Nyonya

If I want something Asian-homey but with a twist of low-key spice, I would come here. This Malaysian restaurant have been my go-to if I want a sweet pork shank. Warning: need to get cash for this as it is a cash-only place. They do have an ATM at the entrance but you need to pay extra processing fees. Now to my orders: Roti Telur Not everyone’s go to order for Roti Canai I know, I love their Roti Canai but I wanted to switch to something novel so I had this roti that is filled with onion and egg, served with a chicken and potato curry dip (they have chunks of chicken and potato even in the dip). The curry dip is on the lighter side than the other curry dish I order (will elaborate later), and you can feel roti’s fly developed gluten as you bite into it and feel the resistance on your teeth. The onion and the egg add umami to the butter roti and complimented the dish well. Better eat it hot as it tasted exponentially worse when cold. Kang Kung Belacan I literally converted my friend into a firm lover of this dish today. We ordered 5 dishes and this is the first one to be gone. The shrimp paste stir-fried Chinese watercress or Kong Xin Cai (literally means empty hearted for the veg’a structural property) is just simply amazing. This is not a home-cooked dish (assume in NYC we have gas or induction heaters) because in order to bring the flavor you need actual ???? underneath the wok to create the so-called “wok hei”. The wok hei is the major player in almost smoking the vegetable and gives its flavor in the short amount of time. The umami and distinct flavor of shrimp paste + the perfected cooked slippery watercress = ultimate comfort. Hainanese Chicken Let me be very frank: the better Hainanese chicken is actually served only a few blocks away. The quality of this dish in this place has fluctuated quite a bit after covid. Still good, just not as good as before. Nonetheless I cannot leave a Malaysian restaurant without getting some chicken. The 1/4 portion are majorly thigh region: I do enjoy cracking on the cartilages with my orthodonticly-perfectly aligned teeth. The chicken is served cold with some cucumber on a thin layer of soy sauce, paired with a spicy and sweet dip sauce. It is tender and light, though I do not appreciate how some chicken skins are missing (lean-fat ratio is important people!) “Yuan Tai” Pork The pork shank! My friend from Wuxi region from China said this dish tasted like Red Yeast Rice Powered stewed pork ribs from her hometown. I will simply put in this way: the skin and the pork is so tender and meat tasted like it has been marinated and slow cooked with sweet fermented red bean curds for hours. Effortless in cutting as the lean and the skin falls off the fork. The sauce balances with the fatty skin so you taste the collagen without getting over fat-saturated. The chef took off the bones already so what’s on the dish is the shank (lean+fat) + broccoli ???? + white bun. I love broccoli in this sauce! Curry Beef Tripe Casserole A bit saltier than the chicken-potato curry dip served with roti but would be nice to pair with coconut/chicken broth rice. The tripes are slow cooked and they broke often when I lifted them with my fork. Okay dish, not impressed. I think I like Beef Rendang better (drier curry version). Coconut drink (an entire coconut ????) It comes with a true small coconut and once you finish the juice part you can ask to cut the coconut open to eat the coconut meat inside. Yummy, my coconut was good. The service is attentive and 5 dishes + tip is around 100 with multiple to-go boxes. We underestimated the portion sizes (NYC fine dining portions have ruined me a bit). It is a restaurant I would revisit every year or so (still impressive considering how many restaurants in NYC there are).

This is another must visit restaurant every time I’m New York. The first time we visited was in 2012 and the experience was amazing. Since then i always visit every time I’m in New York. The food quality and taste always hits the spot! When you come by, do your self a favor and get the paratha roti and curry! The roti is so soft and the curry is so flavorful! My party ordered two and we devoured it before we touched our main dishes. For the main dishes I had the prawn mee it is a popular dish here and is a soup with a fish broth base. Super delicious and spicy just like I like it. My wife had the seafood Tom yam. And the broth was freaking amazing. In my opinion I would combine the spicy from the prawn mee and the flavors from the seafood Tom yam My bestie had the pad Thai with shrimp delicious as well. This restaurant is definitely worth a visit as much as possible. i must mention that this is a cash only restaurant.

Delicious and authentic Malaysian food! I’ve been on the hunt for prawn mee and have finally found my spot. Everything was so flavorful and delicious. The restaurant is clean and reasonably priced, will definitely be coming back!

I am a Malaysian so getting to taste authentic Malaysian food on my first trip to NYC was an awesome deal. Food was absolutely delicious, just as I was told. Hubby had the Nasilemak.. the rice was so so flavourful. I had the Prawn Mee.. the broth was so so flavourful. Got to taste a bit of what my friends ordered.. the Fish Head Beehoon was delicious, so was the Mee Siam, the Roti Tissue, the Lobak and the Satay. If only they ship to the midwest!! Haha! Awesome food. If you are Malaysian in NYC for the first time like me, you got to try Nonya!

$35 total before tip. We ordered 1 beef horfan (chow fan), 1 Kari Ayam (curry chicken) and a side of coconut rice. The Chow Fan looked and tasted good. Not the best I’ve had but I’m biased as I’m comparing to the ones in Malaysia+Singapore. But it’s definitely the best I’ve had here (so far). It’s not overly oily like the ones you’d get in Chinatown chinese restaurants and has good wok hei. Plus, it looks so appetising. The Kari Ayam was a bit salty but that’s what the rice was for. Just with a poke of the fork and the chicken fell off the bone (you can see in my pic which I took after digging in) It was tender, fragrant and mildly spicy. Best part is it was not sweet – some places like to make up for a lack of flavour by making their curries super sweet for some reason. Not this place! Paired great with the coconut rice which was gently fragrant. Will definitely be back to try the Nasi Lemak and more from their expansive menu. Was a joy to have so many options. Although my heart ached to see teh tarik for $4.50 Nyonya was an authentic experience. Singaporeans will feel like it’s home food too ;)