Taurus Hawker Foods, Willetton

Funnily enough, we didn’t plan to eat at Taurus…

A month or so ago, Jac went to Hungry Jack’s to grab takeaway for Saturday brunch. She came home with burgers, fries, onion rings and some intriguing information. She had a chat with the HJ’s manager while waiting for our order and mentioned that her other half is Asian and loves hot savoury breakfasts (hence burgers for brunch). The manager, who is also Asian, told her about a little place in Willetton that serves curry and roti canai from 7:30am on weekends. She told Jac she regularly gets takeaway curry, rice and roti from that place. Unfortunately, Jac came home without the name or address of the curry place – all she had was the vague instruction that it’s “near the primary school in Willetton”. But that was enough to get us excited and eager to find this place! I was especially excited – regular readers will know how much I love curry for breakfast!

My sister Juji and her boyfriend Jay came over in the afternoon and we told them about this mysterious roti and curry place. They were also intrigued! Close to dinner time, we all decided to go for a drive in search of it.

Jac was pretty confident she knew the general area around Willetton primary school where the roti place might be. But all we found after 25 minutes of driving was a restaurant called Malaysia Garden that definitely did not have roti canai and curry on its menu!

Taurus saves the day!

We were hungry when we set off and by now, we were starving! We decided to admit defeat for now and head over to Collins Road for dinner, where there are a number of Asian restaurants to choose from. We wanted to try Bamboo, a Singaporean restaurant none of us have been to that serves all the old favourites like fried kway teow, laksa and chicken rice. But it was too busy – not a free table in sight, and we weren’t willing to wait. So off to our old faithful Taurus Hawker Foods it was! Taurus was also busy, but we managed to grab a recently vacated table.

Jac, Juji and Jay all ordered cendol (pronounced chen-dole). The drinks came in plastic cups that screamed “Party!” :D

Cendol for three

Cendol is a very popular sweet drink (sometimes consumed as dessert) in Southeast Asia that is often sold by roadside hawkers and at food courts. It is usually made with coconut milk, shaved ice, palm sugar (gula melaka) and green jelly that looks like worms. For me, the “worms” are the most appealing component of cendol!

Cendol close-up

Jay had curry laksa which looked wonderfully fiery. In the curry soup with the egg noodles and rice noodles were chicken, fishballs, tofu and prawns. At Taurus, most of the dishes are available in small or large sizes – be warned, the large sizes are huge! I have a big appetite but even I find that the large size is much too big. Jay found his small laksa to be a generous serving indeed and struggled to get through it all.

Curry laksa

Juji and Jac both ordered nasi lemak. The coconut rice came with fried anchovies and peanuts, a piece of fried fish, vegetable pickle (acar, pronounced ah-char), half a hard-boiled egg and a bowl of prawn sambal.

Nasi lemak

In the sambal bowl were two plump prawns. Jac gave me one of her prawns and I was surprised and pleased to find it was bursty. Juji and Jac both enjoyed the sambal very much but found it pretty spicy. Jac did what she always does and dumped a whole pile of sambal on top of her rice before tasting it – yes, I may have been Ms Naggy Know-it-all and said: “Don’t I always say you should taste the chilli before putting it all over the rice?” ;) Jac was soon feeling the heat and gulping down great mouthfuls of cendol to soothe her burning mouth!

Prawn sambal

I ordered chicken noodle soup. In my big bowl of tasty broth (I ordered the small size, of course!) were two kinds of noodles (thick egg noodles, thin rice noodles), choy sum, shredded cooked chicken, fragrant deep-fried shallots and bean sprouts. It was fantastic and exactly what I felt like.

Chicken noodle soup

We ordered loh bak (five spice meat roll) to share. Loh bak usually consists of pork mince flavoured with Chinese five spice and sometimes, crunchy water chestnuts. The meat is wrapped in bean curd skin, then fried to crispy and served with sliced fresh cucumber and chilli sauce. We were all a little disappointed with Taurus’ version – the pork filling was too mushy and kind of bland. I still think my late grandma’s version of loh bak is the best I’ve eaten.

Loh bak

Taurus is a great place to go if you have a craving for any of the hawker favourites. The bench-style seating is great for groups. I think I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve eaten there, apart from the loh bak. Taurus’ chicken rice is delicious and I love that when you order it, they ask you if you want the leg or breast. Of course, I always choose leg!

Taurus Hawker Foods

Next post: Yes! Jac and I find the elusive curry and roti place!

My previous Taurus Hawker Foods posts

Taurus Hawker Foods
Shop 10/113 Collins Rd
Willetton WA 6155
Telephone: (08) 9259 1788
Open Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 9pm

Taurus Hawker Foods on Urbanspoon

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