Malay Cafe

The menu is full of choices. I got the Royal Almond Chicken and my wife got Pepper Steak. Both were great! These plates were off the lunch menu. The lunch came with flavorful vegetable soup, fluffy turmeric rice, a small greens salad, fried sweet potato and a curry puff (which was excellent, especially with the sweet sauce the waitress brought out for us). Everything was fresh and hot. I got a sweet hot tea, and it was very good, too. The service was outstanding, it helped that we were about the only ones there, but we thought it would be good service no matter what.

After living in north KC and repeatedly passing the place, I finally tried Malay Café out. Honestly, it wasn’t that great. Granted, I know each type of Asian cuisine varies, but I’ve had all sorts of Asian cuisine — this was incredibly Americanized and definitely catered to those tastes.
I got the Chow Fun, which is actually traditionally Chinese — but Malaysian food is essentially a blend of Chinese and Indian influences. The rice noodles did not taste fresh whatsoever. I don’t expect it to be «hot off the press» fresh (which I’ve had, and it’s divine), but at least not «been sitting in the fridge for a week» fresh. It was rather blend in depth, tasting only of soy sauce. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled because of my Chinese palette.
My boyfriend got the Singapore Noodles and another person in our party got the Basil Beef. The Singapore Noodles were reminiscent of something my mother makes. Except she calls it garlic noodles, only in Chinese, of course. I’ve never been a fan of it, so it didn’t appeal to me. I didn’t try the Basil Beef, but the person who got it wasn’t too impressed with it.
We all ordered the summer rolls, which were essentially Vietnamese spring rolls with a different name. They weren’t made very well, and the rice paper wrapper fell apart when I picked it up. It was a mess of noodles everywhere. Dipping was nearly impossible. You had to spoon sauce onto it. This also proved that the rolls weren’t fresh, since fresh rolls would not fall apart that easily.
I also got the pearl milk tea because I absolutely love bubble tea, and that’s essentially what it was. It was your basic milk tea, nothing too special. Essentially, everything was average here. I don’t know that I would return, unless I really needed to feed one of my many weird cravings.
Overall: ³⁄₅
Food: 2.5÷5
Service: ³⁄₅
Atmosphere: ²⁄₅

I’ve been here several times for lunch. Great prices. I’ve tried about everything on their lunch menu and don’t have any complaints. All a inch items served with house soup as well as a sweet potato crisp of sort.

Love this place. However came to share the experience with my husband. Ordered off the lunch menu and was told after our food came out it wasn’t available because of the holiday. Should tell everyone that comes in and have it posted so we know what we are getting. Big disappointment today.

I visited Malay Café recently for a late Saturday lunch with my mother.
We had a little trouble finding it at first. They are in a strip mall and their signage is pretty nondescript.
When we did find it, we entered a very plain, basic restaurant. This place is not about ambiance.
The waitress who greeted us was very friendly and warm. She explained a few dishes to us, explained the lunch special and was generally helpful. She also told me that all but a few dishes, which are prepared in advance in quantity, could be modified to be vegetarian. This was very helpful as there were only two veggie entrees on the menu and one on the lunch menu and neither were ringing my bell that day,
I had a modified noodle dish lunch special with tofu substituted for chicken. Alas, the name escapes me, but ti was excellent. Delicately flavored and a large portion, the main dish was accompanied by a lunch soup (vegetarian, a little zing to it and with kimchee), a curry puff, a fried sweet potato slice and rice. There was plenty of food for two meals.
Mom had a spicy shrimp lunch special, with the same accompaniments. It was very good and had a nice spice level. She also made two meals of it. All the veggies in the dishes were fresh, not frozen or canned.
I also had a Malaysian coffee — strong, with sweetened condensed milk. I enjoyed it, but it was almost a dessert item, much like hot chocolate can be in the winter.
All told our bill came to about $ 20. I’d definitely recommend Malay Café if you’re in the area. Dinner entrees were not much high in price and everything was great.

A pretty good representation of Indonesian cuisine for the mid-​west. Nasi Goreng, Beef Rendeng, Mee Goreng & Sambal shrimp. Didn’t try the Laksa.

First time experience (black pepper beef) was great. Looking forward to a few more visits for a fuller review.

Good food without much atmosphere at this strip mall hole-​in-​the-​wall. This is perhaps the first Malaysian restaurant I’ve experienced but it certainly left a good impression of the cuisine. There were only a few vegetarian options. I choose the ginger tofu which was excellent despite my not being a big fan of ginger generally. The wontons and sweet potato are good as well, accompanied by a very spicy mustard. I ordered to-​go so didn’t stay too long but the décor is basic. Prices seemed very reasonable for the quality of the food and the containers had sizable portions within.

Awesome little hidden gem. I love the little starter soup. The royal almond chicken is my favorite dish there, but the rice they serve on the side is to die for!

Came here for lunch. Got my soup within 5 mins and my entrée within 10 mins of sitting down. They refilled my water at least 5 times; very attentive and courteous. Food was really tasty, and a lot! Not to mention it was cheap too. Will definitely be coming back here.

The Singapore noodles are so yummy! My be ordered it, but I wish I had! I tried the almond chicken but it really wasn’t as good as the rest of the Unilocalers say. I think it was a bit too sweet for my liking. Also the cheesy wontons were also very good. Let’s be honest they were just crab Rangoon. Not quite like Thai crab Rangoon… These were a lot cheesier. But that’s ok, still delicious!

This place was good. It wasnt spectacular but not bad. The Meek Goreng was super yummy, will try their Nasi Goreng next time!

One dish to rule them all… ROYAL ALMOND CHICKEN! #ProteinPackedDinner
So I’ve never eaten Malaysian food before, but boy was I taken aback by the very new flavor that has infiltrated my palatte.
Started the dinner with battered and friend sweet potatoes that were not greasy but just plain yummy!
Then came the main dish! The Royal Almond Chicken was recommended to us by our server since it was their most popular dish. It was healthy, it was crunchy and filled with protein via the tons of almond they coat the chicken with. It was served with a basmati type rice that was quite fragrant. It also had a side of steamed veggies. There’s something alluring to their seasoning… it had a hint of Indian type spices but at the same time very Asian. It surprised me how Malaysian food had such an interesting flavor of spices and aroma that I now can categorize it in it’s own subcategory instead of the usual…“Asian food type”.
The bubble tea was quite interesting too, they only have one flavor and it tastes like Thai Ice Tea. The tapioca pearls were fresh and the drink, while it was on the expensive side, was quite delicious.
We didn’t eat much, because it was one of those: Hungry for a Second Dinner kinda night, but I am definitely gonna go back and try more of their food!
So if you’re in the mood to try something different that is kinda like Chinese and Indian fused together… then CHECK THIS PLACE OUT!
I’ve passed by this place for over 10 years and I can’t believe that I’ve let a gem like this go unnoticed.
Happy Eating!

While this is the number one search for vegan food in the airport area it should be warned that they only have roughly five meals that are guaranteed to be vegetarian. While the food was great and the portions were large the variety did seem limited.

Pretty authentic tasting (although I haven’t quite made it to Malaysia yet) meal! Been here several times now over the years. After trying many lunch specials before, I decided to go with a huge bowl of soup last time. Holy crap! The bowl was insanely big and I knew right away I would not be able to finish it. I had the dumpling soup. Dumplings were absolutely delicious (seasoned pork and veggie), added veggies were fresh and crunchy but the actual broth really didn’t have a memorable taste. My son tried the beef noodle soup. He said beef didn’t taste good (to his liking) but the broth part was great! Go figure! Perhaps my dumplings in his beef broth would have worked better. ;) Malay Café is a nice place to go for something different. And to the reviewers complaining about the non-​fancy décor… Who really cares? I’ve eaten hand pulled noodles from a literal black cauldron of boiling broth from a back alley in China before. It wasn’t pretty at all, and quite frankly kinda scary. But it was freaking good stuff!!! It’s not about the décor (or lack thereof), it’s about the food after all. Enjoy!

This unassuming restaurant in a small strip mall has lots of flavor hidden inside. When you walk in you see lots of locals, you can tell this is a popular place. The smells wafting in from the kitchen had me paralyzed on what to get. I wanted to try everything. The food was pretty decent but nothing that would make me go out of my way. If you are in the area and want Asian this is pretty good. I had the peppered steak which I thought was really good. The hot and sour soup was really good but I have one complaint, I wanted to upgrade to the hot and sour soup and was expecting it to be a dollar or two more. They actually charged me full price for the soup in addition to the regular price of the meal (which comes with a soup). That was very annoying.

Food was just okay. Won’t go again. Took our order to go. It was fairly fast, friendly. Interior was like an old grandma decorated it. Old curtains and plastic table clothes and all. That doesn’t bother me as much but food wasn’t worth the expense. 11 bucks a meal for dry rice and minimal entrée on the chicken dish. See pictures. Instead I recommend big phở bowl. Unilocal it for directions.

I’ve had a terrible craving for Malaysian food since returning from Queens, NY recently, where authentic restaurants abound. Kansas City, to my knowledge, 6003 NW Barry Rd. is our only choice I’m sad to say.
What I’m not sad about? The food is terrific here and is a real value for the price. I’m already plotting my next visit, usually to be paired with a trip to KCI to fly out or to drop off or pick up family members.
We started with a Malaysian coffee that came sweetened with (guessing) condensed milk and possibly the hint of a spice that was in the cinnamon/​nutget arena (could be wrong about this). It was terrific. An order of dumplings proceeded the meal. We were warned it would take 15 minutes to prepare (made fresh, eh? We’re in). They arrived in 10 minutes and were mouth watering wonderful, stuffed with ground pork and greens in a sauce that was likely a combination of soy/​fish sauce/​garlic or something in that general vicinity. This was not frozen crap out of a bag delivered by the Cisco truck. No, delicious, expertly prepared.
My wife ordered chicken curry which was proceeded by a nice clear broth soup with a few vegetables. Not remarkable, but pleasant. More of an appetizer.
I ordered Laksa Lemak with several marvelous Laksas in recent memory from Queens area and two of the best rated Malaysian restaurants serving Malaysian. Allow me to announce the renaming of this dish. I will call it Kansas City Laksa because even though it wasn’t authentic, it was a marvelous meal, a massive bowl of steaming goodness packed with… count them… cabbage, green pepper, tomato, sprouts, potato, carrot, broccoli, onion, mushrooms and zucchini. And chicken, tenderly cooked to perfection to order. Heat, a nice medium burn. This was all freshly prepared. The broth, while not as coconut based as those in Queens, was more clear in appearance and possibly contained coconut water. Not a thick yellow curry as I anticipated but still savory and mouth watering. Firm white noodles and garnished with cilantro. No mystery meat fish balls you’ll get in an authentic place – for me, that’s not a problem.
My wife’s chicken curry contained a similar make-​up of vegetables and more of a traditional coconut curry we expected. Also a great plate with rice and some tempura vegetables.
Now I’m not an expert at Malaysian but this didn’t strike me as authentic. Not really a problem for me. I’m concerned about is this a meal I’d like to have again. It was. I also confirmed with a waitress (her mother is the cook) the restaurant leans towards an Americanized version of Malay food, hence my renaming of the Laksa which was packed with wholesome mid-​western vegetables and chicken. The remaining broth I brought home? It’ll pair nicely with some home cooked rice for lunch tomorrow. Looking forward to that meal.
The dishes at the tables around us all looked great and there were clearly repeat customers. I get it. Meet my new go-​to restaurant when I’m flying out of KCI. So many more items on the menu I must try. Patience, dear stomach. We’ll return soon.

I hadn’t been here in ages and after coming back, I remember how great it is. The service is very friendly — the owner often is the one taking your order.
Their lunch specials are great — $ 6 – 8 for soup and a plate of your choice. I got the sweet and sour chicken. It was a LOT of sauce, maybe next time on the side. The chicken was juicy, though and the veggies were still crunchy in the sauce, though, so not overcooked.
My mom got the almond chicken — should have gotten that. After trying a couple bites, I wanted to switch plates when she went to the bathroom… :)
Each plate comes with little fumplings that are very tasty and something other than crab rangoon.
The space is very intimate (read: small!) so be prepared to smell what’s cooking at the table next to you.

What stood out the most to me about this place? Elevator music version of 70’s songs like «the way we were» and «feelings.» Not sure if it «worked» or not, but I thought it was funny as hell.
The soup as an appetizer was delicious. I wish I did not receive so much of it, because I was only able to finish less than half of the meal. I opted for vegetable basil which was a meat lunch dish modified to vegetarian.
To be clear, I have never tried Malaysian food before, so did not know what to expect. Upon eating the food, however, I realized the food here does not taste much different than any other Asian restaurant I might visit in the states.
There was a sweetness present in the flavor, and little surprises of potato that popped up every now and again. I think I would have enjoyed the meal more if it were just a little less saucy, and if the portion sizes were smaller.
I just felt I got entirely too much food for a lunch serving, especially considering how little I was charged. Because I was on my way to the airport, taking it with me was out of the question, so I felt it was a waste.
The service.
Her vibe is kind of short. Everything got done, but the server had a rather abrupt personality. I was not expecting her to be my BFF, but a little lightness and a smile is greatly appreciated.
Love the map of Malaysia on the wall. Although my shower curtain at home is actually a map of the world, I only look at it if I’m looking for a specific country– I suck at geography.