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You guys got me looking up Malaysian food in Philly-I'm hungry haha.
Lol I love Thai food (the spiciness can be irresistible) and we have those all over the place here in the DMV, but if Malaysian food as even better than Thai cuisine, then I'm most definitely interested in trying it out! Let's see if we have any around here
Um, no. NYC I agree with, maybe LA too though I'd put them almost even on variety. SF and Houston? No..You don't know the city if you think that Houston has more variety. Most people in the country have no idea how much food you can actually get in Chicago. It's full of people from all over the world and you can get tons of different varities of food.
Top 3 is NYC, LA, and Chicago with variety with NYC on top. SF would come next after the top 3, then probably Houston and Philadelphia.
Yeah, and the food I ate in Singapore measured up poorly to what I had in Kuala Lumpur and northern Malaysia. Food for thought There's an Indonesian place here in Chicago - actually the owners moved from Boston to open it up with their son who was living here already. It's good, but if you've had the real thing then it's eh. Beautiful restaurant inside though. There's supposed to be another Indonesian place coming nearby it this summer or fall too. There used to be one up in Little India (Devon) but it closed down during the whole economic BS thing a few years ago.
There was a 100% Malaysian restaurant in the city too, but it burned down a few years ago and never rebuilt. There's a few Asian restaurants that will offer various Malaysian dishes but not 100% full on Malaysian restaurant. There's a small handful in the suburbs though - their appetizers are actually pretty good, but their entrees are usually just OK (but not bad) compared to the real thing.
If what I had in Singapore doesn't measure up to KL, then I am booking a flight right now.
Just speaking generally, when you find a restaurant on this side of the world that measures up favorably to where its originally from, it really is a wonderful thing. Too bad it doesn't happen as often as I would like.
Either way, tell those folks to move back to Boston, they are in need!
If what I had in Singapore doesn't measure up to KL, then I am booking a flight right now.
Just speaking generally, when you find a restaurant on this side of the world that measures up favorably to where its originally from, it really is a wonderful thing. Too bad it doesn't happen as often as I would like.
Either way, tell those folks to move back to Boston, they are in need!
I was only in Singapore for 3 days, but I was with my ex's family and also a family friend who lives in Singapore. I have a friend here who also lived in Singapore for a few years (he grew up in KL) and thinks the foods are more even. My ex and all her friends did agree though that KL's food is better than Singapores. Both are great though really and on average, KL is cheaper. I remember going to a street food street in KLCC and paying about $7 total for 10 skewers of chicken and pork satay, an entire grilled fish, and a big thing of fried rice with chinese sausage.
Ha, the Boston family - They actually had an Indonesian restaurant in Boston, but sold it to move to Chicago so the whole family could re-unite in one location. Good for US standards - mediocre if it were in SE Asia, but SE Asia has some of the best food in the world for sure.
It was hilarious hearing all my Malaysian friends bitching about the prices though. "Oh my god, I can get this in KL on the street for $1." It's like they forgot their understanding of COL - all Malaysians I've met are VERY passionate about food. By the way in Malacca, there's something called Nyonya and there's traces of Dutch, British, Indonesian, and Portuguese in the food and people.
By the way, I can't express enough how much I love a good cendol.
I was only in Singapore for 3 days, but I was with my ex's family and also a family friend who lives in Singapore. I have a friend here who also lived in Singapore for a few years (he grew up in KL) and thinks the foods are more even. My ex and all her friends did agree though that KL's food is better than Singapores. Both are great though really and on average, KL is cheaper. I remember going to a street food street in KLCC and paying about $7 total for 10 skewers of chicken and pork satay, an entire grilled fish, and a big thing of fried rice with chinese sausage.
You just cant beat SE Asia when it comes to a perfect balance of value and taste. Very interesting to hear the comparisons between KL and Singapore. You having a local guide most likely meant that you ate better than most.
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Ha, the Boston family - They actually had an Indonesian restaurant in Boston, but sold it to move to Chicago so the whole family could re-unite in one location. Good for US standards - mediocre if it were in SE Asia, but SE Asia has some of the best food in the world for sure.
If it closed over the past 5 years, then I know the exact one. A shame, haha.
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By the way in Malacca, there's something called Nyonya and there's traces of Dutch, British, Indonesian, and Portuguese in the food and people.
Funny you mention Nyonya. One of my favorite restaurants in London is Sedap on Old Street and they serve that type of cuisine. Hands down some of the tastiest food I have tried anywhere.
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By the way, I can't express enough how much I love a good cendol.
Ironically enough, after I got back that is one of the things I craved most. I actually tried to make it at home. It sounds so simple, but I cant quite get it right.
You just cant beat SE Asia when it comes to a perfect balance of value and taste. Very interesting to hear the comparisons between KL and Singapore. You having a local guide most likely meant that you ate better than most.
And the thing is that I didn't even go to the food capital of Malaysia, which is Penang. Everyone said "oh, you think the food in KL is amazing? It's way better on Penang."
Singapore used to be part of Malaysia too so there's definitely commonalities there.
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If it closed over the past 5 years, then I know the exact one. A shame, haha.
Was it good? If it's theirs then the Chicago one probably has a similar menu that the Boston one had.
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Funny you mention Nyonya. One of my favorite restaurants in London is Sedap on Old Street and they serve that type of cuisine. Hands down some of the tastiest food I have tried anywhere.
Yeah, it's really good stuff. Did they have chicken rice balls there? I'm not sure if that's technically Nyonya cuisine, but Malacca is about the only place you're going to get them and they're good! I'm not surprised that London has that food - I doubt you can find it in many place around the world outside of Malaysia. Probably just London and maybe NYC.
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Ironically enough, after I got back that is one of the things I craved most. I actually tried to make it at home. It sounds so simple, but I cant quite get it right.
It is simple but I think you have to have really good balance. The coconut milk is a must too. I had some without it in Malacca, but it had this type of molasses instead..and it wasn't the same.
And the thing is that I didn't even go to the food capital of Malaysia, which is Penang. Everyone said "oh, you think the food in KL is amazing? It's way better on Penang."
Singapore used to be part of Malaysia too so there's definitely commonalities there.
I can only imagine, need to get there one of these days.
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Was it good? If it's theirs then the Chicago one probably has a similar menu that the Boston one had.
It was okay. But being the only game in town its what we had. They did seem to always be busy though, the reason why they lost their lease (If we are speaking about the same place) is because a developer bought the building and its being converted into luxury condo's, with Room&Board furniture store occupying the main floor. I heard one of the cooks resurfaced at this Malaysian restaurant in Cambridge and is cooking a few Indonesian dishes on the menu.
Good to know the owners ended up elsewhere and are still in the business.
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Yeah, it's really good stuff. Did they have chicken rice balls there? I'm not sure if that's technically Nyonya cuisine, but Malacca is about the only place you're going to get them and they're good! I'm not surprised that London has that food - I doubt you can find it in many place around the world outside of Malaysia. Probably just London and maybe NYC.
I don't remember any chicken rice balls, how are they prepared? Here is the menu, if you are ever in London, its worth a visit. Sedap
London is the only place I have eaten this type of food, so you are right when you say it is not common.
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It is simple but I think you have to have really good balance. The coconut milk is a must too. I had some without it in Malacca, but it had this type of molasses instead..and it wasn't the same.
Thats the thing, finding the right balance is the key, and its just not quite right when I do it. I heard it did vary from country to country, which version did you enjoy the most?
This is completely unscientific, but looking at all the cuisine categories on Urbanspoon, it appears NYC is the winner.
NYC has 99 different categories of restaurants listed.
LA = 86
DC = 82
Houston = 81
Chicago = 80
Keep in mind these lists include things like coffeehouses, BBQ and gastropubs and group several regional areas (e.g. Eastern European, African (as in not Ethopian/Moroccan), so it's not a perfectly true account of every regional cuisine. But it should be a decent indicator.
This is completely unscientific, but looking at all the cuisine categories on Urbanspoon, it appears NYC is the winner.
NYC has 99 different categories of restaurants listed.
LA = 86
DC = 82
Houston = 81
Chicago = 80
Keep in mind these lists include things like coffeehouses, BBQ and gastropubs and group several regional areas (e.g. Eastern European, African (as in not Ethopian/Moroccan), so it's not a perfectly true account of every regional cuisine. But it should be a decent indicator.
Interesting. As much as I love Urbanspoon, there's a lot of different places not on there. You also have to look at regional cuisines within a regional cuisine (i.e. when it says "Mexican" - which region of Mexico is it from? I don't know of any site that would actually list Oaxacan Mexican as a category versus Sonoran Mexican)
Best food and most variety are two very different animals.
Most of the big players (NYC, LA, Chicago etc.) will have tons of variety, but you can easily find certain types of cuisine, like North/South Indian, Thai etc., that is considerably better in other locales.
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There's an Indonesian place here in Chicago - actually the owners moved from Boston to open it up with their son who was living here already. It's good, but if you've had the real thing then it's eh. Beautiful restaurant inside though. There's supposed to be another Indonesian place coming nearby it this summer or fall too. There used to be one up in Little India (Devon) but it closed down during the whole economic BS thing a few years ago.
