MELBOURNE | Jom Corner is a small Malaysian cafe inside Melbourne’s K-Mart centre, specialising in popular street food dishes from owner Michelle’s hometown of Kuala Lumpur, and the wider Klang Valley region. I recently visited on behalf of What’s on Melbourne.
The all-day breakfast and lunch menu features an array of delicious dishes, including familiar favourites and special dishes that aren’t commonly found in the city. Kaya toast is generously filled with pandan kaya and thick slabs of butter, and is perfect as a snack. Curry puffs and red bean spring rolls are also great snacks.
If you’re looking for something more substantial, the chicken rice at Jom Corner is very good. The version here differs from the more common Hainanese chicken rice you find elsewhere in town, defined by it’s chilli oil and soy-based house sauce. Another crowd favourite is the chee cheong fun. That’s rolled rice noodles, tofu sheets, fish cakes, and more, covered with hoisin & Sriracha, and garnished with sesame seeds.
I’m a big fan of the nasi lemak here. You get a serve of fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf, with sambal, ikan bilis (anchovies), peanuts and boiled egg. It comes wrapped in banana leaf, which helps the flavours infuse into the rice, and provides a convenient ‘container’. Make it a meal by adding an ayam goreng (fried chicken) drumstick, and pork cabbage spring roll.
For something you might not have tried before, bak kut teh is a regular on the menu. It’s a hearty slow-cooked on-the-bonepork ribs in a broth of warming herbs and spices. Another thing you don’t often see on menus in Melbourne that’s worth trying is the keropok lekor, which pops up as an occasional special. It’s a sausage-like steamed (and sometimes later fried) snack made using ground fish and tapioca flour.
To drink, it’s a selection of classic Malaysian drinks like teh tarik, kopi o, and teh o limau. Available in a cup or ‘air bungkus’ style, in a bag.
Jom Corner
Shop 5, 222 Bourke Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia
Telephone: n/a
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Mon – Sun: 10:00am to 5:00pm