Malaya, The

7.5 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

Love this place - for its food. It is not cheap but very reasonable compared to the prices of other restuarants within its vicinity. My favourite - when in a group is Banquet No.2 and the Bali Lamb dish is to die for.

Service sometimes is slow but everytime I have been there they have been completely full. Highly recommend this place.

Mar 19, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

I was a regular at the Malaya when it was down at Haymarket. Its been nearly 20 years since I last ate there. At a conference in Sept 2011, went there with some guys from WA. The food was still sensational. Much bigger premises, Kwa Du, Chilli Chicken Wings, Kapitan Chicken and the best Laksa in Oz. I'll be back!

Mar 08, 2012 

8.8 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  7     

After always wanting to eat at this restaurant I wasn't disappointed. Yes it is a little over priced for Malaysian food but you are paying for the location, impeccable service and the lovely ambience. I attended this restaurant with a group of about 20 adults and we ordered the banquet menu. We were generally pleased with all the dishes, as there was plenty of food, it tasted fresh and authentic and we didn't have to wait too long after ordering despite being in a large group.

However, I did find the vegetarian dishes to be very bland. The other thing I was very disappointed with was that they hit us up with a $250 gratuity payment which we weren't made aware of prior to this. This is not the type of restaurant I would go to regularly but for a once off special night I would recommend!

Feb 18, 2012 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  8     

We have been coming here for years and it is our first choice for taking guests with Malaysian or Singapore connections. The quality of the food and service is consistently high. The only regret I have is that they don't have a Malaysian desserts selection. Very good value for money taking quality of food and service, ambience and views into account.

Jan 14, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

This is my favourite malaysian restaurant. having worked in york st close by for many years, this was my goto restaurant to take clients and friends for many years.

The kapitan prawns are divine, the lightly battered fried prawns covered in kapitan sauce is orgasmic. The sauce alone can be eaten with rice, I have done that on a number of occasions instead of ordering a second prawn kapitan dish.
The coconut consistency of the sauce with the herbs and spices makes this dish a winner.

Because of this dish, I have made the malaya my favourite malaysian eatery.
Tree the manager has been with this restaurant and has worked with the family who owns the restaurant since the inception of the restaurant many years ago. Hopefully we will not lose him to the lures of paris and his family members!

Jan 10, 2012 

5.5 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  5      Value  4     

Unfortunately, having being an old patron at North Sydey Malaya, I felt that they have exchanged a great value Asian dining experience with the same food and service but trebled the price. Love the food, great location but priced as the Upper end of Sydney restaurants, the service was mid tiered and the ambience (whilst overlooking the harbours) was average, especially with no tablecloths. Felt cheap but was very expensive!

Jan 06, 2012 

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  8      Value  6     

How far has the Malaya come since it's Haymarket/North Sydney days? Nice that some things never change, like the crownies and prawn sambal even if the world does.

Lunch in the first week back at school was enjoyable if a little rushed. Starter was on the table before the beer, surely the wrong way around! This is still a great place to eat but is a long way from it's cheap and cheerful origins and for 'street food' is a little fancy with prices to match.

Jan 05, 2012 

4.5 Below Average

Food  4      Ambience  7      Service  4      Value  3     

This place is a regular for corporate dinners with the company I work for (convenient location to the office and the ceo has no idea about good food) so I've eaten here many times. The ambience and location are lovely and the service is passable. The food however is not particularly tasty and the prices are excessive for the quality on offer. One masala chicken dish we ordered was particularly disgusting as the masala was totally botched, tasting very raw and poorly blended. When this was very politely pointed out, the response from the staff was a shrug of the shoulders. Unsatisfactory. Not recommended. Several other restaurants in this location have similar ambience and views so I would suggest dining elsewhere.

Jul 27, 2011 

5 Average

Food  5      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  5     

Not the best malaysian if I'm to be totally honest and frankly over priced, really I suppose it's the king st address that's all the hype. We ordered crab deep fried in a light batter, nothing special and the sauce wasn't anything to rave about.

We then had a chili chicken wing, very messy and very saucy! It was quite disgusting actually, very fatty, deep fried and the flavours weren't nice at all, quite gluggy and goopy. Then we had a prawn main which was yummy to start with but then got overpowered with too much coconut milk which was lumpy and too much turmeric.

The waiter, whilst he made a good suggestion in terms of not ordering too much food, was annoying as he seemed to want us to finish our meal and get of there as soon as they could kick us out! All in all, not the most pleasant experience, far too expensive for what was served up. I don't think I'll be rushing back here anytime soon!

Jul 20, 2011 

7 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  8      Service  9      Value  5     

Went for birthday dinner with 6 people. $48 banquet was plenty of food but still pretty overpriced. For what is was, for $300 I'd expect way more, although it is darling harbour. Place was packed on Monday night. Entrees were ok, popiah average. S&P squid nice. Beef quite good. Mains seemed smallish serve for that many people, aside from a superb Pepper Chicken the curries and noodles were good but nothing special. All up it was nice but nothing wow. I wouldn't choose to go back but could happily eat there if I had to. Service was very good.

Jul 18, 2011