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My Malaysian friend, Mee Siam, invited me to try Malaysian Cuisine a few weeks ago. Knowing I LOVE Chinese food, she chose a Malaysian/Chinese restaurant, Pulau Pinang, located at 82-84 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373, in a very crowded shopping center anchored by an Asian supermarket. Parking is available, but the lot is crazy, and I suggest parking on the street instead.
The interior is very welcoming, and the staff made you feel right at home and were happy to answer questions about any dish on their extensive menu.
If you have never eaten Malaysian food, here’s a quick AI summary from Google Gemini:
Malaysian cuisine is a melange of cooking traditions reflecting a multicultural population, primarily combining the flavors and techniques of Malay, Chinese, and Indian communities. This culinary style is celebrated for its bold flavors, heavy use of coconut milk, and aromatic herbs and spices that create robust and palatable profiles.
A Multicultural Melting Pot
Rather than a single, uniform culinary tradition, Malaysian cuisine is best described as a complex living record of human movement, trade, and cultural adaptation. Shaped by over two thousand years of history along the Spice Route, the nation’s food landscape brings together the culinary practices of its three primary ethnic groups alongside indigenous Bornean and Orang Asli traditions.
On the afternoon we were there, the restaurant was packed, and I have been told that it’s often this way. So, you know (assume) that the food is great. I couldn’t wait to try it!
I left the ordering to Mee Siam, and she chose two gateway dishes in Malaysian cuisine:
First Up
Sarang Burong (or bird’s nest) – features a fried taro root (yam) nest filled with ingredients like chicken, shrimp, scallops, cashews, and various vegetables such as snow peas and red pepper. Everything tastes so fresh! A delicious blend of various flavors. I’m not a yam man, but I tried it, and it was ok. The fillings in the nest were what captured my palate and made me wholeheartedly recommend this dish.
Apparently it’s a very traditional dish.
Not to try to change any Malaysian dishes, but I’m wondering how it would taste if it were like the nest in Cantonese banquet dishes, where the edible basket holding the seafood is called a zoek caau, which is typically constructed from molded and deep-fried taro strips or occasionally fried egg noodles.
A few servings in, a closer look at the ingredients:
Up Next
Malaysian Pork Chops – At first glance, these could pass as Peking-style Pork Chops. However, the sauce is different. Not as sweet, but as totally tasty! There’s so much in each of these dishes that it would be nearly impossible for us to have finished both. We were very happy to each take a dish home. I took the pork chops. If it was possible, they tasted even better the next day when I warmed them up. Yum Yum!
The Bottom Line
Two chopsticks up (out of two)! Go try Pulau Pinang. You’re going to like it!
If you haven’t explored the Elmhurst, NY food scene, check out this short video to give you an inkling of all the different ethnicities and restaurants you can choose from.
Selamat Makan! (Or as they say, Bon Appétit!)
Please let us know in the comments below if you have been to Pulau Pinang, or when you plan to go there, and share your thoughts. We would love to hear from you!
Humbly submitted for your consumption,
—Mee Magnum (“Chop! Chop!”)
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