Mini Malaysia

Rating: **** out of *****

What brought me to this quaint restaurant was my mother. She is always searching for the best Malaysian restaurants in the lower mainland and by jove, I think she may have stumbled upon it. In lowly Coquitlam, located in a small strip-mall, next to a dry cleaning business we found this little gem. I would have never guessed that one could find such authentic Malaysian food in Coquitlam, and if you weren't looking for it, you would pass right by. As you enter this family-run restaurant you could just tell that the food would be good. True, the decor could use some touching up, but the atmosphere actually reminded me of being in a small Malay Cafe somewhere back in Singapore. The menu was not extensive, but they did serve the most basic of Malay cuisine. They serve sambal chicken, beef rendang, laksa lemak, nasi lemak, roti canai, beef murtabak, mee goreng... and a bunch of cheaply priced drinks! Woah, wish so much choice, I could hardly decide on what I wanted. Eventually, I settled on my favorite... nasi lemak.

I just love the variety of tastes you get with this dish. There was the usual, coconut rice, cucumber, ikan bilis and peanuts (I thought they should have mixed the two together, with some chili spices... but it was still good), beef curry, egg and sambal.

My mom ordered her favorite, laksa lemak. The dishes came out very quickly, it only took 10 minutes! I was impressed. So here's the address, in case you can't spot it hiding behind some big stores. Definitely go!

Mini Malaysia:

1196 Lansdowne Drive, Coquitlam