Straits of Malacca, Glen Waverley by Bureaucrat

In the past two or so years since Straits of Malacca set up in Glen Waverley, I've been mildly curious as to what their food was like.  I knew it was popular, as it first started off in one shop, and has now expanded to the shop next to it.  It's usually quite packed, so I look elsewhere for dinner.

But on a summer's day, the Lawyer and I needed an early dinner.  As it was early, it meant that we could get a table at Straits of Malacca.  First impressions is that the staff here are very friendly and efficient.  Beaming smiles from all around, we were quickly seated in a nice corner, and quick as a flash, menus and our cups of tea appeared.  It was almost like a magic show!


Hainanese chicken

There's quite a list of dishes on offer.  As I couldn't make up my mind, I asked our waiter what thier specialty dishes are. While we waited for our food, the second impression we got was the serving size... and boy, are they big!  Some places do big plates with little food.  Straits of Malacca was big plates with lots of food.

Going with our waiter's advice, I got the Hainanese chicken (see first pic). Flavourwise, this was pretty good.  The rice was nice and fragrant.  The chicken was good - but not the best I've had.  Overall, the chicken was silky in texture, but there were parts of it that seemed a bit tough.  For the chicken, I thought the presentation could have been a bit better.


The Lawyer went for the combination seafood hor fun.  A big serve of hor fun with a very tasty sauce - almost soupy, which the Lawyer really liked.  Unlike most places that we've had this dish, this one came on a bed of crispy fried egg noodles on the bottom.  The fried noodles were deliciously crispy and soggy from the lovely sauce.  Points for the generous amount of seafood, too.


We got some drinks, but these weren't as nice as I had hoped.  I got some rose syrup flavoured drink.  The rose flavour was rather artificial and sickly, and I didn't finish it.  The Lawyer got an iced coffee/tea (I can't remember which it was).  This tasted better and had a strong caffeine kick to it.


On another occassion, the Lawyer got char kwey teow.  A reasonably big serve with pretty good wok hei.  Fragrant eggyness and lots of prawn, fish cake and Chinese sausage - the Lawyer really liked this too.


I had a hankering for nasi lemak.  Beaker raves about this - in particular, that instead of ikan bilis, it comes with a small fried fish instead.  As such, I was expecting the dish to look different to how it's usually served.  So when my dish arrived, I assumed it was nasi lemak, although, as I deconstructed the dish, I realised that I was served the wrong dish.  I don't know what it's called but it was nice.

This dish had pieces of fish deep fried until it was very crispy and a little bit chewy.  On top was like a salsa of red onions and shredded cucumber.  It was served with one of the best fried rice that I've ever eaten.  Hidden underneath the omelette was the fragrant, and impressively wok hei-ed fried rice. I wanted to take a picture of the steam that came out of the rice, but I was too busy eating to do it. The rice was eggy, spring oniony and delicious.  I didn't even mind the generous drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.  The dish also came with some vegetarian spring rolls.

It wasn't until I got stuck into my meal that my nasi lemak arrived.  It became clear that they had mixed up the order.  Oh well... something for me to try next time!





Verdict
Food – 9
Ambience – 6.5
Service – 8.5
Price – 9.5

Overall
Very friendly service that you couldn't fault (except the mix up with the order).  All the staff there seem genuinely happy working there.  The food is big and it's tasty and it's incredibly great value.  SoM is seriously challenging me to rethink whether Danny's Koptiam will remain as my favourite Malaysian eatery.

Address
Straits of Malacca
78 Kingsway
Glen Waverley 3150
Telephone: 9561 3880