It is an all-in-one beef noodle soup: chewy ropes of fresh, handmade noodles shaken about in hot water until cooked then plunged into a deep bowl of clear, sweet beef broth.
You’ll find it at Mie Kocok Bandung in Maroubra – it’s such a signature dish here they named their restaurant after it. The soup comes with your choice of fixings, but you may as well get the lot and order the mie kocok campur, or combination, littered with springy beef balls, ribbons of beef tripe and gelatinous beef tendons. Crunchy bean sprouts, deep-fried shallots and chopped green onions add zing but it’s the giant beef ball that’s the highlight, hiding a hard-boiled quail egg right in the middle. It’s like a Kinder Surprise for carnivores.
Dive into a bowl of yamien pangsit goreng, a huddle of egg noodles with chicken mince, deep-fried wonton for crunch, and chicken soup on the side or check out the lo mie bandung, a saucier combination of egg noodles and chicken mince doused in a thick sweet gravy.
The no-fuss décor suits the Indonesian-strong crowd to a tee. It’s families and couples who roll in and out for a quick bite to eat or a noodle fix. Help yourself to the bags of prawn crackers on every table. There’s an urn of free tea in the corner too.
The DIY mentality extends to ordering – you’ll have to fill out your own docket at your table but it’s simply a matter of ticking what you want before handing it to a roving waiter. While you’re waiting, fill up at the self-serve snack station with Indonesian-style croquettes and rissoles or banana leaf parcels of rice and chicken.