Great little spot in the Arboretum area! There was plenty of parking and more seating than expected inside. I will say, they did a pretty consistent takeout business, as we observed, though we chose to eat at the restaurant. My partner was craving rendang, and this was one of the only places we found that serves it in Charlotte. It was delicious, as well as the ginger scallion duck. We also ordered soup (classic) and they have a bar as well. Service was quick and efficient. They were friendly and gave the right amount of attention. A solid experience on our end! read more

Malaya Kitchen - Ginger & Scallion Duck - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Disappointed as I was excited based on reviews. I ordered fried rice and general tso's chicken. The food was edible, but I would not describe it as good. It tastes exactly how the photos look...white rice with a scrambled egg (no seasoning or soy sauce), and plain breaded fried chicken with a little sauce. Edible, but not good. Unfortunately, chain restaurants serve better. It's tough to find good authentic Asian food, but this was the worst I've had in Charlotte. read more

Malaya Kitchen - General Taos - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Eaten here a few times. Great service and food is delicious. I love the summer rolls and their bok choy!

Malaya Kitchen is one of my go to restaurants in Charlotte. I love Asian cuisines and have been eating it since a very early age. I have been to Malaysia and I can assure that their food is authentic and expertly prepared. Everything I have had has been excellent but there are several dishes that I enjoy tremendously and go back for over and over. My absolute favorite dish is Beef Rendang. Other dishes that I really like are Belican Beef with Okra, Spicy Jalapeno Beef, Chili Chicken, Mango Chicken (especially when mangoes are in season) Curry Chicken and Spicy Cilantro Chicken. They have daily lunch specials from 11AM - 3PM and the food comes out very quickly. The atmosphere is nice and the service is always fantastic. read more

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Perfect meal and very friendly waiter. Really appreciated the hospitality. I got the Char Kway Teaw and Roti Canai. Both classics and they hit the spot! read more

Tried a variety of dishes and I felt like the dishes were average for the most part. The staff was friendly and we got our food fairly quickly. There is plenty of seating inside and many options on the menu. Just the food itself, I felt like didn't really pop out at me. They were all solid dishes, but nothing that special or unique that would prevent me from visiting a different place to get the same thing. read more

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1/3/26 I wouldn't get pad Thai again. It's not that it's not tasty it's just not a usual preparation of pad thai . Give it 6/10. Also, calamari is mostly breading 5/10. I'll stick with my faves below .... read more

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Malaya Kitchen was fantastic, fresh flavors, beautifully cooked dishes, and super friendly service. Every plate tasted vibrant and authentic. I'll definitely be back. read more

Tried for the first time and would not go anywhere else. The food was absolutely delicious, light, fresh and perfect mixture of flavors. Cannot wait to try more dishes. read more

Did something change with this restaurant? We ordered a 5 things and nothing had any flavor. Used to be my go to.

Descent food. Everything we ordered was pretty flavorful. The only complaint was that the spicy dishes were not spicy enough. Server was friendly and checked in with us frequently. Good place for casual gatherings. It's not a fine dinning environment. Price reasonable. read more

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One of the best Asian spot in Charlotte! The owners are from the food Mecca of Malaysia so they know their stuff and apparently they've been around for over a decade! Was excited to share with my family who's visiting that CLT does have Malaysian food and seeing authentic dish like belacan okra brings me back home. Obvi they add some other stuff to improve because it's Charlotte (aka not to be compared to scenes like NYC) but overall, will come back here whenever I want to share my culture with peeps in CLT :) Tip: they cook FAST - deff an efficient system since this means they prep everything earlier on Dishes 1) Beef Rendang: 7/10. They deff made this earlier in the day and then heat up when serving. They cooked the beef well as they did not overcook after reheat 2) Belacan Okra: 8/10 - this hits the spot because belacan sauce is authentic to Malaysian cuisine with its shrimp paste chili base 3) hainan chicken: 7/10 - Malaysia is a melting pot so you get flavors and dishes inspired by all kinds of Asian from Indian, Muslim, and different types of Chinese cuisine like this from Hainan 4) Roti Canai: 7/10 Indian inspired - crispier and crepe like 5) sarang burong: 6/10 taro seemed to be fried with old oil but also could be because we're there at late around 9pm 6) chicken satay: 5/10 chicken is a bit dry, woudl try beef next time since they ran out read more

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Food was 10/10 it is a must try if your in charlotte food was fresh tasty and chicken was crunchy.

Our family goes here at least once a week. The foods on the menu here are comfort foods for us. The ambiance is casual family friendly. The waitstaff here knew us since our kids were toddler and know our preferences for drinks to hot sauces so we know the service here will always be great. It does get very busy here Friday night so the kitchen can get backed up so we try to avoid that. Our favorite dishes here are: any curries and noodles dishes. Yum! read more

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This place has endured the test of time for good reason. Specific dishes made for the people that miss them, served generously and at a reasonable price. read more

I can't say enough good things about Malaya Kitchen. The service is friendly and fast and the food is fantastic. My favorite is the pad Thai but I have tried a couple of other dishes and been pleasantly surprised by all of it. The portion sizes are generous which is great because I love having leftovers. The environment of the restaurant is casual and typically pretty quiet. It's a good place to go for a date night or for a meal with a friend. read more

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Best hainanese chicken on the east coast Best fried softshell crab on north Carolina 10/10 read more

Great experience with pick up. This time we went with two lunch specials - padhimmingpan chicken and shrimp with eggplant. Both were spicy and delicious. read more

Malaya Kitchen - Pad Himmgpan Chicken Lunch - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Malaya kitchen! Love this place! I visit very frequently 2x a week and it's a staple in my household like bread and butter. Hands down the best food in the arboretum doesn't matter what you get. read more

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Malaya Kitchens food is absolutely amazing and the flavors are so unique. Nothing can compare. The Service is great.They nurture and create relationships with the customers, which many restaurants fail to do. They bring the food out super quick, and they are so kind and sweet about any inconveniences. The ambiance is absolutely beautiful, it feels like you are at home when you first walk in. The smells and aroma of the entire restaurant smell amazing, making you crave the food more. read more

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My dining mate and I really enjoyed dining at the Malaya Kitchen. The menu features Malaysian and Asian cuisine from appetizers, soups, salads, rice and noodle dishes, plus vegetarian options as well as beef, seafood and poultry dishes. My dining mate ordered the Thai ice tea , hot and sour soup plus a lunch special of ginger and scallion chicken. I ordered the lunch special of chicken with Chinese eggplant plus egg drop soup. A little dish of salad came with the lunch specials plus a side of rice ( white or brown, fried rice was an extra charge) and soup was not included with lunch specials. Food was very tasty, good portions, plated nicely, came out hot, reasonable prices. We enjoyed everything and will return. The staff was friendly and attentive and the restaurant with a comfortable atmosphere. read more

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Not for me. The three different dishes tasted the same. The service was fine, except that dishes could use flavor distinctions. read more

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We don't live in Charlotte but every time we are in town, we visit Malaya Kitchen. Both the food and service here are fantastic and good value for money, as the portions are very generous. The lovely couple that own this restaurant are so welcoming that they make you feel like a guest in their home. I love that Malaysian food is a wonderful fusion of Indian, Chinese, and its own unique flavors. Malaya Kitchen makes everything exceptionally well. read more

$18 for a "dinner" entree that's just some raw broccoli, a cup of rice and bland chicken.

The food here is so good. I could order anything and it would be delicious. We got this chicken thing and it is so good. Very tender and delicious. The service here is good. They are nice and will answer any questions you have. The ambiance is very family oriented. Cozy. read more

Malaya Kitchen - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

The food was fantastic! Generous portions and quick service. The staff was welcoming when we arrived.

Came in on a weekday at an off hour like 4pm. We were seated immediately and the food came out pretty quickly. The chicken tofu was my husband's favorite. It was flavorful and the chicken was very tender. The duck noodles I felt were decent. Exactly what I expected. Nothing more, nothing less. The roti canai was a disappointment. My husband and I always get roti canai whenever it's on a menu. This one fell flat. The actual roti fell flat flat in terms of the texture. If you want addictive roti canai, we both love the ones from Hawkers. I don't know why their's is so good because it's an Asian fusion and we usually aren't fans of Asian fusions. Anyway, the one here was just average at best. The sweet mango with sticky rice was mediocre as well. I think we were just craving this because we hadn't had it in a while. I personally felt like there was too much condensed milk poured over it and it overpowered the rice. We are willing to try other dishes but overall thought this place was an average place. read more

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Every time we go there the service n the food is excellent -There curry foods are very good. I get fried tofu / mixed vegetables n white rice. Love their fresh lettuce / carrots salad they give you w/ their homemade dressing- read more

Malaya's kitchen has become a family favorite! I discovered this place a few years when I lived in the TRIAD. I would come to Charlotte monthly to visit family. My brother-in-law took us there and since moving to Charlotte, I probably go there monthly or every other month. The Hainan chicken is my daughter's favorite dish. I do have to say, the amount of rice is not sufficient for the amount of chicken. Most times the rice container is half full. The same portion issue recently happened with the Thai iced tea. Service is good. Ambiance is good. Food is always good! read more

Malaya Kitchen - Thai Ice Tea-not a full cup - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Being this is the only Malaysian restaurant in the area. They do a great job, they could easily just put the basic out and not care too much, but they have good standard on their food. The famous Hainan chicken are full of favors. The restaurant is on the smaller size, but service is excellent. read more

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Outstanding. A mainstay in the community for many years; a life saver during Covid . Always accommodating, and all dishes are spot on. Can't go wrong for traditional Asian! read more

This is my 2nd shot around and we absolutely loved it. The first time we had a delicious spicy yellow curry and the green curry. Duck is an option which is a plus for many. The service has been spot on during both occasion. I'm very glad they reopened for dine in, as it's a drive to get here. Easily one of my favorite restaurants in the Charlotte area read more

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I've been to Malaya Kitchen in the distant past (over a decade ago!), but never at this Arboretum location. Think the location I used to go to is no longer in business? Anyway, I finally had the chance to stop by for a take-out meal. Well, first of all, they practice good Covid-19 precautions; and they were also good at taking the order by phone. Also, within 15 minutes, the food was ready! Now comes the big disappointment. I ordered the Char Kway Teow, the Malaysian version of Chow Fun (Chinese) and Pad See Ew (Thai). Their Char Kway Teow (with Shrimp) looked delicious enough, with generous portions as well...BUT! Sady, it was totally flavorless!! Totally out of my character, but I only had one fourth of it, and trashed the rest. Yes, THAT bad! BTW, I realized that there was a packet of soy sauce in the bag (after I decided I wasn't going to have any more of it). Guess dumping some of that soy sauce could have helped...but honestly, I feel that it's the Chef's job to flavor up the meal at least a little bit before the delivering it. Don't think I've ever had such a bland, tasteless Asian dish ever! It wasn't just the Noodles dish either. I also ordered the Vegetable Samosas on the side...and they, too, were just awful. In fact, both Samosas looked over-cooked, with way too thick of a batter. I only took 2 bites of one, and trashed the rest. I really wanted to love this place. Truly, everything else was great...but the food was just not right. Maybe they had an off day, but if this is the norm, Malaysian food is way too bland for me. Think I may stick with the more spicy Chinese version of Chow Fun or the Thai version of Pad See Ew. Based on just the food that I had today, I would have rated even lower (given how I barely ate any of it??)...but again, I thought everything else about them seemed above board. Fast, friendly service, great Covid practices, reasonable pricing, comfy ambiance, etc. etc. But again, the food was...just NOT good (at least today)! Quite the bummer, but I can't rate any higher than 2 stars for today's experience. read more

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Me and my family have been going to Malaya ever since I was a child and it has always been a family favorite. The staff is so friendly and the food is amazing. The fried rice is the best I've ever had and the char kway teow is incredible. You should definitely give them a try! read more

This place walks the line between three and four stars; some dishes have been tasty and some have been a total miss. Here's my POV on things I've ordered the past 5 times -the ma po was okay, would have been better with meat. - the Taiwanese noodle soup was good but needs that mala flavor for an extra kick - the mee goreng tasted predominately of carrots and was not at all spicy - the laksa curry was good but a heavy dish - the roti canai is good but would be better with a thicker curry - the pho was bland and the noodles fell apart They're doing too much with the menu and should instead focus on doing less but better. I'd love to taste stronger flavors and some proper spicy kick. read more

We came here for lunch and it was pretty quiet while we were there. We started with appetizers of the Malay Roll and the Roti Canai. I loved the Malay Roll. The Roti Canai was pretty good too. The curry sauce was a little thinner than I'm used to. For entrees, we got the Curry Laksa and the Char Kway Teow. The Curry Laksa had a good broth flavor. Some of the vegetables didn't really seem to go with the broth flavor though (tomatoes, okra, and eggplant weren't my favorite). I loved the Char Kway Teow. I also tried a bit of the Mee Goreng that my friend ordered. This was my favorite dish of all of them. We asked for everything spicy, but nothing was very spicy. It only had a slight amount of spice. The portion sizes were huge. We took home leftovers and had them for lunch today. The service was pretty fast and friendly. The one thing I thought was a little weird was the food didn't seem quite warm enough. A couple of the dishes were almost luke warm. If you're in south Charlotte and like Asian food, you should check this place out. read more

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Visiting area and found this Malaysian food restaurant. Ordered extra spicy garlic soft shell crab. Good+ but not that hot. Also had asked in order comment to make green bean balacan also spicy. Not at all. Disappointed, but not surprised read more

Don't be fooled by its simple, inconspicuous exterior, this little family-run Malaysian joint packs quite a wallop. Although somewhat hidden among a bevy of other small storefront independently-run restaurants, it is definitely worth finding at the insanely busy Arboretum Shopping Center. It should also be noted that it and many of its neighbors have been in business for many years in their same locations. The menu is packed with hard-to-find Asian options including Thai, Cantonese, Mongolian and, of course, Malaysian dishes. Not that adventurous? No worries, they also offer your standard Chinese American staples like Hunan Chicken, Beef & Broccoli and Fried Rice . They're all delicious and that's where I started, but thank goodness I didn't stop there! On my most recent dinner visit, I ordered the Crispy Duck for $19 (hey I decided to live a little, I had a BOGO coupon.) It was outstanding! The portion size was generous, it was a perfectly prepared crispy brown, and beautifully plated. On most visits, my wife and/or I order the Char Kway Teow ($13), a Malaysian dish consisting of flat noodles topped by shrimp, bean sprouts and eggs. We also add broccoli. It is a fabulous dish made known to us by our former Chinese house guest who loved this place. Every visit is an adventure. Service is also consistently warm and friendly and the sanitation score seems to consistently be in the high 90's (97.5 this visit). Their chocolate covered buttermints (served with the check) in lieu of your run-of-the-mill, stale fortune cookies is also a nice touch. If I nitpick, my only real gripe is that the bench seating along the walls are in dire need of an upgrade, but that's not gonna keep me away. It's definitely a Gotta Try! I give it an easy 4 and a half stars. read more

Malaya Kitchen - Crispy Duck - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Not much service. They just took my order and brought out my food. I asked for bottled water. Had I known it was Great Value brand I would have drank Tap. Everything was great until there was small piece of hair inside the rice, resembled and eye lash. I was pretty much done with the meal so no Biggie.Told the server and they bought me my check. No sorry No discount. However I still tipped. read more

Malaya Kitchen - Mongolian Beef Lunch - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

I come here for the food. It is sooo good and they do it their own way, unlike others. The dim lighting and cleanliness of the place make for a cozy date. The atmosphere isn't high-end, but very cozy nonetheless, and the prices are very good too. read more

Malaya Kitchen - General Tso - Noodles Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina