Villa Malaysia

So I was having a chat with my coworker yesterday about food, and she was talking about Ethiopian food, (that i've never tried) she said there's no cutlery and you have this pancake that you eat everything with.  Then it got me started on Malaysian food and my love for the roti.


I love the Roti Canai from Banana Leaf and seldom dream of floating away in a parachute of a giant roti... 


So i was like. i had to have it. and looked up the closest Malaysian place from work to try out.  Google located me to Villa Malaysia, which... got 4 stars out of 2 reviews on Urban Spoon so... that's... promising.


I got Chris to go with me, it's, it located in that plaza on East Beaver Creek and Hwy 7 in Richmond Hill.. or if you like specifics: Villa Malaysia 140 York Blvd | Richmond Hill | Ontario | L4B 3J6


It was the day before the blizzard, and it was also like 5:30... so we were the only people there.... it's a ginormous spaces, with private rooms with flatscreen tv's.  I guess they promote it as a lounge as well.


According to their website, they also own another Malaysian restaurant, Restoran Malaysia ‘www.Restoranmalaysia.com’.


It looked kinda trendy, and i'm always skeptical on trendy asian places, cause sometimes the attention goes on the decor than the food... however, i was most impressed with the food, given that, we were the only people in a huge empty restaurant (that wasn't a good first impression), but the food was really good!

Gado Gado    $6

   Beansprout-jicama-cucumber-fried tofu-boiled egg-peanut dressing

I had a roommate from Bali during undergrad, and she would bring back these packages of peanut sauce for gado gado, and she and her bf made it for me once and it was ammmaaazzzing... and i'd been in love ever since, so when i see gado gado on the menu, i order it.  This version was great!  I've never had it "chunky" style, but its the sauce that makes this dish.  The Jicama, not sure if i've had it before, but it reminds me of a cross between a water chestnut and turnip, very crisp and refreshing.  You finish this meal feeling satisfied and guilt-free, which is satisfaction in itself.

Roti Curry Chicken/Beef   $8.5

Two pieces of crisp and soft roti canai

So my whole raison d'etre, for that moment at least, was to satisfy my Roti craving.  I got the Roti Curry, with the 2 pieces of roti canai, and i was not disappointed. I love the Malaysian roti, I also love the Indian curry, but with this roti, there's this sweetness to it that i can just eat on my own, but when i pair it with the spicy curry, there's a flavour circus in my mouth.  I basically mopped up my entire bowl clean with my roti, it was that-good.  I didn't take a picture, but they offered a home made chili sauce that was tangy and packed a hidden punch... which i think was also a pokemon skill.......LOL

Banana Fritters with Coconut Ice Cream   $6

Now, i was satisfactory full when I finished my curry, but the attentive waiter came by and offered a dessert menu, and Chris had been staring at the giant poster on the wall, featuring the deep fried bananas. so why not. Love deep fried bananas, combined with the tropical flavoring of coconut.  When it came... i was kinda... put off by its ..... shall i say, phallic resemblance... but totally amused by its resemblance to also another animal of dark brown skin flaps...

hehe

It was pretty good, the banana was fried through, so it melted in your mouth, and the coating was super chewy, but added to a resistance in texture when combing the ice cream and soft banana together, so it wasn't just all mush.  There were coconut bits in the coconut ice cream, though i thought it could have been more coconutty.

On a side note, there was a tank of fishys that kept starring at us the whole time. they kept following you wherever you went... here's a pic of one smiling at me.  I'll come eat you next time.

Pho 88.

Here is my opening line. Could you get better Pho elsewhere? Pho Sho.
*cricket*

Anyway, we all went for Pho after the soccer game, and the one uptown here at 5197 Yonge, the Pho 88  is open til Midnight daily (so their banner says), so that's always a draw.  My friends all seem to love the one downtown, but that's probably cause they're all drunk when they're eating there. Cause... honestly... meeehh. I mean i'll eat it, it will take a lot for me to spit it back out if i already put in the effort to open my mouth. And I'ts not horrible, but it's not the best PHO SHO!

Here's a pic from the back shooting front.  I've been taking interior shots lately im not sure with what purpose.

Here. started with the spring rolls. thoughts. meh. i'm a fan of the crunchy skin with a bit of chew, the spring roll did over an ok crunch and chew but the insides were really mushy. like it was pre-chewed for me by old toothless vietnamese ladies working in the back.

I got the Pho Rare Beef Medium, P05 I think, i think it's like 6 bucks or something.. as you can see, the presentation is like, here's a ball of noodles and plop, next!  Seriously, doesn't it look like the beef wasn't actually meant for this noodle soup but someone accidently dropped some slices in there, and they were like, let's not bother to pick it out... she'll think it's a bonus.  If you want to refer to my LEMONGRASS post.. in comparison the beef was so tender and plentiful. just a shame. a shame!

Well. that's it. I did walk by some tables and their dishes looked nice and colourful but i kinda suck in that i don't stray too far from Pho, or lemongras chicken/pork on rice, and spring rolls... hey at least i know what i'm expecting!  However, Pho 88 does have a redeeming dish, from what I've experienced and that's their Deep Fried Banana with Ice Cream. I know... it's deep frying a banana, but man they can deep fry a banana.  I like my bananas cut in lil pieces so the friedness covers the most volume, and the batter has to be light, and it has to be cooked enough that the banana melts when you bite into it, you dont think it's a big deal, but in the last 5 tries for the perfect deep friend banana, all those elements were f*ucked up!  Pho 88 has it nailed.  So props to you on that. 

Restaurant: Lemon Grass @ Richlane Mall in Richmond Hill, Ont

One of my resolutions since forever is to make my own lunch.... and it happens.. once in a while.  But anyway, so there's this awesome asian mall by my work, the Richlane Mall: 9425 Leslie Street 16th Avenue Richmond Hill, Ontario.  One of the restaurants Chris and I go to for lunch is Lemon Grass: Southeast asian cuisine. 

I generally get the rare beef pho ($5.95 small), and you know, being from Vancouver, we're snobby about everything, but this is really good pho!  The broth is super tasty, they serve it like, 30 seconds after you order it, the noodles are perfect texture, and the piece de resistance: the beef. beef was tender and rare, I generally have to ration my meat to noodles, so I have enough beef to last my whole noodle soup eating experience, but i totally didnt even have to ration! I even had enough to give Chris a few pieces, enough to put the fatty pieces aside to be healthy (i ended up eating them anyway, i'm disgusting like that)

Chris got the Grilled Lemon Grass Pork on Vermicelli with Spring Roll ($7.95)... i tried the spring roll, it's got the skin i like, with a nice chew and crisp on the outside, didn't try the pork, since i kinda felt bad cause he got shafted i think, he didnt get enough meat to fulfill his needs (tho last time he got the lemon grass chicken on rice, he had his fill and i took his leftovers... maybe they just put enough pork on there to cover the vermicelli... cheats!)

Oh yeah, we saw this guy eating a Roti Curry at the next table and snapped this picture, cause, im creepy like that... wanna try that roti next time.

P.S. i can still smell the nasty fish roe on the table.