I ordered this dish extra hot and, even though that didn’t get me a flavor close to what I’d call spicy, it was one of the more flavorful dishes I’ve tasted at Rasa Sayang. (Some people might be more familiar with the spelling char kway teow.) The rice noodles have a satisfying, chewy heft. One of the better noodle dishes is penang kueh teow, a flat rice-noodle dish heavy on scallions, shrimp and chicken. The meat is tender enough, and there’s a hint of the spices that should make this dish sing, but not in the magnitude it should be. Rendeng, that traditionally rich and tender stew of beef, spices, lemongrass and coconut milk, falls flat here, too. Though the menu says this dish is fried with curry, if I had asked for pineapple shrimp fried rice, I believe I’d have been served the same thing. On the other hand, nasi goreng istimewa, a fried rice dish typically richened with funkier or more potent flavors, didn’t hit the heights that I’d hoped for.
I could taste the depth of an old recipe, the warm stuff on long-simmered comfort food. It is rich, with a dark, reddish curry and a stir-fry of onions, peppers and chicken sliced into thin strips. Speaking of curry, the chicken kerang pedas may be the most reliable crowd pleaser. Same goes for the roti canai, a lightly greasy pancake that hits marks of flaky, chewy and salty just enough when dipped in the accompanying bowl of curry. I’ve seen more elaborate riffs, but this simple version, just a paste of shrimp fried on bread, hits the spot just fine. Keropok might sound more familiar if I just called it fried shrimp toast. There are more familiar fried appetizers, too. It’s a rich, heavy snack, maybe best with a bottle of Tsingtao. It reminded me of Indonesian kecap manis, a sweet, reduced soy sauce. The roll is cut into bite-sized hunks perfect for dipping into the accompanying thick, dark, salty-sweet sauce. You might pair that with the lobak roll, a sausage of ground pork and shrimp wrapped in fried tofu skin. At Rasa Sayang, the acat comes with a healthy sprinkling of crushed peanuts that richens the crunchy bites. You might even think of it as Malaysian kimchee, though that Korean staple produces soft, fermented cabbage, and acat is crunchy and fresh. Acat, sometimes spelled “achat” or “acar,” is a cool pickled salad with cabbage and carrots, the vinegar balanced with sweet and spicy flavors. I’ve found the acat to be a good place to start. Rasa Sayang happily will serve up General Tso’s chicken, beef with broccoli, salt and pepper shrimp, and any number of Americanized Chinese dishes, but it also offers a spread of traditional dishes served in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. By the looks of it, their customers mostly want delivery Chinese in the Americanized style.īut, in recent meals at Rasa Sayang, a name that translates roughly to “I’ve got that loving feeling,” I’ve wondered if all the folks ordering delivery from this place have noticed the Malaysian dishes on offer.
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