Nyonya

199 Grand St., Chinatown, NY

7.4

map & more

Neighborhood
Chinatown

Cuisine
Malaysian

Nearby
Arlene's Grocery
Bowery Ballroom
Rockwood Music Hall

212-334-3669

Official Website

By Chris Stang
February 19, 2010

Our discovery of Nyonya was ultimately the result of a discussion over dinner at Fatty Crab. I was eating there with friends well versed in Malaysian cuisine, and they insisted that while Fatty Crab may be good, it’s a travesty to enjoy it without knowing the real deal. Hence, a Nyonya dinner was put on the books, and the experts were going to show us the way. We’re glad they did.

Nyonya is well known as one of the few real Malasyian restaurants in New York City. It is loved equally among people who were raised on food like this, and those that more casually enjoy cuisine of the region. The menu is huge, and you will find traditional Malaysian dishes like Nasi Lamak and Prawn Mee, but you’ll also see Phad Thai and other more well known regional items. The food is excellent, and everything is cheap, which means plenty of room left in your budget for Tiger beers. After a few visits, we’ve decided our friends were right. We won’t exactly be running back to Fatty Crab to drop four times the money on an “interpretation” of the real thing.

Food Rundown:

Roti CanaiApparently this is refelctive of the Indian influence in Malasyian food, which makes sense as it’s a thin pancake, very similar to naan. The chicken curry sauce that comes along with it is amazing. I want to take shots of it. Off of Padma.

Prawn Mee
A noodle soup with shrimp in a spicy shrimp broth. This is a huge portion of food, and could easily be a meal in itself, but we recommend sharing.

Nasi Lemak
A Malaysian staple, this is coconut rice, chicken, anchovies, sambal chili paste and a fried egg. I can see how that might not sound good on paper, but this is amazing, and might be my favorite thing in the house.

Beef Rendang
Beef cooked with traditional Malasyian spices. Fatty Crab’s version of this was done with short rib, and the sauce was super intense, not particularly in a good way. Nyonya’s rendang is much more balanced, much more subtle, and much better.

Steamed Tilapia
A light fish, this was the only thing on the table that seemed a little flat. Maybe its just something you should eat first, before the more intense flavors on the menu assault your palate.

Okra
I’ve only had okra the southern way – battered, fried, or swimming around in a giant pot of gumbo. These were either steamed or sauteed and cut into bite size peices. Okra isn’t for everyone, but if you like it, you love it here.
Mee Siam
Recommended to me by a waitress when I asked about popular dishes at Nyonya (on a visit without experts to guide me). This is in the fried noodles section, and was similar to phad thai, but with a thai chili sauce rather than a peanut sauce. It was excellent, though not as exciting as the more traditional Malasyian stuff.