Malaysia in Chinatown
Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 7:56PM Our first introduction to Malaysian food came from our dear friend, Joel, at a place in Chicago's Chinatown. Chris and I even traveled to Malaysia for a very brief stay in 2005, but we were in the 'burbs of Kuala Lumpur, and missed out on anything interesting (other than being attacked by monkeys). We finally had a fantastic Malaysian meal in Sydney, Australia's Darling Harbour, with our friend, Rakna. Since then, I have to admit that I haven't found any place I would visit twice here in the States. Until I found the New Malaysia Restaurant in NYC on Saturday.
Very close to the Manhattan Bridge and nestled in a tiny, dark passthrough in Chinatown is a magnificent restaurant that you could almost miss if you weren't paying attention. We grabbed a menu from here years ago but never had the time to come back. Since the Chinese New Year has rung in, and I had a day to myself on Saturday, I figured this would be the time to try it.
For me, curry and coconut milk have to be the most exquisite of comfort foods out there. Saturday was a cold, grey NYC day that beckoned for a meal revolving around those. I ordered the roti canai, an Indian pancake with a curry chicken sauce for dipping. The roti has to be one of the most glorious things on a Malaysian restaurant's menu. The roti at the New Malaysia Restaurant was the best I've ever had.
A huge bowl of chicken curry soup with skinny rice noodles followed, and by this time, I basked in full-on comfort. I needed to get to an appointment at 3pm was late because I couldn't stop eating this broth. And the best part: this entire meal set me back $10.30.
I will definitely return. Until then, I will dream curry coconut milk dreams.
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