Old Street Asia Hawker Food brings the informality and breadth of a Southeast Asian street-food shop to suburban Burnside. The Kendal Avenue restaurant serves separate lunch and dinner periods from Tuesday to Sunday, with a casual dining room for people who want to eat in as well as takeaway service. Its recent updates place Malaysian comfort food at the centre, while the wider menu moves freely across wok dishes, soups, rice plates and vegetable-led choices.
Noodles show how many directions that compact format can take. The current line-up includes char kuey teow, wat tan ho and creamy curry laksa, moving from a dry wok-fried plate to sauce-coated rice noodles and a warming bowl of broth. The formats are distinct enough to suit different appetites, yet each keeps the emphasis on direct flavours and a complete meal rather than a sequence of formal courses.
The rice and meat dishes deepen that sense of Malaysian home-style cooking. Hainanese chicken rice is prepared in small batches, while bak kut teh offers a broth-based comfort dish. Black-vinegar pork trotter, kam hiong chicken, creamy butter chicken and butter egg-floss chicken move through tangy, aromatic and rich flavours. Some chef specials are limited to weekends and can sell out, so preordering is useful when one of those dishes is the reason for visiting.
Beyond the newest specials, the broader repertoire includes nasi lemak, curry puffs, fried mantou, hor fun and Yong Chow fried rice. Tofu and vegetable dishes give meat-free diners several routes through the menu, and staff can discuss vegan adaptations rather than leaving those choices implicit. Complimentary tea reinforces the easygoing hawker-shop character, making the restaurant workable for a quick solo meal or a table sharing several plates across lunch or dinner.
Address: 174 Kendal Avenue, Burnside, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand
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