Short review/best dishes- Lobak, Lemongrass Chicken, Lamb Rendang
I went to this relatively crowded and popular Malaysian place a while ago with one of my larger groups. It was a bit further of a walk and a schlep in general than my usual preferred Malaysian spot in Flushing (Malay) but the place here by comparison is a little bit cheaper and the food was pretty decent with a couple dishes that are not found in other places and I would say overall, the food quality is a tad worse than Malay and some of the other spots. It was still a decent meal overall and I would go back.
We soon got the Roti Canai With Chicken for $5.50 which was a good price. The roti was alright being slightly buttery while the chicken curry was a bit less spiced than other spots. It was decent overall with the potato as always being the highlight.
Better for a small plate was the Satay Chicken Skewers or rather Satay Ayam for $8.95 where the beef price is the same. The chicken had good grill marks (though more compared to some other photos I see so perhaps we had a particularly good batch) and was nice and tender and the peanut sauce wasn't overly sweetened. I wish there was a bit more achar/achat/pickles but if that's the complaint for an appetizer, that's not saying much. I prefer the one at Curry House in Manhattan but these were excellent.
We also got the Lobak for $13.95 or crispy fried spiced pork roll, fried tofu, fried shrimp pancake, and cucumber and turnip pickles. Said lobak refers to specifically the Five-Spice Meat/Pork Roll in the middle which had a fun crisp and a bit of a chew in the middle. The tofu on the side was light as was the lightly fried shrimp pancake and the sauce on the side which I believe was a mix of dark soy sauce and sambal went well with the lobak and with the less flavorful tofu. This was very tasty.
The Crispy Deep Fried Pork Intestines for $8.95 was ok. They were well cleaned with just a bit of offal funk. They were less fried than usual which led to a bit more of a chew by comparison which I'm not sure was good or bad. The dish had a lightly sweet sauce with it though I personally preferred dipping said intestines in sambal.
For main dishes, the surprising highlight which was very unexpected was the Lemongrass Chicken for I believe $17.95 which can also be ordered with pork. The chicken was chopped into tiny very tasty tender morsels and there was a mixture of vegetables on there. The sauce had wonderful aromatics with a touch of sweetness and a good flavor from the wok. I would recommend this heavily even at said price point.
For Rendang, the Lamb version for $21.95 was a good amount better than the Beef version which is $2 cheaper. The lamb was much more tender and I found the sauce surprisingly to taste a bit different being a bit more spiced which is a good thing of course. The beef version was alright being a bit chewy and paled in comparison to the gold standard at Malay let alone some other spots and I would not recommend it much.
The noodle dishes were just OK with both of them lacking a bit of wok hei with the pork not being the most flavored. The Fried Pearl Noodles for $11.95 with shrimp, pork, egg, scallion and bean sprouts had a decent texture and a good bit of pork in them though not many shrimp.
The Chow Kueh Teow for $10.95 with stir fried flat rice noodles with fresh shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, eggs, soy sauce, & spicy chili paste was a bit better. The noodle portion was larger and there was plenty more shrimp (though we did sub squid for more shrimp.) I wish the pork was Chinese sausage/lap cheong found in many spots as it adds both a fun texture and a bit of sweetness.
Last that I tried was the Trio Vegetables With Belacan for $15.95 with string beans, eggplant, and lady fingers with spicy shrimp paste which wasn't good. We were originally going to get the quad version but they were out of stink beans which was unfortunate as the dish itself lacked flavor. The veggies could have been roasted longer and the shrimp paste wasn't strong enough so I just didn't like it overall outside of the decent portion for the price point.
Speaking of lacking flavor, they charge for rice ($1.50 or $3 depending on size) and oddly, the Hainanese and Coconut style are both the same price as the plain rice but in retrospect, it makes sense. This is since both of them only had hints of the flavors that make them unique so I guess order the coconut one as it's a tad better.
The rest of the people found the Coconut Calamari for $9.95 OK. The coconut was just on top and not really cooked so it was just lightly fried slightly chewy calamari for them. They wouldn't recommend it.
It's a bit hard to review this place as the dishes ran the gamut from decent to very good. I would probably give this place a 4 if it was consistently good but if everyone was like the belacan veggies, I'd get this place a 2 at most. I guess I'll round it off at a three with a couple definite highlights. read more