Glenn C.
Yelp
Side note: This spot should be listed as one word as per the old location/suggested this. In short, would recommend the chicken more than the beef.
Anyway, I stopped here pretty recently with one of the people in our group having previously gone to their now closed location in Flushing. The spot is pretty new so I can excuse some of the service issues such as the same dishes arriving at very different times and some other similar things but the food itself is only okay at best which is unfortunate as Malaysian food is among my favorites, if not my favorite cuisine. The portion sizes are good but the quality is subpar and the other review saying that this chain is apparently the Chili's of Malaysia now makes a bit more sense in that context. The fact that you have to pay for plain rice is kind of absurd also with it not even coming with the Hainanese Chicken but hey it's the Lower East side where LES is more. To drink, I had a Teh Tarik which was $5.95 or $6.95 for an iced version. It was cheekily served in one of those takeout coffee cups and was slightly sweet for my liking but at least the tea flavor was pretty strong. As a group, we mostly ordered dishes from the specialty section and most of the food came out very fast though at odd intervals as noted.
Our only appetizer was the Roti Canai with Dhal Sauces which was $9.95 consisting of 2 fluffy & lightly crisp Indian flat breads served with lentil (Dhal) sauce. It is also available for the same price with sambal or for several bucks more with either beef rendang or chicken curry. The roti was less buttery and flaky than other spots while the dhal/daal was decent. It was OK at best.
Soon arriving was one of the two best dishes of the night; the Curry Chicken for $24.90 with boneless chicken and potatoes cooked in a coconut milk curry. The dish was mostly chicken and the bright red curry itself was well flavored with a bit of heat and a bit of sweetness from the coconut milk. This was very solid and I would recommend it outside of the price point being a bit absurd (at least the portion was decent.)
The other best dish was also a chicken dish being the Stir-Fry Eggplant With Minced Chicken for $19.90. This was a tasty version of the Chinese casserole found in many Canto spots. The eggplant was well roasted and the pieces of chicken inside were tender. The portion size was decent also and overall, I would recommend it if you want something a bit less spiced.
Our last chicken dish was the 1/2 Hainanese Steamed Chicken for $24.95 which is already a bit pricey and as noted, a bit absurd as it doesn't come with the required chicken rice which is an extra $3 I believe. The dish was presented on a platter over a brown sauce with some sliced cucumber and the usual chili and ginger scallion sauces on the side. The chicken was moist and pretty decent with the ginger scallion helping.
Said Chicken Rice which we ordered separately was subpar. The color was there but it lacked the depth of flavor I expect for this dish from Malay spots such as Curry House among many others (and not to mention the various Hainanese specialty shops) with the ginger flavor lacking as well as the slight richness from the chicken broth. In short, it tasted more similar to white rice.
Otherwise, we got two beef dishes which were overall worse. The Beef Rendang for $25.90 consisted of slow-cooked beef curry with Malaysian spices, and coconut milk. For those familiar with the dry and wet styles of this dish, I would say this is slightly on the drier end which is my preference when it's cooked well. This sauce itself was pretty tasty with some coconut sweetness and a good kick. The biggest issue was the beef itself which was not tender in the slightest. Of the three pieces I had, one was fine, one was very chewy, and the other was extremely chewy which just isn't good.
Finally, there was the Beef Char Kway Teow for $20.95 with stir-fried flat rice noodles with beef, eggs, bean sprouts, and chives which was alright. The noodles had a bit of wok hei though I wish there was a bit more and there was a decent amount of beef for the price point. The beef itself was a bit flavorless, though at least they were small enough pieces that they weren't chewy such as in the rendang. Based on the chicken dishes, I would probably recommend ordering it with chicken as it's cheaper and likely better.
In the sea of Malaysian places, this place is subpar based on flavor and price point. As per the higher prices, the only place I can compare this place favorably to are Laut which I think is terrible as well as the now closed Kancil from the same folks as Laut which isn't saying much. For the same price point, you can go to the much (much) better Rasa in the West Village which has friendlier staff and overall much better food as well as Nyonya. For less, both New West Malaysia and especially Curry House are both leagues better than this place among the many spots in Elmhurst and otherwise. Mid/upper 2.
