More Malaysian!

I started the week having dinner at The Malaya and towards the end of last week, went to Cafe Kasturi.  This cafe has come a long way since it's first opened and has since changed hands.  The chef, Samsudin, had previously worked at the Royal Garden Hotel, in Pitt Street.  He had taken over and as it was a big group, the organiser, who has been to Cafe Kasturi frequently had pre-ordered the dishes.

Cafe Kasturi had expanded their menu significantly since I was last there which was more than 5 years ago.  This is probably one of the few halal restaurants in the city.

For starters, we had a combination of chicken and beef satay.  This must have been the best satays I've tasted outside Malaysia and it was full of nicely charcoaled marinated meat which was juicy.  The peanut sauce was creamy and it was accompanied by red onions, cucumber and ketupat (pressed rice cakes).

The next dish was really yummy too - Chilli Crabs.  The mud crabs were firm and meaty.  The egg-y sauce was very delicious albeit a bit salty but the toast took away the salty taste.  They were very generous and gave us bowls of additional gravy.

By this time we were already full but the next dish was curry fish head served with roti chanai.  The curry fish head was very fresh but the curry sauce was still a bit salty.  The roti chanai was crispy and soft on the inside.  I could eat a lot more if not for lack of tummy space.  Sigh!

We could not get them to stop the other dishes - next came butter prawns.  The prawns were big and juicy and tasted sensational but am not sure why it was served on a bed of vegetable noodles.  It was a dry dish and the noodles did not have much taste.  Having said that, some people liked it.

The Sambal kangkong came next but as it was not the season, the kangkong were a bit "tough".

For desserts, we ordered the Pisang Goreng served with vanilla ice cream and the durian sticky rice to share.  The consensus was that the durian sticky rice although it didn't look very nice was actually nice and the Pisang Goreng was lovely too.

The service was good - they were very attentive and oh... don't forget to order either a Teh Tarik or a Kopi Tarik.  Delicious and thick!

All in all...the satays are definitely worth going for and the chilli crab was yummy and do try the roti chanai.

The Malaya

It has been a while since I'd dined at The Malaya so when a friend suggested we go there last Monday night, I thought it would be good to check it out again.

Set along King Street Wharf and with views overlooking Darling Harbour, The Malaya was quite busy on this Monday night.  The menu has not changed.

We opted for the Popiah as an entree.  It was nice and full of chicken prawn filling.  The sweet chilli sauce added flavour to the rolls.

For mains, we shared a Prawn Malay curry, reminiscent of my dinner at their old restaurant on George Street.  The curry sauce was quite thick, although I think they'd put in too much curry powder.  It was still tasty though.

Our next dish was the Szechuan Eggplant.  The eggplant was stirfried dry style creating a crisp crust.  It was delicious and went well with the curry.

Definitely not your authentic Malaysian restaurant but the quality of the food (especially the entrees) make this old establishment a worthwhile visit.  Best to go with a group to be able to share the dishes.