Who doesn’t love a bit of theatre with their food? And when that theatre takes the form of a deft display of the roti throwing technique – stretching the dough out to almost transparent thins with the flick of a wrist – it never gets old. At Mamak, it’s all part of the show.

People come here less for the no-frills space (wooden tables, granite floors) and more for the flaky, oiled goodness of the Malaysian roti menu, exploding with distinctive Southeast Asian flavours.

There are family groups dipping roti into kari sayur lentil curry, young couples giggling over ayam goreng fried chicken and business groups grabbing nasi lemak. Also popular is satay, skewers of flame-grilled beef or chicken by the half or whole dozen – served with a spicy-sweet peanut sauce.

What began as a side project for owners Julian Lee, Alan Au and Clement Lee is now a budding empire, with three restaurants in Sydney (Chinatown, Chatswood and Parramatta), another in Brisbane and this one in Melbourne’s CBD.