Nyonya Report

[Dave Feldman]

Thanks to all for the Malaysian discussions on the
board, and special thanks to Gary for recommending
particular dishes at Nyonya. Of course, nothing could
have stopped us from ordering the roti canai, which
were just superb. Our party of four had 6 orders.
They were as addictive as crack, and I almost tackled
a waitress that tried to take the leftover sauce after
we were through with the roti. I am far from an
expert on Malaysian food, but the sauces are usually
what I remember about Malaysian meals, and the sauce
for the roti was the best I've ever encountered.
Fabulous.

The Prawn Mee was delicious, but not quite up to the
best Thai noodle dishes I've had. And I found the
Kang Kung Belacan (sauteed convolous w/picy shrimp
paste) simply too salty (is the shrimp paste used
always *this* salty or piled on in such quantity?).

The Hainanese chicken was a little disappointing to me
(although the rice was great) but perhaps the reaction
was partly because I was knocked out by the "Cheng-
Lai" stingray. The lemon-grass broth combined with a
fabulous chili topping. What a great dish!

We bagged desserts for Ciao Bella, but it looked like
almost every table was ordering the ABC this sultry
night.

Question: How does Nyonya hold all the people who
come in? We saw hundreds of people entering the
restaurant and only scores leaving during the time we
are there. This is one place not to worry about a
line.

[Jim Leff]

"The Hainanese chicken was a little disappointing to me
(although the rice was great) but perhaps the reaction
was partly because I was knocked out by the "Cheng-Lai"
stingray"

yeah, you've really gotta switch gears after eating
such intense stuff to appreciate a dish as supremely
elemental as Hainanese chicken rice. It's like being
suddenly transported from a noisy drunken conga line to
a baroque recorder recital.

I suspect that when you eat Hainanese chicken rice at
home Over There, the dish pretty much constitutes the
meal, so there's little in the way of jazzy distraction
(Gary, correct me if I'm wrong, please!). If so, this
is a good example of how eating in restaurants can
sometimes distort a cuisine.....e.g. Mexican
(monstrously exaggerated meat portions compared to what
even rich folks eat at home), Japanese (the usual fussy
shiny stuff is a negligibly small part of the cuisine's
broad spectrum), etc etc.

[Dave Feldman]

Jim,

I suspect your theory is correct. I believe the
Hainanese chicken was the last entree I touched.

I can imagine the difficulty you had assigning a
rating for this restaurant. The highs were extremely
high, and I suspect your "caution" and "warning" signs
in "Eclectic Gourmet" were warranted. But I hope the
relatively low food quality rating for Nyonya doesn't
deter anyone from trying Nyonya. Maybe I had a lucky
night, but I was impressed.

[Jim Leff]

Yeah, I hate ratings in general; it was sheer torture
coming up with those numbers. Don't get me started...

My best advice is to ignore them and just read the
reviews.

Anyway, you need to go to Malaysian grad school; try to
get out to Penang in Flushing. I think you'll agree
that even Nyonya's peaks pale in comparison. At least I
hope so...a lot of us long-time Penang fans have been
bracing ourselves in anticpation of what seems an
almost inevitable downturn of quality (what with all
their frenzied expansion)

jim

[Mara]

I have returned to Nyonya several times and have always
had excellent meals, though I must admit I get the same
thing nearly every time. Yes, the chendol is SUPERB,
and is actually served with the meal, which is a
wonderful foil to my all-time favortie dish, the whole
fish in thai sauce. I always choose red snapper, and
out comes this tender, flaky fish that slides off the
bones, lightly fried but not at all greasy, in this
transcendent sauce - I kid you not. It's
tamarind-based, I think, sweet and sour and spicy all
at once. That and a cup of rice to soak up the
leftover sauce is a perfect meal for two. I'm gearing
up to try their "brother" restautrant, Baba, but for
now this sure beats any of the "Penang"s, either in
Manhattan or Brooklyn.

[Jo]

Is there a Penang in Brooklyn? Is it worth trying?
Thanks.

[Mara]

Yes, there is a Penang in Sunset Park, though I don't
know the exact address. Honestly, though, I wouldn't
highly recommend it - the two times I've been
there, it's been very noisy, not incredibly clean, and
the food has been disappointing each time. The last
time I went was about 6 months ago, though, so it may
have improved since then. My advice? Just hop on the D
train to Grand street and go to Nyonya!

[jen kalb]

I'm confused - there's a Nyonya on Fifth Ave in Sunset
Park at the north end of the Chinatown strip, which I
have been wanting (maybe misguidedly) to sample - is
that the restaurant you mean? There is also a Sinma or
Sinha farther south which has not impressed me so far.

[Mara]

Hmm, yes, that might be. I'd thought it went by
another name, but if it's to the north, on the east
side of the street, with lots of light wood and bamboo,
that'd be it. Sorry for the confusion.

[Jim Leff]

woops, let's get one thing clear: restaurants called
Penang and ones called Nyonya are both run by the same
people; the name doesn't matter...there are tons of
places under both names, most of them mediocre or
worse. The only really good Nyonya is the one on Grand
Street in Manhattan. And the only really good Penang is
the original branch in Flushing (which is still the
best overall Malaysian in town, or at least close to
it).

ciao

[Rosanna]

Am I Missing something??? After all the kudos on this board I tried Penang (April 2004) on Prince Street in Flushing. I'm an adventurous eater and tried to order the most authentic dishes. I found the food overly sweet, cornstarch gloppy or redundant (same sauce served on several dishes). Forge into unknown territory say I.

[Rosanna]

Am I Missing something??? After all the kudos on this board I tried Penang (April 2004) on Prince Street in Flushing. I'm an adventurous eater and tried to order the most authentic dishes. I found the food overly sweet, cornstarch gloppy or redundant (same sauce served on several dishes). Forge into unknown territory say I.

[rebecca]

Where is Penang, exactly? and do you have some cool
reccommendations on dishes--I gave someone the sting
ray rec awhile back, which I see has been enjoye

[Jim Leff]

Rebecca...sorry for the delayed response (have been
trying out dozens of professional quality microphones
for this Radio Free Chowhound project I'm working
on...ironically, none sound as good as a cheap consumer
mic I bought ten years ago for fifty bucks!).

Nyonya is at 194 Grand Street, [phone], (212)
334-6701

As for recommended dishes...in my book I suggest roti
canai, sate, Hainanese chicken rice, and mee siam
noodles. The sting ray and other such complicated
dishes CAN be good, but it's a crap shoot. If you want
to be sure on the fancier preparations, go to Penang in
Flushing. At Nynonya, I keep it simple; noodles, soups,
and simple seafood stuff.

[Gary Cheong]

Hi Dave -- very glad to hear that you enjoyed your
first trip to Nyonya.

As Jim said in his reply to you, the Hainan chicken
rice requires you to switch gears midstream if that is
not the dish that comes first. It is aromatic and
subtle. Most of the other stuff you had were big,
spicy and bold. Since this is your first time, it
caught you by surprise. It's not so for me because I
know what to expect.

If you can find the thread way back when, Jonathan
Gold and I both said that the RICE is the important
part of the dish (more so than the chicken). Nothing
kills this dish more than lousy rice.

As for the kangkung belacan, I think perhaps someone
used a heavy hand on the shrimp paste, and made it too
salty.

I much prefer the chendol ice (with palm sugar syrup
and coconut milk) to the ABC. But then, Ciao Bella is
a good choice too. I didn't tell you that on the
phone, but I do the same thing if I skip the ices at
Nyonya.

[Michael]

Dave: I'm glad you enjoyed your meal.

Yes, belacan is a salty shrimp paste, and kangkung or
other vegetables with belacan should have plenty of
belacan and plenty of chili. It's an acquired taste,
but those who have acquired it eat it as comfort food.

For what it's worth, I've never liked ABC, a.k.a. ais
kacang. What I wish I could find in New York are the
kueh bakar (baked cakes with a batter that has eggs and
coconut in it) that I used to eat every day during
recess. Or a store which sells the delicious peanut
cakes made in a factory in Bahau, Negri Sembilan. :-)

Bubur and pulut hitam were not eaten as desserts in
Trengganu state where I used to live, but, instead, as
breakfast/brunch items. However, they do make nice,
soothing desserts, and Nyonya does a pretty good job at
both. I wish I could find bubur made with SWEET POTATO
in new york, however.

[Michael]

As per Jim Leff's clarification, I would like to state
that when I've referred to Nyonya, I've been referring
to the Grand St. restaurant only, and that the only
Penang restaurants I've been to are the one on 78th (?)
St. and Columbus, the first one I tried (and one which
was very overpriced and inauthentic), and the one on
3rd Av. and 11 St., which is better than the uptown one
but which I still find fault with. I've never tried the
one in Queens.

FWIW, I do not make leisure excursions to Queens. I eat
in Queens when I have a reason for being there: mostly,
after teaching at Queensboro Community College, when I
go to restaurants near the Flushing-Main St. subway
stop of the 7 Train.

[Jim Leff]

"FWIW, I do not make leisure excursions to Queens. I
eat in Queens when I have a reason for being there"

That's cool, but you are missing what is by far the
best chow in New York, possibly the world. It's a pity,
considering how much you obviously enjoy food...

In any case, I'm sure you'll agree that you're overdue
for a pilgrimmage to the original Penang in Flushing
(which is, of course, right near work for you).

ciao