Jangers' Birthday at The Malaya

After a failed attempt to book The Malaya for Ken's birthday, we decided to try again for Jangers' birthday. We arrived at the restaurant on a wet, dreary sunday evening with pretty high expectations of the meal to come. The restaurant was not too busy and dimly lit with a chilled atmosphere. While we waited for the others to arrive, we started leafing through the menu, settling on the set menu section, being too lazy to make the decision of which dishes order. A tease of intense spicy smells emanated from the open kitchen so that by the time the others had been seated, we felt we could eat everything from the menu. We opted for the set menu 2 as we were all intrigued by the Malaya Chef's Hat and it seemed to have a better range of dishes than the others.

First up were the scallops. Sweet, juicy scallops steamed in a light soy sauce and cooked to perfection. Patrick thought this dish was a little ordinary but both Irene and I though the natural flavour of the scallops was the centrepiece. Although they were a little on the small side, it was a great start to our dinner.

Steamed Scallops: Scallops in the shell steamed with fresh ginger, shallots, chilli and soy sauce.

One disappointing point of the evening was that two dishes from the set menu weren't available. Instead of the Barbecued Atlantic Salmon, we had the Prawn Paggang and the The Malaya Chef's Hat was replaced by Salmon Rolls. Boo! However, both the replacement dishes were surprisingly good. The prawns were firm and fresh and were topped with a creamy, nutty sauce. The salmon rolls (which I can't seem to find on the menu) were a hit with almost everyone on the table.

King Prawn Paggang: Marinated king prawns skewered, barbequed and served with a spicy cashew nut, peanut and coconut sauce.

Salmon roll: Salmon sashimi and vegetables wrapped in a thin pastry skin and served with sweet chili sauce (foreground). Malaytini: Lychees crushed with gomme, panama passionfruit, Skyy vodka and Soho lychee liqueur. Fruitasia: Fresh strawberries, lychees and passionfruit with gomme, red grapefruit, apple & cranberry juice (background).

The dish that scored five yums from everyone was definitely the Satay Beef. The beef was tender and the sauce was incredibly tasty - not your run of the mill "peanut butter" satay sauce.

Satay Beef: Singaporean style marinated pieces of beef fillet skewered, barbequed and served with Malaya Satay sauce made from fresh ground peanuts and chilli.

By the time they cleared our bowls and plates, we were all smiles and we'd only had the entree's! We didn't have to wait long for the mains with the vegetables, prawns and chicken arriving in quick succession. Each dish had its own unique flavour - the vegetables light and fresh, the prawns creamy and the chicken sweet and spicy.

Fresh Seasonal Vegetables: Asian green vegetables stir-fried with garlic, soy sauce and fresh chilli.

Kapitan King Prawns: Penang style curry sauce made with fresh chilli and coconut milk served with lightly battered king prawns.

Szechuan Chicken: Marinated pieces of chicken thigh fillet stir-fried dry style with shallots, cashew nuts and dry chillies. Served on a bed of English spinach.

After the three mains, we all wondered whether there were any more courses to come when this arrived:

Lamb Bali with Roti Canai: Indonesian style red curry lamb cooked with a tomato base. Served with pan fried crispy Malay bread.

Patrick's face said it all...

We were completely stuff by the end of the 8 courses and not even the slightly slow waiter nor the sunday surcharge spoilt our experience. Overall, The Malaya was great value ($48 p.p. for set menu 2) for its waterfront location and quality of dishes. We rate it 4 yums!