| |
Make sure you ask for the Malaysian menu. |
 |
| Address |
Unit 2 Kotwall House, 8 Ladywell Walk Birmingham
|
| Postcode |
B5 4ST Map |
| Tel |
0121 622 3909 |
| Price |
£10 - £20 |
| Facilities |
VEGETARIAN CHOICE, BRING YOUR OWN |
Full Restaurant Listing |
| An expansive 677 words from chris on Monday, July 28, 2003
|
| Food: |
Value |
Service: |
Decor: |
Rating: |
Cost/head: |
Suits: |
| 6/10 |
: 7/10 |
6/10 |
5/10 |
62 % |
£10 |
not specified |
|
Having been in town since 9.00 am on Saturday melting credit cards, ‘me and me other’ felt we derived some tucker at about 2 o’clock. I’ve wanted to return to Malaysian Delight ever since my first visit, chiefly to try the crispy roast belly pork which had sold out at my first visit. The place is only small so the ten or twelve diners who were in there managed to make the place look as if it was heaving but we sidled into a table for two next to the broken front window. We ordered a couple of soft drinks while we perused the menu and was somewhat amused when they came served in clear pyrex coffee mugs – oh well, it is a café! Being only lunch and all we decided to share a starter of hot and sour seafood soup. Vicki is one of those weird fish eating vegetarians so this starter seemed ideal. Unfortunately I should have remembered our last visit when the tofu dish came with an equal amount of pork. Sure enough this soup satisfied the ‘seafood’ promise by containing three king prawns sitting in a veritable nest of shredded pork! I’m not as familiar with Malaysian food as I am with Thai or Vietnamese so it may be my fault but I was also expected a clear broth, tom yum style. What we got here showed far more Chinese influence as the soup was thick and gluggy from corn flour and tasted more akin to sweet and sour than hot and sour. We did a trade off and Vicki got the prawns while I got the pork goo. Joy of joys though, they had some crispy roast belly pork so I was more than happy to forgive them. Vicki ordered a king prawn curry but asked the waiter if it was indeed a Malaysian curry, rather than Chinese. He assured us it was genuine Malaysian so it was almost a given that it would prove not to be. Her dish arrived with, it has to be said, an extremely generous amount of king prawns and button mushrooms in that unmistakeable bright yellow curry sauce we all know and love from Chinese takeaways. She accepted it in good grace though, because truth be told we both actually quite like that chip-shop curry sauce occasionally. It’s good rib-sticking comfort food. My dish arrived, again as a generous portion of pork, sitting on top of a mound of boiled rice. The pork itself is a triumph. Jean Paul describes it to a T as ‘char siu with crackling on top’. Lovely stuff, but unfortunately not without fault. They serve the pork sitting on top of the rice. I’d specifically asked for boiled rather than fried rice because I wanted a foil to the fattiness of the pork. Unfortunately fat from the pork quickly dripped through to make the rice equally greasy. If I order the dish again I’ll remember to quickly re-arrange the pork to the side of the rice. I felt also that the dish could have done with a sauce or some stir-fried veg to add variety. – As a large serving of just pork and rice I was getting bored before I was halfway through. Malaysian cuisine is characterised I believe for its use of fruit in savoury dishes and some grilled pineapple or a citrus sauce would have been ideal to cut through the pork Our bill was about £14 which precludes grumbling but I left still not sure what I thought of the place. Clearly they struggle with the vegetarian concept but whilst it’s not brilliant food it makes a perfect cheap pit stop for a lunch-time shopping break. I did see other diners with fantastic looking dishes – one memorably consisting of a prawn the size of a small dog sitting on a bed of crispy noodles. The lucky recipient of this meal actually carved the prawn for his partner and himself to share. Having said that there is now a Chinese Café bang next door doing even brisker trade, with a very interesting menu so I think that’s ear-marked for our next shopping expedition!
If you are the restaurant owner, we now offer the RIGHT TO REPLY
(see below):
RIGHT TO REPLY
If you are the restaurant owner and wish to comment/clarify any points made in this review please submit your remarks to info@birminghamplus.com |
| |
| REVIEWS
|
| CHRIS |
| REVIEWS |
| No.of reviews: |
175 |
| Average Rating: |
58.78% |
| Highest Rating: |
99 % |
| Lowest Rating: |
0 % |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| FEEDBACK (0
) |
|
No-one has provided feedback yet | |
|
|
|
