Review Ayam Chef - Melbourne

Have always had a great experience here. This time round, decided to order dishes and wasn't disappointed at all. The Nyonya chicken was crispy, moist, tangy and spicy. We also ordered the Thai fish, and both went so well with rice. The staff are always friendly. Definitely recommend this place.

Visited this place a few times now and have ordered different dishes and everything has been delicious. My favourite so far is the chicken curry and the hot kumquat drink is yum! The service was prompt and attentive as well. A hearty lunch to have, watch out for the food coma though if you are going back to work. The price isn't bad at all either!

Highly recommended for those who likes Malaysia Hawker foods. The taste was same as my hometown favour or even better. Great to have good food at the holiday. Cheers and keep it up chefs.

Ayam Chef served Malaysian/Asian fusion cuisine located in Southbank. Salted egg-everything was still a trend, so we tried the salted egg fried chicken and the classic Hainanese chicken rice. They were both so delicious! The fried chicken had crispy skin that wasn’t too thick, and the salted egg flavour was quite prominent. The Hainanese chicken rice came with tender chicken and very fragrant ginger rice. Service was friendly, the venue was clean and the ambiance was pretty cosy.

Just delish and satisfying Malaysian cuisine, the Bee Hoon a highlight and salted egg chicken ribs one of the best we've had. Staff were super busy but still friendly and warm, just know what you want! Only slight quibble is the Nasi Lemak needs more of that good samal! 4.5 stars rounded up

Delicious, delicious food n great n lovely service. The best asian food in melbourne!! Definitely will come back and dine in with friends!! well done.

Delicious Malaysian food! San Low Fried Beehoon is a must! Will definitely visit again.

This beautiful Malaysian restaurant is so close to my temporary accommodation and have lots of yummy foods. Staff are extremely helpful and will assist you to choose the best option from the menu. I’ve been there mid week and had a great experience. I definitely recommend to try this restaurant and support local businesses. Thanks 🙏

Most authentic Hainanese chicken rice I've had in Melbourne thus far. Very good portion for $11 (lunch special)

Beautiful staff, great food, fantastic prices and "Connie" is just the best!!! 150% Recommendable! <3

The manager was very reluctant to let us in with our Seeing Eye Dog. It took over 5 minutes of debate to be finally let in and they wanted us to sit in an isolated corner. Hopefully now that we have informed the restaurant of their legal obligations, we and other Seeing Eye Dog users/carers will not have issues in the future and the restaurant can avoid being penalised and fined. The food here is great though.

Dumplings are amazing Always a beautiful meal highly recommended

The food is sensation nap and the service is alway prompt. Last night we were running late and they wee super fast with the food and it was as good as ever. Looking forward to my next meal there.

Their service is very good and always with a smile and the food is delicious as well i will be going there again

Nice sweet chilli deep fried pork and black pepper beef.. Very recommended...

Great customer service, amazing food and fantastic pricing!

Beautiful food... Yummy yumm. Definitely will come back here

Pretty good and tasty

We live so close to this place and can’t believe it took so long for us to try this restaurant. Everything tastes just perfect. Spot on seasoning. Chicken curry was really delicious. Huge menu, can’t wait to taste other dishes.

Food came out quickly. <br/>Beehoon: fragrant and highly recommend. Will order again.<br/>Sambal eggplant: also has okra in it. Loved the sambal. Will order again<br/>Salted egg chicken: crispy and tasty.<br/>Coco sweet chilli pork: sweet and sour. It was alright but the other dishes stood out so much compared to the pork. If you like sweet and sour pork, it’s worth a try.<br/><br/>Overall, really happy with food and will be coming back.

The salted egg chicken ribs are next level goes great with coconut rice.

Disappointed with food. Very mediocre. Won't be returning.

Lunch here Australia Day. Loved the food. Several of our party have severe food allergies but the staff were fantastic and went out of their way to accomodate us. Will definitely return.

Always a pleasure to come here... food fresh and tasty.. , service good and the bill at the right price.. overall a regular haunt!

Warm homely hospitality and generous flavoursome and fragrant dishes. We came as a group of over ten people and the service was very efficient and attentive, with helpful recommendations and suggestions.

Can’t believe the famous San Low Bee Hoon is on the menu!! I lived a few streets away from San Low Restaurant (Johor Bahru), with the homemade tofu, it’s making me feel like home 💛 and they make one of the best HAINANESE Chicken Rice I’ve had in Melbourne (coming from a HAINANESE who can cook this dish too!) highly recommended!

The food was really good, but the service was questionable. My friend and I popped in just before 9. The hours on the door said they were open till 9:30. We asked the waiter who greeted us if we may still be seated. They could have said no. But they warned us that the last order is at 9:15 and seated us. We were the only dine-in customers. We ordered quickly and the food came. But the waiters took it in turns to hover around our table, clean the restaurant floor really loudly so that we couldn't have any conversation, glare at us, and at one point when my friend paused for a second to use her napkin, a waiter made a beeline for our table and asked if we were finished. We left by 9:40 pm, a mere 10 minutes after the closing time, but the waiters glared at us with so much resentment. It was a very unpleasant dining experience. We would rather they had turned us away than serve us so resentfully. The food, however, cannot be criticised.

If you are looking for a usual food joint around your office in South Melbourne then this is the place. We had everything that was not recommended and it still turned out to be good.<br/><br/>- Malaysian Chilli Prawns were amazing. The prawns were fresh and with the right amount of spice.<br/>- Black Pepper Chicken was decent but we expected it to be more spicy but the chicken was succulent and the sauce was marvellous.<br/>- Nasi Goreng was decent. The sambal was amazing and it wasn't a disappointment but it wasn't fabulous either.<br/>- The mango icecream was a surprise and I was a fan. The icecream was more than expected !!!

This place was a place that we stumbled across and it was definitely a good decision..<br/>The restaurant was busy and full of people.. so we decided to give it a go...<br/>We had some sizzling beef and some gailan.. the beef was amazing, wasn’t expecting to have a sizzling plate dish in Melbourne.. the beef was soft and pack full of flavour.. and the gailan was soft and tasty.. Definitely a nice surprise to stumble across something special.. will come back for more foods on the menu..

Good fine. Authentic Malaysian. Enjoyed the fried kway teow, hainanese chicken rice & roast duck laksa - super yum. The salt & pepper calamari was too salty & it’s not Malaysian anyway.

Ayam Chef serves up delicious Malaysian Chinese cuisine. It’s hearty and authentic - one of our favourite go to’s! Their ‘salted egg chicken spare ribs’ and ‘sizzling tofu’ are my favourite dishes, but all their dishes are generally yummy. BYO is also a plus!

Ayam Chef served Malaysian/Asian fusion cuisine located in Southbank. Salted egg-everything was still a trend, so we tried the salted egg fried chicken and the classic Hainanese chicken rice. They were both so delicious! The fried chicken had crispy skin that wasn’t too thick, and the salted egg flavour was quite prominent. The Hainanese chicken rice came with tender chicken and very fragrant ginger rice. Service was friendly, the venue was clean and the ambiance was pretty cosy. It was a nice lunch experience.

Having heard a lot about Ayam Chef from our Vegetarian and Meat eating friends and colleagues who couldn't stop raving about their tender beef preparations how is it possible to not visit it ASAP.<br/><br/>Ordered Pepper Beef, Chicken Curry with Roti together with 2 glasses of Wine.<br/><br/>One among the most Tender beefs we have eaten in the town as we ordered Beef Pepper. Juicy, lightly sweet and the spice from the pepper and garlix gave it a lovely flavor.<br/><br/>Succulent pieces of Chicken in the Chicken Curry went perfectly well with the Roti that were fluffy, crisp and light.<br/><br/>Omg, our tastebuds still recall the flavors !!!<br/><br/>Attendants are attentive and fast. Pricing, compared to taste, portions and quality, is decent.<br/><br/>Have decent choices for Vegans ans Vegetarians.<br/><br/>A must!!

Ordered the salted egg calamari, Malaysian curry chicken, fried turmeric chicken, sizzling tofu, black pepper beef, pork belly ginger onion, and nasi goreng. Unsure if that's the style ordered for beef and pork but going to suspect it is.<br/><br/>The black pepper beef arrived first, served on a sizzling plate. Aroma was inviting and the taste did not disappoint, tender slices of beef you could finish the whole plate by yourself, it's that good.<br/><br/>The pork belly dish was served in a claypot, looked like the 'salted fish pork belly' but it was more towards ginger onion style. Similar treatment was given to the pork belly pieces, extremely tender and full of flavour even though the style is typically towards a lighter taste.<br/><br/>Malaysian curry chicken was also on point with the taste profile, although slightly diluted. Not sure how long was the dish cooked for but it didn't taste like the curry flavour was fully soaked in to the chicken and potato. I'd say this is above average to very good.<br/><br/>Salted egg calamari was disappointing, probably tasted only 5% of a proper salted egg dish, it was mainly covered with cheaper ingredients as the coating.<br/><br/>The fried turmeric chicken was alright as it tasted one-dimensional. Could be lack of seasoning as it was missing an 'oomph'.<br/><br/>The sizzling tofu was cooked with a bit more egg than what other restaurants would do, quite indifferent with this aspect but I suppose this is a bonus. It's done well and I especially like this dish for saucing up your rice as well.<br/><br/>The nasi goreng, or fried rice, was the most disappointing dish for 2 reasons. First, it was served with bean sprouts. This is only fine if it's noodles but not on rice. Second, it tasted like it was cooked with coconut milk. This is the weirdest thing to come across in a fried rice and it's a first.<br/><br/>Overall, they do cook up very good dishes depending on your luck with what you order. Beef, pork belly, and sizzling tofu is my personal strongest picks from this dining experience. Would definitely come back again to try other dishes, especially the roast chicken rice as it's rare to come across in Melbourne.

So in love with this place - am planning my next trip again! We ordered 5 dishes and 3 out of 5 were great, the others were good. Best dish was the sizzling tofu with minced chicken - TOP marks for taste and presentation. Second place goes to the braised pork belly in claypot - delicious, large portions. The tumeric chicken was highly rated but I think it wasn’t really as special as what my friends said. Very yummy salted egg chicken ribs - a clear children favourite and fried well. The sambal spinach was okay, not the best. The asam barramundi was not great sadly. It tasted more like curry than asam. All in all a fantastic meal, would be back

Went here with my boyfriend on a Friday night and we had such a wonderful experience. I was fidgeting in my seat from pure joy from the moment we sat down to order till our empty plates were cleared away. We ordered steamed dumplings, roti with Ayam curry and the homemade tofu. TOFU AND ROTI WAS SOOOO GOOD

Don’t go to this restaurant! They have minimum $30 to let you use visa or any card! ( so if you forget to bring your cash then you are in trouble) . <br/><br/>We went there to order our take out and paid for $50 for it ! But my husband forget to order any vegetables, so we would like to just order it . But they dare to ask us to pay for $30 , so we can use our card! They don’t care you were just spend $50 with them at all! <br/><br/>Not just this , when we get home the chicken we order is only half of the container! It even looks like been eaten already ! Or they just don’t give you the same amount every each time ! As a custmer been order take out from them for more then 6 times now ! I think we can tell if they don’t give you the same amount as before ! <br/><br/>Anyway, the foods is also too sweet and full of sugar, but no other flavors! We are definitely not going back to there again ! And if there’s 0 star ratings! That’s what I would give to them “ 0 “ star 🙄

I came here with a friend for dinner on her recommendation. The service here is so friendly and responsive. I had the roti curry chicken with curry puffs. Buttery roti, flavorful fragrant curry - i was pretty satisfied on that front. A great Malaysian places for Southbank locals.

Ayam Chef is a hidden Malaysian restaurant that serves up some amazing dishes. Their menu is extensive and prices are sightly higher compared to places like Chef Lagenda. Definitely a place worth trying out!. Sizzling Tofu $20. Egg Tofu with Minced Chicken. Love the soft and silky tofu! Great to have with rice! ★★★★

This restaurant blew me away. The staff are very friendly, helpful and very informative of what is in the food that they serve. The place is easy to access and the food is mouth-watering

I rarely write reviews unless I’m unhappy or have a bad experience at a place.<br/><br/>But this place really deserves my compliments! I’m from Singapore and I’m literally always craving authentic Laksa and Chicken Rice. They have the most authentic chicken rice chilli I’ve had while in Melbourne. Felt like our local restaurant. Laksa tastes more Malaysian but it was pretty good as well. <br/><br/>Definitely worth the bucks! Will return weekly~<br/>Prices are good too

A friend brought me here saying that her chef friend liked this restaurant and so did her sister<br/>It has a relaxed vibe and you can sit there for hours with no persistent pushing from staff to sell more food or gentle nudges to leave<br/><br/>This was true today as well. We got there at 6.45 and stayed until 9.30 having finished our meal by 7.30 due to the quick service<br/><br/>Their menu is diverse but my friend wanted veggies and no curries<br/>I was hankering for the beef ren sang but the waitress suggested the Ayam curry. It was ok.ive made one that tastes similar using an instant curry pack from an Asian shop. The nasi goreng was a decent size with lots of delicious tidbits like small prawns cut tofu a fried egg and veggies. <br/>I enjoyed my meal and the service even more<br/> Pity they don’t do split bills and min eftpos is 30 bucks<br/><br/>For three mains and tea it was around 53 dollars<br/>Great value and we even had leftovers <br/><br/>Good place for groups and date night <br/>Free street parking on weekends and evenings

The restaurant located outside my building and is the go to for take out as well as a quick dine in meal. The food never disappoints and the staff are happy to make variations to dishes and are attentive to customers. Love having this so close to home!

Always a favourite in the area when we need a serious laksa fix. Laksa have the right level of spice and the soup is not too creamy with a light coconut taste. It's not overflowing with noodles either with just the right amount compared to other places. Also recommend the char kway teow if you like yours with a have a faint wok taste. Portions size is also big enough for sharing.<br/><br/>The restaurant is clean, lots of seating spaces, and service is prompt with attentive staff who made sure to fill our water and clean the between mains and dessert.<br/><br/>We finished off with the crepe dessert - beautifully presented, taste great, and budget friendly.<br/>

A group of girlfriends and I dined here Saturday night, the restaurant is nice with lovely service.<br/><br/>I found the food to be hit and miss, the beef rendang was a definite miss but that may be because I am comparing it to the amazing beef rendang I had in Bali recently.  I just didn't find much punch or spices in the dish.  Clear winner was the beef sizzling plate, the beef tender and flavours very good.  Everything else was good but not blow your socks off great.  We wanted to order roast duck however they sold out for the night. <br/><br/>BYO which is always a bonus.

I’ve only just tried the Nasi Goreng, but I’m blown away by the flavour. So good, big juicy prawns and I love how the sambal and egg come separately.<br/><br/>Takeaway was easy to organise over the phone but they have a great seating space if you want to dine in also.<br/><br/>One to put on the list!

It’s been awhile (years) since I last visited ayam chef. Decided to do take away today. <br/><br/>Chicken rice: Delicious. Authentic chicken rice jus like the ones I get back at home. Yum. I just wish for more thigh meat then breast. <br/><br/>Coco sweet chilli pork: love the coco butter coating. So creamy. The balance of the sweet chilli is good. Delicious. <br/><br/>San low bee hoon: I always always love good fried bee hoon. Especially the ones that are dry and have wok heat (charcoal taste). Been looking for this for ages in Melbourne. And FINALLY... I found this. This is soooo good.<br/><br/>Will definitely return.<br/><br/><br/>

Verdict: When it comes to chicken rice, the image that comes to the fore for most is that of Hainanese chicken rice – poached chicken with pale skin, often served below room temperature. Less well known, if at all is a roast chicken version of the same iconic dish – a version I had not seen let alone tasted outside of Malaysia until I stumbled upon Ayam Chef in Southbank. Served warm, and with golden brown skin it’s always confuzzled me how its poached cousin has somehow jedi mind-tricked its way into being the dominant interpretation. Shout out to Ayam chef for helping those of us partial to the roast chook get our fix.

Quick bite ... delicious , worth $21 🙈... service is a little slow (need to wave to get attention)... but overall, I would definitely come back to try other dishes. Oh, no card less than $30!

Came here with the family and we all left full and happy! I’d almost just come back for the roti bread. Great service and value for money. Great find!

I first heard of Ayam Chef last month when I saw a friend’s husband recommending the restaurant in Facebook. After reading the rave reviews over Zomato, I was looking forward to trying this Malaysian restaurant! There’s plenty of off street parking at the restaurant and it’s free after 630 pm on week day. We came for dinner on Friday night after work and the place was not too busy. No reservation is required, just walk in. The restaurant is still having Chinese New Year decoration and many red lanterns across the restaurant which creates a nice festive atmosphere. We ordered the prawn chive pancake and chicken satay for entree, San low bee hoon, hainanese chicken rice and cold kamquat drink. The order the food was served was quite awkward. The first dish that was served was the soup that was supposed to come with the chicken rice. There was about 10 mins gap before the next dish which was the san low bee hoon. Then came the chicken rice. The entrees were serve last but came at the same time! The chicken satay was the biggest let down. The satay sauce doesn’t taste like satay sauce at all. The chicken wasn’t tasty and lack the charcoal grilled flavour. On the other hand , hainanese chicken rice was one of the speciality but I didn’t think it was authentic. Overall, the food was average and not memorable. I wouldn’t mind returning to try the other dishes but only if I’m around the area.

This comes pretty close to authentic Malaysian cuisine. We had the roast duck, curry laksa barramundi, eggplant, sizzling tofu, and sambal green beans with mince. Made me homesick. Thanks for the nostalgia.

Horrible waste of money 13 Dollars.. Rude finicky service.<br/><br/>No vegetables nothing.<br/><br/>Hokkien noodle.. stuffed up with soya sauce..<br/><br/>Tasted the worse and food is not filling..<br/><br/>HIGHLY not recommended.

Great food and quick delivery<br/>I tried the hainese chicken and was excellent<br/>The Laska was also very good and the prices are quite reasonable<br/>Not a bad little suburbian restaurant

Very nice, and well priced. Had the rendang, nasi goreng and some roti, as good as you can get anywhere. Drinks are cheap too, nice to sit outside for a meal and beverage

We were heading to Coles at South Melbourne and wanted to have a quick bite at somewhere nearby. Ayam Chef popped into mind, and with much of the dishes being perfect for sharing, it was perfect for the two of us who often can’t agree on what to order. As we have previously dined here before, albeit ages ago, we vaguely remember the chow hor fun (which should be called the sar hor fun depending on which Malaysian state you’re from) being quite delicious and decided to get that once more. Paired with the salted egg chicken ribs, these two dishes were just the right portion for two. <br/><br/>The chow hor fun was as we remembered - great “wok hei”, chewy and springy hor fun, but the sauce was a bit too runny. The chicken ribs were coated in deliciously savoury and rich salted egg, and fried to a lovely crisp. I love the hint of spiciness from the bird’s eye chilli, and also the pickled veggies on the side as palate cleanser.<br/><br/>Previous dishes that we tried include the beef rendang and oatmeal prawns. From memory, one should definitely try the prawns here - juicy and fresh. If you’re a fan of rendang, I would suggest you stick to Indosari. <br/><br/>Service is excellent and I was pleasantly surprised at how they ensured our glass was topped up with water at all times. With such hospitality and good food, It’s no wonder that this place is often packed with diners.

I was told on multiple occasions by a Malaysian colleague that I had to come here. Finally, we managed to drag ourselves to South Melbourne for a Friday lunch, and it was so worth. My favourite dish was the coconut butter prawns. It was nothing like I had ever eaten before (my colleague told me that they were from a particular town in Malaysia which had a different style of cuisine). <br/><br/>The silence was deafening at the table while everyone else was chowing down on their food. Even Malaysian colleague no.2 enjoyed the laksa (and she's incredibly hard to please). Malaysian colleague No. 2's dad also likes the laksa here. Must be good!

Well priced, well cooked food, well taken care of by staff. Win win win. Excellent M'sian food. Child friendly (high chairs and kiddy cutlery). Only downside is no eftpos below $30.

This is my local go-to for laksa and I rate it highly. They do takeaway as well which is good because it allows me to get my gear off and eat it in my jocks to prevent slurping the orange soup onto my clothes.<br/>Laksa & 5 dumplings. Can't go wrong. Tried the Char Kway Teow & Hainanese chicken which are decent as well.

Wow didn't expect to eat good Malaysian food in South Melbourne. Dishes are very nice with authentic flavours! It's a big sized restaurant and has many seats although it can get busy during peak dinner times

The restaurant had good ambience. It wasn't crowded on a Saturday night. The school prawn pancake was fried well but not very flavourful. Lobak was ok and husband loved it. The staff replaced our kumquat drinks after we mentioned that the drinks were too salty; very good customer service. The roasted chicken rice is a lot better than many places in Melbourne. It came with authentic chilli sauce.

Great local place for Malaysian food! Food is always consistent and of a high standard. It's also not too oily. Highly recommend the hainanese chicken here and the sizzling plate tofu. Service is very friendly.

Large in space and perfect for a group / family dine out. Has tried a few dishes, include char kway teow, nasi goreng, pork, chicken, and fried dumpling. They are all decently price and delicious. Will keep coming back :)

As a local resident I see this as a local favourite going forward. Efficient and clean, a nice and decent internal setting.<br/><br/>Enjoyed the eggplant sambal, the coconut butter prawns and the Nasi Le Mak. A very tasty and authentic affair!<br/><br/>

Friendly service with well presented and tasty dishes. I had the beef rendang which was great and had plenty of 'melt in your mouth' beef chunks. Friends had chicken curries that were even better. The place was packed on a Friday lunchtime too which is a good sign, so be sure to book a table. Will definitely eat here again.

We had an unplan dinner at this restaurant before sent my sister to airport. We ate traditional Malaysian sambal eggplant, oatmeal prawn, salted egg chicken and the most famous son low bee hoon. There's nothing much to say about the dishes. One word, SUPERB!!!! Will come again for next time!!!

For me, the price is quiet expensive especially for student but the food is very delicious!! The place also clean and cozy👌🏿 I love the san low fried beehoon and fried kwayteow!💕one of the best malaysian restaurant in melbourne, recommended for all asians :)

Cheap but not great food. Often eat lunch here but the takeaway is bordering on atrocious. Wish I could say better but let's call spade a spade.<br/>

This place is the only thing I miss about living in Southbank. Exceptionally well cooked Malaysian food - it will appeal to anyone who likes good Asian cuisine. Priced fairly, delivered efficiently, with nice wait staff. All in all a win/win!

After hearing so many people raving about Ayam Chef, I decided to give it a try today. Ordered the San Low Fried Beehoon for lunch. When it came, I thought it was a pancake. It looked pretty ordinary. It tasted ok. It came with some small pieces of chicken, veg and very small pieces of prawn which has been halved. Felt that for $13 a plate, they should be more generous with the ingredients. Definitely not impressed with the small pieces of halved prawns. Not expecting king prawns but they should be more decent. The staff are very friendly and the place is clean. Nice atmosphere inside the restaurant. Would probably try some other items in the menu to give it a second chance.

Chicken skewers were so tender with a tasty marinade accompanied by a distinctly thick satay sauce, almost like a paste, not oily at all. Chicken and corn soup was again thick and flavoursome - excited the taste buds for more!<br/><br/>San Chow Beenlow was authentic, wholesome and great with a glass of wine. Nasi Goreng was very good also.<br/><br/>All in all, well above average, service was exceptional, not overpriced and free parking across the street was the icing. Would definitely come back again for a midweek treat.

A very decent restaurant nearby my place. This is the to go place whenever we crave for Asian food. Must try the Nasi lemak, sambal eggplant, coco chilli pork, curry chicken, turmeric chicken!

Read so many great reviews of the San Low fried mee hoon on zomato... Finally get to try it myself today and we are extremely impressed with the flavor. It is definitely the best fried mee hoon I have in Melbourne so far!!

Great little place with authentic Malaysian flavours. Service is attentive and helpful. Try the Hawker style meals. these are absolutely delicious and full of flavour. The curry sotong was spicy and tender. If you're looking for a great place for a Malaysian meal at affordable prices this is well worth a visit

Jan 2017<br/>Finally had a chance to try out their cooking dishes with a group of friends.<br/><br/>Ordered the combination hor fun for my friends to try, again received many compliments about it, everyone love it very much.<br/><br/>The Achar was quite let down, not much flavour of it, my friend told me that our version of homemade achar was better than this.<br/><br/>They also like the oatmeal prawn, it was very fresh prawns.<br/><br/>The Nyonya chicken was quite normal, considered the nyonya sauce wasn't really stand out, not enough sour taste to it.<br/><br/>The stir fried sambal eggplant, okra and beans was good.<br/><br/>Barramundi Assam Curry, we thought the Assam curry taste wasn't reach to the level, lack of sour and spices.<br/><br/>We also love the sizzling tofu, although is a simple dish but very well balance flavour.<br/><br/><br/>Nov 2016<br/>After reading so many good reviews about the dried vermicelli, finally decided to try.<br/><br/>Love it! I love the dryness of the fried vermicelli, took away some because couldn't finish it all, even had it the next day but don't feel greasy at all. Love the chillies sauce too, I believe is home made, very generous when you asked for it.<br/><br/>My partner ordered the combination hor fun, love it too, the eggs gravy was good, great match with the green chillies pickles.<br/><br/>Very generous portion, nice and friendly staff. Good value and very happy to find another Malaysian restaurants to ease my Malaysian food desire.<br/><br/>Will definitely come back to try out other dishes.

Ahhhhh, the School Prawns. I simply cannot go past them. Ayam Chef is one of our regular takeaway joints - the Cantonese Beef is also a repeat order. I can't remember what else we usually get but I can say that you won't be disappointed if you're looking for a reasonably priced 'asian' meal in the area.

My usual haunt for a quick Sunday lunch if I feel like Malaysian food. Definitely one of the more authentic Malaysian restaurants around. <br/><br/>Nasi lemak and fried kuay teow (pic attached) are pretty legit. Can't go wrong here.

Ayam Chef was husband's choice for lunch this weekend after a fundraiser event in the city. He had visited this place for lunch with his colleagues a few times and was bragging about it. Well the first and final  point for me is that there is only one option for vegetarians.<br/><br/>Pros: Fluffy rotis , freshly prepared food<br/>Cons: Not a place for vegetarians, location not well lit, staff got mixed up while serving veg and non veg meal plates. ( there is a starter in a meal plate and my veg menu came with chicken roll and my husbands one came with a veg spring roll).

Had takeaway of Roast Chicken rice. Highlight of the dish for me was its chilli sauce which went really well with the dish. Definitely will head back to try out their other Malaysian delights

Great lunch spot near the office. A list of under $12 lunch specials as well as a full menu. I had the laksa of the lunch special list and it was great! The place smells amazing. I cannot wait to head back there for another Friday lunch. The Stir fries look really good! And there were some good meat dishes noted on the specials board. Maybe ribs next 😜

So excited by the array of food that I almost forgot to take photos. Ayam Chef is definitely a hidden gem at the St Kilda road end of Coventry street, Southbank or in May cases it is listed as being in south Melbourne as it is on the boarder of the two suburbs. <br/>The glass fronted restaurant set up in a cafe like style - wooden tables etc and has very clean ammenities. The staff are attentive, clearing away finished dishes and quickly responding to any request. The food itself is amazing. <br/>Home made tofu was one of the best I have tried throughout Melbourne and the Nonya chicken and the Tumeric chicken was moist with a crispy coating laying on top of the well balanced sauces ( so good we represent another serve). Sizzling prawns were cooked perfectly but not overly flavoured and the coconut butter pawns would satisfy any sweet tooth. As for the veggies we had Chinese broccoli with garlic (yum cooked well and containing just a hint of garlic. The gado gado is definitely a winner. The peanut sauce on an mix of veggies and egg was on the sweet side and the only comment is that it could have done with some extra crushed nuts on top to add more texture. <br/>The prices and sizes are reasonable, costing only $24 each for the 7 of us and none of us were left Hungary. Great night and we will be back again. As a group of 21 we voted it a 4.5 ( with only the beef Randang letting them down. Highly recommended

A fantastic little Malaysian restaurant for either a sit down meal or take away. Service was superb, with high chair and plastic cutlery provided for toddler, and attention to detail. The food was really tasty, well priced and quite big portions for the dishes we had. Highly recommend.<br/>Yesterday, we  had takeaway from this restaurant.  For take away, it is fast and no long waiting times.The quality had not changed. <br/>Recommendations: Nyonya Chicken,  School Prawns,  Curry Sotong (Fried Calamari), Original Spare Ribs, Chow Hor Fun

I love the food here! It is authentic, tasty and quick to be served. The cafe is pleasantly modern, gets nice lunch time sun and the service is friendly and efficient. I have been here twice and really enjoyed both meals. The CKT is very good and worth a try. Don't forget to ask for sambal on the side, it is delicious!

Had take away from this place and it was nice! I had the chow hor fun, which was very tasty and generous. My partner had the chicken rice and was delightfully surprised that the soup came with the take away as well! Will be going back to try more

One of the really good Malaysians foodie place around.<br/>Especially recommend their Sam low fried bee hoon and hor fun, made to the right flavouring.<br/><br/>Slightly on the price you side but with the quality! <br/><br/>I will try their dishes next time!

Ayam Chef provided us a very nice experience with tasty food and good service. I recon it's one of the good Malaysian restaurants in town. The Nyonya chicken had crispy skin with tender meat and exotic Nyonya sauce underneath. The Malaysian chilli prawns was a delight with sweet and chilli, and the San Low Fried Beehoon was melted in your mouth straight away!

(English Reviews Below)<br/><br/>那么好吃的马来西亚菜我居然才刚发现！罪过罪过… 第一次吃就在我心里的马来菜里占了个重要位置，细细说来我点的每一道菜…<br/>柔佛三楼干米粉：也许一个『够锅气』就是一盘高质量炒米粉最好的形容，悠悠的炭香裹着根根分明的米粉，干却不柴，我想柔佛街头最火爆的炒米粉档也就是这样了吧。<br/>芝麻娘惹炸鸡：『娘惹』指17-18世纪新马一带的中国移民和原住民通婚后的混血后代，所以『娘惹菜』也就是中国烹饪手法与新马食材的结合物。这道炸鸡肉嫩皮脆不油腻，柑汁花生辣酱作为浇汁带来一股浓郁的南洋风味。<br/>燕麦虾：燕麦酥到炸！单吃都是极品！虾酥到炸鲜到炸！可以连皮带壳一起吃掉！记得一定要点啊啊啊啊啊~~<br/>姜饭：本来想吃海南鸡，但胃有限又不想浪费食物，只能舍弃白斩鸡索性点了碗姜饭，也可以叫它『鸡饭』，白米用鸡油鸡汤姜蒜熬煮，油光闪亮，粒粒分明，现在只是试着去回忆那饭的味道已经让我口水分泌，相信我，你绝对不想和朋友分享这碗饭。<br/><br/>One of the best Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne! I can’t believe that I didn’t find it earlier. <br/>San low fried beehoon: loooove the charred flavor! You could feel each of the vermicelli dances on your tongue. Absolutely top level fried noodle!<br/>Nyonya chicken: crispier than normal fried chicken but not greasy at all. The mandarin chili sauce was very aromatic and flavorful. <br/>Cereal oatmeal prawn: CRUNCH-Y!! you could eat the whole dish including the prawn shells and heads, actually they were the most umami parts.<br/>Ginger rice: instead of ordering the hainanese chicken rice dish we just had the rice itself (I wish I could have the chicken as well, sigh). Now I’m still regretting shared with my friend trust me :(  it’s too good to share. <br/>Kueh dada: a bit too sweet for me, but a good dessert still.

Impeccable service. When you come often enough, the staff here remembers your little quirks and requests. i.e: what kind of chilli you like, warm/cold water... Small little details, that makes all the difference. <br/><br/>San low bee hoon is as close as it gets to what you'd get from Johor, Malaysia. The chau hor fun/wa tan hor is also super yummy. Have this done with beef for an additional $1.

I went in a party of 10 on a busy weekend night. The service was generally fast and responsive. Noise levels were high...as expected. We ordered a number of different dishes to share. Let me give you the highlights. Roti was fluffy and as good as I am used to at a mamak stall in KL. No dahl to accompany it though. Beef rendang was excellent, so was the Assam Barramundi. Okra Sambal was also a hit. Most of the hawker dishes did good homage to what you'll find in the streets of Petaling Jaya or Penang. Five spice chicken was a little of a let down. Lacked any real punch. Hainanese chicken rice also was also a little below expectation. Overall though, I enjoyed the food, atmosphere and speedy service and will definitely be back again for Malaysian cravings.

Good Malaysian food at a reasonable price. Today is my 4th time, food is consistently good. Service is good too. Strongly recommended to anyone whiohave not been here before

Best roti + peanut sauce! BYO policy is awesome too. We regularly get the Nasi Goreng and the Gai Lan (ask for no MSG). Staff are always friendly and accomodating; stoked to have this one in the neighbourhood.

Great food, very reasonable prices, decent serving sizes, clean, very fast cooking time. Couldn't fault our first visit to this restaurant today, will definitely visit again if we are in the area!

Went there for lunch and ordered sambal eggplant, nyonya chicken, and prawn kamhiong, and i found my new fav malaysian resto :D their food are clean and not oily, good amount of herbs and chilli, so yummy! <br/>Im sure now that im gonna hv my bday party there next week, yay!<br/><br/>---------- 15 march------------<br/>My bday was excellent, the food was awsome and service was immaculate, fast, friendly and attentive, love this place so so much! :D

Enjoyed the malaysian rendang curry for lunch. It was full of lovely Malaysian flavour. The staff is friendly and did a good recommendation of what to eat

Ayam chef have the best curry taste, really love their chicken curry either with roti or rice or nasi lemak.<br/>Really friendly staff. the place it is a bit a walk from tram stop, however it is worthed. If you say papa rich is great, that's mean you haven't try this place yet.

Now my new local, I eat here 2 times a week.<br/>The Pepper Beef and Nasi Lemak would be my favourite items, but ive tried most on the menu.<br/>Does get a little busy sometimes.<br/>But when I order takeaway its ready in 10 minutes which is great.<br/>Price is on the higher side compared to other local Asian places but I still go here.<br/>Id recommend eating with a few friends and choosing a selection of dishes.<br/>Lovely place to eat in or out.

This is one of our local as well. If you are asian and you miss those flavours from Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei. This is the place to go. I am in love with their hainanese chicken rice, nasi lemak (achar is so yummy) and the lady fingers cooked in sambal is so good. Always really quick and great place. Highly recomend if you live close by.

My usual haunt for good Malaysian food as it is nearby the residence. The Crunchy sotong is to die for, extremely tasty and perfectly made. The staff are usually efficient and well mannered, however on my last take out order, they got the order wrong. I had to return to the restaurant to return it and they proceeded to blame me for their error, even though the receipt and what the lady said when she handed me the order was for the right dish. When I got home, I found the dish they remade was probably the worst dish I've had in recent memory. Slightly peeved at the whole experience though will probably go back in future, just need to ensure/check that they get the right dish the first time around so they don't give me a substandard dish after.

The 3.9 rating was quite over rated. Good was incredibly average to disappointing, and the service was robotic & distant. Thumbs down - we won't be back.

Only less than 5 minutes walk from my home, Ayam Chef is way above the average local restaurant offering big selection of Chinese, Malaysian, and Thai inspired dishes. My personal favourite is their black pepper beef. Thin slices of tender beef accompanied with adamant flavoured black pepper sauce really warms up your pallet. Their chicken curry with roti is pretty good, and the laksa is quite good as well. Pretty good and neat service and good ambiance.

Had dinner there on a Friday night. Even though the cafe is busy, staff were still very tentative. Excellent Malaysian food for very reasonable prices. I had curry calamari for entre and curry laksa for main. Both dishes were perfectly made. Flavoursome but not too spicy. Will definitely be going back soon.

Always good service. The food is fast, reasonably priced and very tasty. Have always been happy with everything here! Place can get busy, but the turnover of tables is quite fast.

I live above this place and so I eat here pretty often, I have never had a bad meal, takeaways are served quickly and eating in is always a great experience!<br/>The food is a great mix of traditional Malaysian cuisine with some clever takes on some dishes and the hawker section of the menu is fantastic.Favourites are the Char Kway Teow, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Black Pepper Beef!

Very quick food preparation, good selection of food and flavours, polite staff ... Great for those last minute I-don't-want-to-cook nights. Can get quite busy so book if you have a larger group.

Yummy food. My friends and i love eating here a lot. Fave dishes are the home made tofu, small prawns, and the sambal eggplant. Friendly staff. Nice location.

Loved this place! Sitting on a very quiet location in South Melbourne and conveniently close to my house. Their food is packed with flavor and service was nice. I highly recommend their school prawns which were to die for. I tried their nasi goreng and one of their lunch specials, which were both very good. Portions are generous and prices reasonable.

This place does a great laksa. Haven't tried any of other their other dishes as I keep going back just for the laksa. And the beer. I am usually the only Anglo person in the place, which is a good sign!

Fave dish is the homemade tofu. Also love the entrée of fried small prawns you can eat whole. Servings are good for 2. Service is great and the place is neat and relaxed.

We came here for dinner and although service is good and environment was good, the food was a let down. The hainanese chicken rice, the chicken was cold and the laksa was sub standard

A lovely invite to come along and have dinner at Ayam Chef was a great surprise, imagine a fantastic Malaysian restaurant practically on my doorstep and I never knew! I felt like a fool when we got there and realised the guys from Ayam Chef had been there for a year and we had no idea. But now we have found it we are going to be regulars, I loved it! The menu is a long list of wonderful dishes across Hawkers delights such as Nasi Lemak, Nasi Goreng, Hainanese Chicken and fried Kueh Teow. There are chilli prawns, curries, pancake, nyonya chicken, sambal eggplant and so much more. The roti and peanut sauce we some of the best ever, beautiful fluffy, homemade roti with dark, rich peanut sauce. Gorgeous little curry puffs with potatoes, carrot, onion with curry spices in golden brown pastry – perfection. Oh Chicken Satay – Ayam Chef’s Flame grilled Chicken Breast Satay with peanut sauce is so good, succulent charred chicken and sweet, rich peanut sauce – happy days. The recommended, only one in Melbourne – San Low Fried Beehoon – Fried rice vermicelli noodles with egg, choy sum, pork slices, prawn and fishcake was my absolute favourite. I love vermicelli noodles and though this was a appearingly simple dish it was so flavoursome and I didn’t really want to share it!! It also came with a kick ass chilli sauce that I loved. Coconut butter prawns – wok Fried Prawns tossed in buttery coconut crumble with fresh chilli & coriander, super fresh prawns, great flavours, quite sweet but very nice. Thai Fish – Deep Fried Cod Fish Cutlet topped with cucumber, onion, chilli, fresh coriander and tangy Thai chilli sauce. Generous serve of wonderful fresh, fried cod, watch out for those bones! Loved the fresh salad on the top and the spice. Beef Rendang, hunks of beef in a creamy, spicy rendang, perfect with at beautiful roti. And now for dessert, I love sago and this would be one of my all time favourites, striking green little pearls in a delicate coconut milk sauce – sensational. Gr

Disgusting service. The food here definitely is not good enough to warrant how appalling the service here is. We had to wave them down for water as well as go inside to ask to order when there were 5 staff standing around doing nothing. We ordered with only one other table before a huge influx of people came in. After sitting and waiting and watching table after table get their food we followed up with a waitress who said she'd check and come back. She came out with bowls and didn't even update us until we chased her down. She was totally unapologetic that our order has been forgotten. One main was brought out with one tiny bowl of rice for 4 people when we had ordered four and waited ages for the rest to trickle out. On that note they also got our very simple beverage order wrong. Massive waste of time and felt like our business didn't matter. Would not recommend to anyone who cares about a quality dining experience. Especially when there are so many better Asian restaurants close to the city.

One look at the Sambal Eggplant ($17) and I knew it was going to be bursting with flavour. The plump strips of eggplant glistened with oil, and each piece was infused with the briny, exotic flavour of sambal – chilli, fried shallots, and shrimp. For a little variance on the texture, the eggplant was stir-fried with slippery pieces of okra, and beans that still had their crunch. It was a quintessentially Malaysian dish that was perfect with rice.

Ayam Chef is located underneath a block of modern apartments on a side street, off St Kilda road. The side street is called Conventry St and the local area is classified as South Bank. Not South Melbourne. As we discovered by mistake, there is certainly a slightly larger Conventry St in an area classified as South Melbourne, less than 5 minutes away by car. When we finally got to Ayam Chef, we were 30mins late for our intended booking, but they were still nice enough to have kept our table free. Dinner service was in full swing and the restaurant was almost full, and there were a few people loitering around waiting for takeaway. The brightly lit interior, and the bright green furnishings give the place a really fresh feel, and with a little imagination, it almost felt like being in a neighbourhood shop in Petaling Jaya. The menu featured many classics and most of my favourites, including coconut butter prawns, which I couldn’t resist ordering. However, with T in tow, I was glad to see that it also had a few Pan-Asian dish that would be more familiar to him. Beyond appeasing T, I also thought this was a smart menu decision by Ayam Chef given its location in a culturally diverse neighbourhood where residents will have varying levels of familiarity with Malaysian and Asian cuisine. For T, I ordered the san choi bao, and a homemade tofu dish topped with stri fry. Also, I was momentarily distracted in my perusal of the menu by a sizzling platter which whizzed past us, and as I always relish any chance to feed T red meat, I ordered some Cantonese beef for us as well. Now let me pause here in my narrative to clarify something. Couple of things actually, the first being that we had been invited to dine as guests of Ayam Chef. But more importantly, we didn’t actually embark on an Herculean task of devouring an entrée and 3 main sized dishes between the two of us. Against my innate gluttonous tendencies, I asked for half serves, as I didn’t want to waste their food. The servi

My favourite though was the coconut crumbed prawns. These were fat, juicy and came with just a hint of chilli to get the taste buds fired up, with the coconut crumble adding flavour and texture. Served on what I think was a rice cracker and definitely incredibly morish.