Malaysia Cafe’s dishes ‘fresh, fast and delicious’

Nestled between a tanning salon and a breakfast eatery in an east-side strip center is Malaysia Cafe, a mainstay known for its heaping portions of rice and noodle dishes.

“Fresh, fast, and delicious” is the restaurant’s slogan, and its entrees generally live up to the claim. The staff says the most ordered dish is char kway teow. But newcomers can rely on the list of “Top 10 dishes” posted near the register to help them make a decision. A wide range of typical Chinese rice dishes are available and often come with two mounds of brown fried rice, a spring roll and a handmade crab Rangoon.

We tried the restaurant’s signature dish – char kway teow, a Malaysian specialty made with fried flat rice noodles flavored with a thick soy sauce. We opted to add shrimp, which provided a welcome extra layer of flavor. Because of the dish’s mild taste, you also may want to stir in the available jarred jalapeno garnishment for heat.

We also appreciated the mee goreng. This Indian stir-fried dish of shrimp, a bit of egg and fried tofu squares topped with copious amounts of chopped peanuts is crave-worthy. Tip: You’ll want to add fresh squeezed lime to your noodles to allow the citric acid to complement the sweet and spicy tomato sauce.

We also loved the pineapple fried rice, a colossal portion of brown fried rice combined with pineapple tidbits, raisins, cashews, peas, carrots, onions, scrambled eggs and shrimp, and we can also recommend the lightly coated sesame chicken, served with carrots and oversized crunchy broccoli florets. The staff recommended salted fish fried rice for our next visit.

For starters, we ordered the chicken satay and vegetable spring rolls but were unimpressed. The marinated chicken was perfectly cooked, but multiple bites revealed mouthfuls of fat that the homemade peanut dipping sauce couldn’t hide. The fried vegetable spring rolls tasted bland and resembled the kind of party appetizer you could purchase on your own from a big box store. Your best bet is to opt for the pineapple fried rice as a starter.

The clean, small space is brightly painted but lacks a dine-in vibe. The walls are decorated with faded posters featuring distant locales, and diners may find themselves eating to the sound of ’80s radio hits. All dishes are served in Styrofoam boxes and come with plastic cutlery.

Malaysia Cafe employees were friendly and happy to explain unknown ethnic flavors to new diners or recommend their favorites. Expect to serve yourself a fountain beverage unless you prefer a canned drink from the reach-in cooler. If ordering on the weekend, be prepared to only have dinner entrees available.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Malaysia Cafe’s dishes ‘fresh, fast and delicious’."