Blue Chillies (by invitation), Fitzroy by Bureaucrat

Happy birthday to Blue Chillies, an iconic Malaysian restaurant in Fitzory, who recently turned a sweet 16 years old.  Ruby Grapefruit and I were there to help out with the celebrations and to sample a range of Blue Chillies' signature dishes.

We were treated to a number of entrees to share.  It was hard to pick a favourite as they were all really good.  Ruby Grapefruit quite liked the deep fried rockling fillets w curry leaves, chilli and spices. In particular, she loved the buttered egg floss, which the staff told us takes a bit of skill to make.

If I had to pick a favourite dish for the night, this would be it.  The yee sang salad.  It's a traditional Malaysian salad of sashimi salmon, crunchy salad dressed with apricot plum sauce topped with roasted peanuts.  It's usually served at Chinese new year and the individual components of the salad symbolise wealth, good fortune and wonderful auspiciousness.  The sashimi was super fresh and the salad was a delightfully fresh and crunchy.

I also really enjoyed the whitebait and sweet potato fritters.  It was light and crispy. The sweet potato gives a nice sweetness, while the chilli lime dipping sauce gave a fresh zestiness to cut through the fried fritter.  Also on the plate was the black pepper soft shell crab w ground peppercorn sauce.

It was a rather meaty affair when it came to Blue Chillies' signature main dishes. I really liked the deep fried king prawns, which were wrapped in crispy rice noodles and served on a bed of tomato, pineapple and coconut milk sauce. 

The thrice-cooked duck was tender and juicy, and had a lovely crispy skin.

Another tender duck dish was the slow-cooked duck rendang, which had a lovely unctuous sauce made from roasted coconut, Malaysian spices, fresh ginger, garlic and chillies.

Last but not least was the stickily sweet wok tossed pork ribs marinated in caramelised chilli jam. 

A sweet way to end our meal was a beautiful serve of sticky black rice pudding, which was served with coconut milk and topped with lots of aromatic coconut flakes.

Verdict: we liked it a lot

Overall
Blue Chillies is a modern Malaysian restaurant. While it firmly has its roots in traditional Malaysian cuisine - think, hawker-style food in a contemporary Australian settings.  The service is warm and friendly and you can tell how passionate the staff are about the food and the restaurant.