Honey-glazed steak (New Malaysia Restaurant)

Let me preface this post by saying - I don't know jack shit about Malaysian cuisine. I can't tell you if this is an authentic representation of true Malaysian food, shit... I can't even tell you if honey-glazed steak is even a real thing they do in Malaysia, but you know what? None of that matters. If you're the type of person who thinks "fuck, I don't have enough time to have both dinner and dessert separately. I'm a very important bro with very important things to do." Then I have good news - you will probably like the honey-glazed steak that they serve at this place called New Malaysia Restaurant. It's like a candy, but you know... made with grilled meat and served with a pile of fried rice. Nice... nice. Also it comes with a sprig of some green shit, so you just know that it's a balanced meal. "That sounds awesome" you say? Let me regale you with more tales of this sugar coated delicacy from a land I know nothing about...



I guess there's not much to this tale since I'm a pretty easy sell. If you take beef, grill that shit up medium rare, and then slather it the fuck over with a honey-soy sauce mixture? Fuck yeah I'll eat that all day long. Alternatively you can think of the dish like this... if you take a moderately good cut of steak, slice that shit down into thin strips (but not anorexic thin), and grill it - you'd get unspectacular strips of steak. Which is cool, but not something I'd bust a nut over. But suddenly: one of the Asian guys in the kitchen fucks up. Originally he was making caramel apples, but accidentally drops a piece of steak in there. Upon realizing how dope that shit tastes, he does it to all of them. Then you get honey-glazed steak. Except there are no apples. Also the caramel is really honey and soy sauce. I'm not really sure where I was trying to go with that scenario. Oh, if you go at lunch - all this can be yours for the low low price of $6.75. Apparently we're also playing 'Price-is-Right' now too.



Did I also mention they serve broccoli chicken? My friend who went with me - who is white - decided to order broccoli chicken. Which is fine. Doesn't make much sense to me, but it is fine. It tastes like standard Chinese takeout fare, but it looks nicer because it's on a pimp square plate with a lump of rice shaped like an inverted bowl, which is how I want all of my rice to look like. Again, just to reiterate, nothing really exemplary to say about it, but hey! There's something on the menu here if your friends aren't super adventurous. So New Malaysia's got that going for it too!



Suddenly: curry chicken. Not sure how Malaysian curry is specifically different from the other curries, I just know that it tasted pretty sick to me. Of slightly annoyance was the fact that the chicken wasn't de-boned, but that's been pretty much the case of all chicken curries I've eaten in Asia, so maybe that's just a thing? Meh, I suppose that's a pretty stupid gripe considering how incredible this shiz actually tastes. The depth of flavors in this dish almost made me regret getting the honey-glazed steak. Almost, but not quite. Although I have to admit that it was pretty intense. Then they sneak some cucumbers on your plate. Sneaky bastards. How did they know I wanted something refreshing after eating spiced chicken?

tl;dr - New Malaysia Restaurant is hidden away in a dark alley off of Bowery... you know, the kind of place you might get mugged or something really late at night. But you know what? They make really good steak. Steak so good I don't mind being robbed for. Steak that they smear with honey and other dope-ass ingredients. There's also fried rice. GG.

New Malaysia Restaurant
48 Bowery, New York, NY 10013