So was in Boston for the weekend to come back to my roots and romp around the city that I called home for the first 4 years of my work career. Even beyond that, I actually lived in Boston at a very young age and there are many memories of the landmarks, museums, and restaurants that I had hit up with my parents (as they had their favorites). This is where Royal East comes in as it is one of the very few restaurants I remember from my childhood that STILL EXISTS. It was my parent's favorite place back in the day and I remember this really tall waiter who would fly around the room because he was so tall. But I digress. We were in the Cambridge area and I just couldn't pass the opportunity to hit this spot up and see if my memories would taste the same in reality. Parking is available on street, in a parking lot in the back, etc. The joint itself looked a bit run down on the inside but they still had the same plates, the same table arrangements, heck maybe even the same tables. The service as always, lightning fast and no frills. As this was a trip down memory lane, I went straight for the items I recall from my memory. Ordered the hot and sour soup, the crispy tangerine beef, deep fried tofu shrimp cakes, and then ordered a roti to try something new. All of the original plates were pretty much as I had remembered it so it hit me very nostalgically. Each of them good and a bite from my childhood. I think the dishes clearly give more of an Americanized Chinese feel but still better than your average Chinese joint. If I had to venture a guess for the sub - 4 star review on yelp its because this place is trying to do everything with the menu. Kudos for trying to hit multiple palates but probably confusing for some, Still im glad this place has endured time (literally decades) as it is a place that I will always remember from my childhood. read more

Another satisfying meal at Royal East. Enjoyed the special lunar new year Yee Sang (Rainbow Salad) dressed in plum sauce, and a variety of other dishes. Whole fish (grey sole) in spicy sambal sauce is a standout, and the crispy egg yolk shrimp is one of our favorite dishes here. Our server Nick is terrific, and Karen and Evans are such welcoming hosts. Looking forward to the upcoming renos and updates that the restaurant is making in the coming month- see you again in April! read more

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Omg... I enjoyed EVERYTHING that we ordered here! Wow! It was late lunch and quiet. Service was prompt, friendly and attentive. Now for the food.... Hainanese chicken, silky and perfectly poached.. loved it. Roasted duck was good, stingray fish with sambal sauce was spicy yet incredible and kangkong belacan was just perfection and a really tasty nasi goreng. Large portions too. I can only wish I live closer. And got a discount for paying cash. I'll be back, hopefully soon. read more

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Walking around Cambridge MA we came across this Malaysian restaurant. The ambiance is pretty practical with lots of space indoors. Apparently the restaurant is building some outdoor seating but that may come later. Let's get to the food - the Roti Chennai was good. The owner is from Ipoh Malaysia so we had to go with her suggestion of the Choy Kway Teow. Overall the food is good with a definite authentic streak. I would certainly recommend it to anyone in the area. read more

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I think if you have not ever had Malaysian food it would be ok. Did not try the non-Malay items. Good service though. read more

This place like 10 years ago had excellent food. New ownership the place is abysmal! I'm contacting BBB because I was unbelievably disrespected and discriminated against. I asked for a pot of tea. The waiter said No Tea anymore. Then the table next to me has tea!?!!! I was fuming. The waiter then mumbles some nonsense about Cambridge bylaws... WHAT?!?!?! The beef w oyster sauce tasted rotten btw..STAY AWAY read more

Black pepper steak tips (chef specialty) is pretty good, slightly spicy and flavorful. Hainanese chicken rice comes in yellow non greasy rice very different from SE Asian white shiny sinfully tasty fragrant rice- so manage your expectations accordingly, and order the known good dishes. read more

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The food is overpriced and nothing special you couldn't get take out. The tofu and eggplant was fried in a sweet and sour sauce that tasted straight from the bottle, and the other veggies were cooked in similarly one note sauces. The daily special, fresh bamboo shoots and bok choy, was a scam for $26 (they didn't tell us the price before encouraging us to order the special). Basically just seasoned with salt, pepper, water and cornstarch, nothing to write home about and completely wasting the potential of those fresh bamboo shoots. The popiah was ok but it had eggs (not listed in menu) so not vegan. Scallion pancakes had no scallion flavor and were just hard dense triangles of fried dough. Total bill was more than $65, and was definitely not worth it. You do get a small discount for cash, so that's nice but still not worth coming here for. read more

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Just had the best lunch at Royal East! We had the hot & sour soup, moo shu chicken, spicy tofu & veggies, and crispy tangerine beef - all were amaaazing! We cannot wait to come back and try more of their menu. I can easily see why they have been in business for over 30 yrs! Portions were generous and service was great, everyone was so friendly and helpful in recommending new dishes to try. We don't have nice white tablecloth Chinese/thai/malaysian places in Baltimore so this was such a treat. The ambiance was perfect for a meal with friends or a business lunch. read more

Fantastic Malaysian and Thai food, we come here often for the past 15 years .Choy Kway Teow read more

The food was tasty. The service was great! The place was pretty chill and quiet. The guy that attended me was nice and sweet! I would come again and try new things !!! read more

Royal East Restaurant - I ordered White rice and General Gau's chicken and a side wings. It was ok - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

I wanted something crispy as close to KFC wings as possible and this did good! Not the same but quick, yummy, and straight forward service. Lots of takeout activity but I ate inside. Asked for chili oil and side of rice and was very happy. Other dishes looked good! I know It's not super authentic but one of those times where you have a major craving. read more

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very disappointed. Peking duck was dry like jerky. it must have been sitting on a rack for several days as usually ducks are never dry due to fat. all other items we ordered were equally sub par. they must have changed a cook. after spenta lot of money, we were very disappointed. will not go back. read more

Royal East Restaurant - Duck was so dry, most parts were unbeatable. Terrible waste of money. - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

For the 2nd time in a row I have gotten poor service and garbage food from this location. I understand they are under new ownership and it shows. The service is God-awful the attitude is God-awful and the food is God-awful. Avoid read more

Yes, I know that the dish has ground up shrimp and not whole shrimp. As mentioned in original review, I have eaten this several times at your restaurant. There was no ground up shrimp either sandwiched in the eggplant or fallen out into the sauce. There was zero shrimp/ shrimp paste. And the pic does not show shrimp anywhere. Thanks for addressing my review a year later. Edit: editing my review since it was an isolated incident. The owner has been very gracious with his acknowledgment of my experience. I hope to go back there in person for work lunches and enjoy their food as I have in the past. read more

Royal East Restaurant - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

1st Dining is allowed here. 2nd there are a few places open on July 4th, and the brunch place that I planned to go has 1 hour wait, yes, 1 hour! So I walked up to here around 11:50am as the first customer, no fuss! 3rd, the mild spicy fish dish was delicious, when I asked how kind of veggie they put in the soup, the manager gave me extra broccolis at no charge! They just won a returning customer! read more

Royal East Restaurant - Fillets of Fish with Vegetables Soup - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

waited for 5 min and had to look for the host/waiter. Waiter didn't say a word to us, just led us to a table. Then took forever to get an order in, when we did the lady forced us to get the stingray insisting many times how good it was and asking "are you sure? you really should..." I finally gave in, my mistake, it ended up being bad and we had like two bites of the enormous thing. Singaporean noodles was extremely disappointing. The chicken satay was so dry as well. The entire meal costed a lot for two people. Don't know what was worse the service or the food.... Ambiance was okay, just very empty and no music. read more

I have been eating at Royal East for over 30 years. I ordered the Suan La Chow Show, Singapore rice noodles, Har Gow and Roti Canai. The Suan La Chow Show was served lukewarm to cold and was just awful. Singapore rice noodles were good although a small serving. The Har Gow was barely passable. The roti canai was served cold which made it even worse than the Suans. The cold bread was tough and unpleasant. Overall, most of the food served appears to be reheated frozen dishes that can be bought in an Asian supermarket. The service was not much better despite the restaurant being close to empty. This was a sad return to a restaurant where we once held a spectacular wedding dinner for 140 people. read more

My family has been going here for years, so there is probably some bias in my review. Though, given that my [Chinese side of the] family has been coming here for literally decades, I think that says something, too. Some of the best dishes I've ever had here are Szechuan beef and full fish -- including fish head soup. Really delightful. read more

Royal East Restaurant - Catered food from my grandmother 's 90th bday. They did a great job! - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

My guess is that their Malaysian type foods are good but the others aren't 1. Roti canai - dough was very good and curry was flavorful 2. Crispy sesame beef - was so terrible. Smelled burnt through the bag. Was not crispy at all. A really dark almost black color. Tasted also super burnt Wouldn't order from here again read more

Royal East Restaurant - Really below average crispy sesame beef - was not crispy and tasted / smelled burnt - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

We went to this restaurant because a friend of ours recommended it. But it was quite a disappointment. The doubly cooked pork looked nothing like it. I get that this is likely not an authentic Chinese restaurant, but the pork tasted like rotten meat. The mapo tofu also tasted nothing like it. The beef with black pepper sauce tastes pretty outlandish. Really only the chao he fen (炒河粉) tasted ok. The chef is definitely not up to the job. So there you have it. read more

$20 for takeout lunch. Ordered pork with longhorn peppers, and it contained all bell peppers (which I'm allergic to). Just the worst

Co worker came over to me today told me we HAD to order from here and I needed to try the Swan Lake Duck Dive soup or whatever it was called... So first off Network down at work today and NO WAY to get to Foodler or find a menu so right away Panic sets in... What did people do 20 years ago with No Internet or Yelp or Foodler, OMG Can you imagine? So finally I can get some service on iPad so I am able to foodler my way through the menu (and they dont deliver directly - they use another service $5.99 Delivery Fee) Co worker says SO WHAT, Go for it.. Wow... This place must be that good... So we order some soups (I was going to get the Duck Dynasty whatever, but they have Tom Yum & OOOOHHH Its my fave) So we order the soups, and Black Pepper Steak and I get a Shrimp & Veggie Thai dish as this place has Cantonese & Thai = BONUS!!! Food comes before quoted time which I sooo didnt think would happen considering it was a second hand delivery service. Tom Yum was soo perfectly spicy & possibly the BEST I ever had... Co worker loved her Swan Shoes La Chow Soup (I must have called this thing 100 diff names before lunch was over) Pepper Steak was a little chewy but SMOTHERED in this black pepper sauce & it was soo tasty... Not spicy or just too much black pepper but just perfect. The Shrimp Pad Ped was with Veggies in Coconut Milk & spices, Not too spicy but had a little kick, but soo tasty with SEVERAL big plump shrimp... All in all a GREAT lunch, a little pricey as they had no lunch specials but I would soo pay again for the food it was that good & I have leftovers for tomorrow now... You wont be disappointed - Ill try more next time & report back! read more

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I ordered delivery from this place and did not add tip, moments later the restaurant calls me in accusatory tone, they were not going to give me the food without confirmation that I will tip the delivery man. I always give cash tip to the delivery person at arrival because 1. The amount will be linked to the services and speediness of delivery. 2. So that the delivery person gets the tip instead of the restaurant owner. To call me ahead of time and holding my food hostage was unacceptable. If their $3 delivery fee doesn't cover the cost then they should have increased it; the tip is supposed to be DISCRETIONARY. read more

I ordered from here quite a bit. This last order I order 2 chicken wings 2 shrimp lo mien and 1 boneless spare rib. Total: 72.95 One of the chicken boxes was absolutely rotten! I was feeding my kids and didn't notice until we were almost done with the box!!! I called them and they said you want store credit? Yea I called for store credit, after feeding my kids rotten chicken. YIKES!!! P.s I won't be needing the store credit and please everyone ... stay away from this place. read more

bad: food took an hour to be served. not authentic malaysian flavors. good: grilled stingray and kangkung belacan was pretty good. place is spacious and comfortable. read more

I ordered take-out from this place and the food most definitely exceeded my expectations--speaking as someone who has been to Malaysia and love Malaysian food! Their Covid-19 / pandemic procedure was very safe: I ordered online, and pressed on the door bell outside, and a waiter came to the door with my order. Highly recommend this place! See the photos of the dishes I shared: grilled sting ray, roti canai, poh piah and char kuey tiau. read more

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My go-to restaurant for visiting friends & birthdays. Their Malaysian & Chinese menu offers a lot of variety. Everything is fresh, delish! Recommend the warm atmosphere & friendly service as well. I love the mango chicken, scallion pancakes, baby bok Choy with mushrooms, and their duck dishes are all good. And the jellyfish believe it or not. I could go on but just try it. read more

I actually came across this restaurant as I was walking to another restaurant for dinner. I saw the sign that said Malaysian food and was interested as there's a severe lack of Malaysian food in Boston. A quick look at the menu showed they had some pretty authentic Malaysian dishes so we decided to check it out. The interior is really nice and spacious and the host and all waiters were really friendly. We ended up ordering roti canai, curry laksa, beef rendang, and a side of coconut rice. The portion size for everything was great, even the roti canai appetizer was easily shareable by two. I thought the roti for the roti canai was pretty well made but the curry was lacking. The chicken pieces were the kind of chicken pieces you'd get at like takeout Chinese restaurants for chicken and broccoli. The curry laksa was also okay, a really strong seafood smell but it only added to the flavor. The beef rendang was very tender. You could cut through any of the chunks of beef with a spoon and I thought the flavor was pretty decent. All in all, not the best Malaysian food I've had but it gets the job done if you're craving. They have an extensive American-Chinese and Authentic Cantonese sections of the menu. And while it's not on the menu, they do serve Chilli Crab and Black Pepper Crab which I've been dying to try and haven't found on any other menu in Boston. I will definitely come back to try it out. read more

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We have been ordering delivery here for the past few months, and its delicious! I was skeptical at first since this place seems to cook Chinese, Thai and Malay. We've mostly tried the Malay items under the chef specialities part of the menu and wow, sooo flavorful and not something I can achieve at home, so worth the delivery. We love the nasi Lemek, beef rendang, Ipoh chilli udang, the roasted wonton soup...the Peking duck is pretty good and a splurge ($$$) but the skin is crispy and meat tender with a great scallion and cucumber slaw...though they serve it with what seems to be burrito tortillas! Alas, beggars can't be choosers when you are craving duck in these quarantine times. We also tried some of their noodle soup dishes and they are ok, not enough "toppings" (2 fish cakes or 2 shrimp) in my opinion for the ratio of noodles. The soups are definitely very rich, savory and worth trying but not my preferred style of noodle soup (I would say their broths are more stew like vs the lighter clear broths typical of Chinese soups). We've ordered here 6x time now, and delivery is very fast (under 30mins) and everything is always nicely packaged and hot on arrival. Highly recommend for your Covid-19 delivery needs! read more

Nice & Clean place.. Food was amazing .. The crab ragoons and boneless spareribs were ELITE .. Chicken teriyaki was different from what ive been eating my whole life (In Dorchester) But was still good .& The chicken fried rice was good aswell.. I was full AF at the END.. Will be coming back.. Soon. read more

Royal East Restaurant - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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This is the worse Thai place you can order from. I just ordered dinner from this place and I don't even want to eat it by the look of it. I don't know how anyone can messed up Pad Thai. It is the most simple and common Thai dish. It just looked like the noodle has not been cooked at all. I also ordered half Hainanese chicken and there was still blood inside the chicken, it still has a raw smell. Tom yum soup has so sort of flavor after adding salt and seasoning and I still couldn't fix it. AVOD THIS PLACE AT ALL COST. THE FOOD IS JUST NASTY!!!! read more

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great food. fat courteous. service. easy parking. highly recommended!!! Hot Sour Soup. read more

Royal East Restaurant - kung pao fish - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

The food was good. But the price was a big expensive for the amount of food you get. I order a noodle dish and the portion was not so big. It can only feed one person. Cannot share with 2 people. They should at least increase the size of the noodle dishes so that you can share with at least 2 people if they are charging over $15 for the dish. read more

The last time I ordered from here. I was given burnt ribs. The disappointment was too much because food is pricey. I also asked for some hot mustard to good with some soup, and I never got it. Check your food before you leave. read more

Great authentic Chinese food. They have been around for a long time.

In a nutshell, the restaurant chose a 30% tip instead of letting us decide how much to give. When asked about it, they lied it was just a 15% tip.The fact is, they CHARGED THE TIP TWICE. Strongly discourage any people who look like a poor student to come. They will ROB you like us, literally, accusing you by stereotype at the same time. The whole story: 15% tip is 9.04$, which is fair. However, they append this 9.04$ to EVERY fxxking splited bill. Me and my friend sharing the bill were both charged 9.04$, which is a motherfxxking 18.08$ in total. When signing the bill, they told us it would be charged only for once, but we both found that 9.04$ on our banking record. 30% tip??? Who do you think you are, fine dining in downtown Manhattan? What's worse besides forcing the tip and lying about the percentage, they ACCUSED us with bullshit like "we choose it for you because you usually give a tip less than 10%". WHO THE FXXK TOLD YOU SO??? My friend and I always give a tip more than 15%, usually 20!! Even if we are poor students, we are independent people who respect the value of service. The whole experience here is like eating an ugly fly. WARNING: if you do not want to eat a fly after your lunch, argue about the forced tip making a scene, or curse this racist restaurant with your loved ones, please DO NOT COME!!! I hate this fxxking place. I posted it on GOOGLE too. My apologies if my comment wasted your time. (9.04 is an amount we use to let them misidentify us, but the idea is the same, the story is bloody true and the actual amount is close.) read more

Delicious and reliable. Food is always fresh. This restaurant is a staple in Cambridge, please support them.

This is really an awesome place for South East Asian cuisine!! I'm really not sure why the ratings aren't higher. My friend from Singapore who's been living in Boston for the past 5 years highly recommended this place on my first visit to town. I was new to Boston, so of course I trusted her, and she couldn't have been more right. We ordered the Bak Kut Teh, the Ipoh Seafood Chow Fun and the Taro Pot. The chow fun and taro pot both had very generous servings of seafood so they were realy satisfying. Boston has some of the best seafood around!! I like how both dishes also came with lots of vegetables so it's not all seafood. I found the sauce for the chow fun a tad too salty for me, but the dish is nicely done, just like the way it is back home. If I go back I will remember to let them know about the sauce when I place the orders. The taro in the taro pot is perfect, light and crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. It does get pretty heavy after a while, the two of us couldn't finish it even though we were hungry, but I am not complaining since that means I got to take it home =) read more

Royal East Restaurant - Ipoh Seafood Chow Fun -- a tad too salty for my taste. - Malaysian Near Me - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Good for casual group lunches and dinners. There's not too many restaurants like Royal East in the area. It's large and spacious so tables are usually available without a wait; that plus the shareable dishes make it great for a meal with a large group of friends. The menu is extensive and food might not blow you away, but everything I have tried has been fine, seemingly made fresh, and not too expensive. Service is friendly and attentive. The restaurant is casual, but still nice and comfortable enough for a sit-down meal. It definitely fills a niche in the Kendall / MIT area. read more