New Malaysia

30. October 2006 Chinatown, Southeast Asian 4

46-48 in the Chinatown Arcade between Canal and Bayard
212/964.0284
about $25 for two, without drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

Don’t let the hard-to-pronounce items on the menu stop you from ordering food from New Malaysia. For my first visit, I ordered the more traditional nasi lemak and the roti canai just to be on the safe side. After those two dishes, I knew I had to come back with a bigger stomach. When Anna’s Malaysian friend told me that New York has the best Malaysian food, I raised an eyebrow. I don’t know many Malaysian restaurants in the city except for the so-so Jaya on Baxter and the Indo-Malay Nyonya and Penang franchises, so I was willing to try New Malaysia as soon as I could.

I was more adventurous during my second visit and I ordered the asam laksa, a spicy and sour soup with lemongrass broth and crushed sardines. If it weren’t so salty, it would be my new anti-cold soup of choice. Too bad it doesn’t come in a smaller bowl. The kang kung belacan is stewed in shrimp and anchovy paste, much like how Filipinos cook the swamp vegetable (spelled kang kong). It seems a little steep for $8 a plate but we cleaned it off even with four other dishes.


4 thoughts on “New Malaysia”

  • 1
    Julee on October 31, 2006

    Fellow Malaysian here… you really should try Bak Kut Teh, satay, tomyam, fish head curry… and more. Nice to hear you liked Nasi Lemak. Hehe :p.

  • 2
    Paul on November 24, 2010

    Hey there. Anna’s friend chiming in here. While most people seem crazy for Nyonya, I feel New Malaysia is generally more solid. Besides what Julee mentioned above, I recommend the Hainanese curry chicken noodle soup and the curry beef brisket noodles. However, the asam laksa at Nyonya is better. It’s very good by any standards.

    If you want to venture further out, Taste Good in Elmhurst is good. They do some stuff better than NM, but I feel NM holds its own on many dishes. Taste Good just had a management change and I’m going this Friday to see if the quality has been affected!

    Jaya is the weakest of the Malaysian restaurants I’ve tried so far. The only reason I haven’t written them off completely is because they’re open until 2 am.

  • 3
    cia on November 25, 2010

    Paul – I haven’t been around Chinatown in a long time. We should make a trip!

  • 4
    Paul on November 26, 2010

    Cia, you’re on! I am desperate for food buddies. Gimme a holler anytime you’re up for checking it out!

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