assured them they'd want to take as big of a bite as possible, to try to get all the bits at once.

Mumu's version was decent.  The leaf was fresh and crisp, and the filling was a mix of all the flavors (sweet, sour, etc) and textures, that make this a generally good dish.  I didn't necessarily taste the distinct components, but, there were sour notes, crunchy bits, and it was enjoyable enough, although I somewhat wanted a sauce to dunk it into.  

A nice start to the menu, it somewhat prepared the palette for what was to come next.  I wouldn't really seek it out again though.  ***.  5th pick of the savories for me.

$7 each on the regular menu.  The vegetarian version had tofu in place of the pork/shrimp.

Raw, Salads and small plates

Next we move into more starters, and our menu had 4 from this category, about half of the restaurant's offerings.  I liked the lineup, although would love to try the grilled calamari too.

These all arrived just after the betel leaves, and our table was quickly full of share plates.

Prahok Ktis.

"Spicy pork and fermented fish dip, pea eggplants, seasonal crudités."

This is a Cambodian dish, one I wasn't familiar with previously, but, was very interested in trying.  I love fermented fish, I like spice, I love dips ... it sounded right up my alley.  It also kinda scared a lot of people, as it was just so different from anything they had ever had before.

I loved it.  The flavors were intense.  It was spicy.  It was funky.  It was creamy and it had bits of texture.  It excited my mouth in so many ways.  I couldn't get enough of it.

Dish of the night for me, although it didn't generally seem to be a crowd pleaser.  I think just a bit too odd for most folks?  Even better for me though, as I gladly took all the leftover.

****+.

Prahok Ktis: crudités.

I'll admit though that the crudités served with the dip were a bit strange.  Served on ice.  And rather precious looking.  The assortment was green beans, cucumbers, endive, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes, all a bit awkward to dunk.  And the ice presentation was just ... well, different.  The veggies were fresh and crisp, not much more to be said for them.

The dip worked with crudités, but I immediately got to thinking all the other ways I wanted to try it.  It was rich, and the flavor so intense, that I don't think just eating it by the spoonful would be great, but I could imagine filling a lettuce wrap with it and enjoying it that way.  Or stuffing into bread like a sandwich.  As a dip, it was fine, but I think it could be enjoyed so many ways. 

$24 on the regular menu.

The vegetarian option for this course was a collection of spicy sambals with krupuk, so they too had a spicy dip and thing to dip into it.  If I hadn't been so distracted by loving the fermented fish/pork version, I would have loved to try theirs too.

Salmon.

"Jalapeno nam jim, fried shallots, herbs, lemongrass, lime leaf."

A lighter offering, and one more friendly to most, was the raw salmon.  The salmon seemed fresh, had good firm and not chewy texture, and was diced in reasonable bite sized cubes.  I of course loved the crispy fried shallots on top.

People seemed to like this, it was easily finished.  I found it a bit boring, compared to the other dishes, but this is likely a good safe choice for many.

***.  6th pick for me.

$27 on the regular menu.  The vegetarian offering was the same thing, but with sweet corn instead of salmon.

Crispy Rice Salad.

"Herbs, green papaya, jellyfish, snake beans, chilli, peanuts, tamarind."

The final starter that came in this bunch was a crispy rice salad, that also confused most.  It looked like fried rice, but was cold.  But, most people really enjoyed it.

Like the betel leaf, this was a mix of many different textures and flavors.  For texture, there was crisp snake beans, fresh herbs, somewhat slimy shredded papaya and the jellyfish, and tons of additional crunch from the generous amount of peanuts on top.  And then of course the crispy rice.  Fresh and crunchy and really quite fun to eat.  There was a bit of spice to it too.

Some in the group were apprehensive about the jellyfish, but, it really wasn't scary in this form.  Yes, there were slimy bits, but you could pretend were just glass noodles instead of jellyfish, and be quite happy.  Everyone really liked how crispy the rice was.  

My third favorite of the savories, and a unique and enjoyable dish.  ***+.

$21 on the regular menu.  Vegetarians had a similar salad, with I think tofu instead of jellyfish.  Mumu has also served a version of this in the past with smoked pork instead of jellyfish.

DIY Sweet potato and school prawn fritters.

"Lettuce, herbs, pickles, dill nuoc cham."

Our last item from this section arrived 10 minutes after the others, which was good pacing.  We'd all gotten to sample and go back for more of the previous cold dishes, and then our first hot dish arrived.  The DIY fritters.

This one was another stretch for folks ... the servers told people how to eat it (take a lettuce wrap, add herbs, add a fritter, add pickled stuff, dunk in sauce), but it still seemed complicated.  Most people ended up just taking a fritter, not the lettuce wrap/herbs, and cutting it up and eating it with a fork and knife.  Which, is fine, but not quite what the restaurant was intending.

Anyway, the fritters were good.  Super crispy, freshly fried but not oily.  They were made up of shredded sweet potato and small whole prawns.  The sweet potato flavor was dominant, the prawns more just for crunch than any real flavor.  Basically, imagine ... hash browns but made with sweet potato, and deep fried.

DIY Sweet potato and school prawn fritters: Wrapped!

I did make mine into a wrap, with the fresh crisp lettuce wrapper, some assorted fresh herbs, a bit of the pickled stuff, and the nuoc cham.  It reminded me of Vietnamese imperial rolls in that way.  The fresh veggies did lighten it up, and the acid from the pickle also complimented the fried nature, but I think I probably would have liked it more as some of the others enjoyed it, just on its own, and actually, with some kind of aioli.

A satisfying dish and it was nice to have something crispy and fried at this point in the meal.  My fourth favorite bite of the meal.  ***+.

$24 on the regular menu.  The vegetarian version was basically identical, just sweet potato only, no prawns.

Seafood and Meat

Now we are getting into the main dishes, seafood and meat heavy.  We had one seafood (prawns), one meat (lamb), plus a chicken dish.   There was a lull of about 20 minutes after the fritters before the mains came out.

The full menu has additional seafood (grilled Murray cod, pipis, and grilled rock lobster), and more meat (pork spare ribs, grilled beef short ribs).  I'll admit that I wasn't really thrilled with the banquet offerings here - I loathe lamb, dislike chicken, and, of all the seafood dishes, the prawns would be my last choice.  The more expensive banquet did have lobster instead of prawns, pork spare ribs instead of chicken, and beef short ribs instead of lamb, all of which I'd definitely prefer, but, I also knew we'd have plenty of food with all the previous (and next) dishes, that I didn't bother substitute anything.

King Prawns.

"Wok-fried, chilli, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, brown butter."

First up, giant king prawns.

Ok, this was delicious.  I honestly didn't expect all that much from the dish, and yup, I knew it would be a pain to eat, but ... wowzer.  Fantastic.  I'm so glad I had it.

The prawn was incredibly juicy, succulent, and perfectly cooked.  The huge size made it eat more like lobster than any prawn I've ever had before, and honestly, I think it was likely the best prawn (or shrimp, etc) I've ever had.  Um, and better than most (any?) lobster I've had too.  They just nailed the preparation of this.

And then of course there was brown butter and fish sauce, and yes, this thing was most definitely very well coated (poached?) in brown butter.  It was infused throughout the whole shell.  A bit of kick from chilli, a bit of funk from the fish sauce, and, well, it was just perfect, at least to me.

Second favorite dish of the night, barely behind the fermented fish dip.  I think the former wins just due to the uniqueness, but this was very, very good.  ****+.

$40 for 4 on the regular menu, which seems entirely appropriate given how phenomenal it was.  Our vegetarian guests had an additional vegetable group in this dish's place, squash.

Crispy Skin Chicken.

"Lemongrass salsa, Vietnamese mint."

I don't like chicken, so I didn't bother try it, particularly when everyone said it was fairly lackluster.  "Its the kind of chicken that makes Julie not like chicken", is what one diner said. Most of the chicken went unfinished, definitely the least favorite dish for everyone.

$21 for a single piece, $39 for two, on the main menu.  The vegetarians had crispy fried tofu instead.

Lamb Cutlets.

"Angie Hong's marinated and grilled, chilli relish, lime."

I don't cafe for lamb either, so I also skipped the lamb, but everyone else really enjoyed it.  "The lamb is really good", was murmurer up and down the table.  Let's just say, multiple people were more than happy to claim mine.

$46 for 4 on the main menu.  The vegetarians had crispy eggplant in a black vinegar that looked pretty incredible, like ribs almost.  I wanted to try it, but alas, they kinda devoured that one.

Vegetables, Rice and Noodles

And finally, the veggies/rice/and noodles. Our menu had only one veggie and one rice dish, no noodles.  The regular menu has additional vegetarian offerings (such as crispy eggplant that I did actually want to try), other rice dishes, and several noodles.  Both banquets have the same offerings here.

Seasonal Asian Greens.

"Wok-fried, enoki mushrooms, garlic, fermented chilli."

Every banquet needs a token vegetable.  That is what this kinda felt like.  I think only two or three of us even tried it.  People just weren't excited for a random green vegetable.

I thought it was fine, good flavors from the sauce, but, it was just veggies.  Good to round out the meal I guess.  ***.

One of the cheaper dishes, $19 on the menu.

Nasi Goreng.

"Spanner crab, cuttlefish, garlic crackers, fried egg."

Suddenly, we were in Singapore!  Nasi goreng.  Or, as everyone at the table said, "oooh, fried rice!  With an egg on top!".  I'm not really a rice girl, but I tried it.  It was ... well, fried rice.  I wanted to steal some crab and cuttlefish from it, but I couldn't really find any, they were tiny little bits.  For me, this was just not my thing, but I did like the rice crackers.  

Everyone seemed hesitant to take the single egg (one for each platter of this, so we had several).  When they went entirely unclaimed at the end, I took one to try.  The egg was fascinating.  I'm not sure how they cooked it really, the white was kinda puffed up, and very fried on the bottom, making it almost liked a fried tofu puff if that makes any sense.  There was far more egg white than there should be for a single egg ... at least, it seemed that way.   Again, I don't understand how they did it.  The yolk was actually perfectly runny, I think people missed out by not cutting into this and letting it ooze all over the dish.

Multiple people offered to take the rice (but not the eggs!) home, so, it clearly was a crowd pleaser, even if not to me. **+.

A touch pricey at $34 on the regular menu, particularly given how little seafood it seemed to have.  The vegetarian version was the same, just with tofu instead of seafood.

Dessert

The $88 banquet menu normally comes with two desserts: watermelon and the "Bánh flan", the later of which actually sounds fabulous (it is a crème caramel, but served with coffee ice cream and coffee syrup), but since I avoid caffeine at night was a poor choice.  And, obviously, deathly watermelon allergy meant the watermelon was out.  I asked if we could swap to the desserts from the higher priced banquet menu (for a fee of course), both of which sounded great: pandan tres leches and a fun pine-lime coconut lychee sago soup?  Yes!  I'd even be happy with the other dessert option from the regular menu, durian ice cream, although I know that one can be a bit polarizing.

The desserts are normally $18 on the regular menu (or $8 for ice cream, $10 for watermelon).

The lag between our mains and dessert were substantial, nearly an hour (!).  Our main dishes were cleared, new plates brought out, more drinks ordered ... and we waited and waited.  One person decided to leave, they were just too exhausted to stay longer.  We waited some more.  Eventually the desserts came, and after being placed in front of us, we never saw our servers again (until we literally walked out, and they came after us to pay the bill of course).

Pandan Tres Leches Cake.

"Coconut, butterscotch, longan, macadamia."

I was excited for the tres leches, as I love pandan, but I honestly didn't taste any pandan in this.  It was a moist enough cake, and I liked the cream on top and the coconut and macadamia crumble, but, pandan it was not, and I also didn't find any butterscotch nor longan.

Fine, for a tres leches cake, but it lacked the southeast asian flair I was hoping for.  ***.

Pine-Lime Spliced Coconut Soup.

"Lychee, sago, jackfruit sorbet."

The second dessert was a better match for me.  A play on a pine-lime splice (classic Australian ice cream novelty item), crossed with an Asian style ice/coconut soup.

I liked this.  I actually didn't really find much sago, but there was lychee and jackfruit for sweetness and texture, refreshing shaved ice, citrus notes, and the jackfruit sorbet (which, really was just too sweet for me).

When I combined some of this with the whipped cream, macadamia, and coconut from from the tres leches, I had a pretty satisfying complete dessert.  On a hot day, I think this would be a real winner.

***.