Chinatown Eats

Roti Canai.

New Malaysia Restaurant. The evening's meal started off nicely with some Roti Canai, an Indian pancake ($2.95). The sauce may look a little oily, but the paper-thin flatbread eagerly soaked up the the sauce's coconut-rich spiciness.

Pad Thai.

It's hard to mess up Pad Thai - so why did this one fall so flat? The first two bites were OK, but it slowly dawned on me that something was wrong with this picture. First off, no sweet chili sauce was served on the side. Without the play of sweet and spicy, sprinkling lime juice over this dish only made it sour and bland. Also, although the menu bills this one as a "spicy" dish, I couldn't detect even a hint of the kicker. It tasted like Chinese chow fun, heavy on the soy sauce and not much else.

Granted, this isn't a Thai restaurant and I probably should have ordered something more Malaysian (whoops). But still, the Pad Thai ($6.75) was sorely disappointing.

Fried Pearl Noodle.

My friend's Fried Pearl Noodle ($5.95) fared a little better. Still way too much soy sauce, but what do you expect from a Chinatown restaurant? The Roti Canai was the best of the three. The prices were cheap enough that I didn't complain all that much.

Chicken Sauteed Pea Shoots on Rice.

Late-night munchies at Yogee Noodle. Beef stew over flat noodles is this restaurant's specialty. I wish I had known that before I ordered the Chicken Sauteed Pea Shoots on Rice ($5), but it wasn't bad, especially since I split it with someone. Check out that mountain of rice!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars. Not that impressed.

Locations:
New Malaysia Restaurant
48 Bowery
New York, NY 10013
212.964.0284

Yogee Noodle
85 Chrystie St
New York, NY 10002
212.965.0615