Straits Cafe Malaysian Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Straits Cafe at Wantirna Review Update 10/1/2025

The CKT is still of high standard, but the Glass Noodle (Dung Hoon) is nothing to rave about. Review Update 9/4/2024

i wonder my taste buds have changed or I am getting more fussy. It could be the normal chef is have a day off.

The CKT is rather salty while the Fried Glass Noodle bland. However, both are rather generous with 3-4 medium size prawn, slices of Chinese sausage, fish cake and squid.

Review Update 1/12/2023

The cafe is not that full. A group of 4 of us have no problem getting a seat. The CKT is very good, but the Hokkien Mee is a bit "wet", and can do with some thickening.

Both dishes have bits of dry pork fat. The CKT has good "wok hai"; and fried with prawns, fish cake and squid.

I have increased the rating from 3 to 4 stars.

Review update 6/5/2023

I down graded the rating to 3-star.

A group of 4 of us arrived early the crowd. We made the right decision because a lot more people turned up.

The stand CKT tastes better than the spicy hot CKT. The latter seemed to be fried with added chilli power, which does not enhance the flavour. Bothe are piping hot in temperature, but fairly oily. There is something missing, that Wok He.9

The penand Har Mee is a great disappointment. The broth does not taste like prawn base, more like pork bone broth. Review Update 2/2/2022

My wife just has an urge to eat CKT, and I like try something else. The CKT is just as good as we expect.

I order the Flat Rice Noodle (Hor Fun) with Egg Gravy. The restaurant does the right thing by using a big bowl instead of a plate to hold the noodle and generous serving of silken smooth gravy.

Pity fresh claims are not available, otherwise the CKT would have been perfect.

The gravy for the Hor Fun could have thickened a bit more to improve the texture.

We enjoy both dishes.

Visited on 20/6/2021

Usually this is where you can find many Malaysian foodies. My wife and I arrive before noon, and therefore the restaurant is not busy.

The Chow Kuey Teow CKT is what Straits Cafe renowned for. Good CKT should not be too oily, fried at very high temperature to the extent that the flat noodles are slight burnt to give a charred aroma or Wok Hei.

I am quite contented with simple plain CKT which just comes with fried eggs, chive, bean shoots, garlic and deep fried pork bits. The latter two ingredients are of utmost important to make or break a good CKT.

Straits CKT has Wok Hei, prawns, egg, fish cake, Chinese sausage, bean shoots, miserable couple of deep-fried pork bits, and chpped spring onion instead of chive. It is pretty good, and I enjoy it.

This is my first time to try the Crispy Belachan Chicken Spare Ribs and Rice. Marinated with belachan definitely gives an unusual flavour, but does affect negatively the appearance of the end product. Unfortunately the spare ribs pieces are not big, and are a bit dry caused by over-frying. The so called famous chicken rice has too much liquid in it. The photo shows tiny bright reflection of the camera light from grains of rice.

The Nonya kuihs are for sale, displayed at the end of dining area, next to the kitchen. These are outsourced, and do not form part of the menu.

The Ang Gu, or red tortoise, does not has the normal intense pillar red colour. However, I can truly recommend it. The texture is good, still soft even at low winter temperature without putting through a microwave oven.

I wonder what kind of oil is used in the cooking. It probably has high burning point, and the distinct taste exust in both dishes. I have very sensitive taste buds, and unlikely many people can detect it.

Kuih Talam is my favourite Nonya kuih, but this one does not pass all my ticks. I like the creamy santan top layer, but the bottom part lacks that lye water taste.

There is a surcharge on credit...

As a Retired Singaporean Restaurant owner/Chef, I cannot agree with the 'Positive'comments concerning the food sold at this cafe. The Titles of the many 'Malaysian Dishes' lead one to think, Here at last is a real Malaysian Restaurant, I'm afraid this is not so. Hygiene and Service are acceptable, the food my wife and I ordered was frankly disgusting and didn't even resemble what was listed on the Menu.The NASI LEMAK was tasteless, had little if any gravy, the rice had only the very faintest taste of coconut, the Potato was uncooked,'SAMBAL' was a brown tasteless mass perched on a half egg, the ACHAR was a tasteless mass of what I felt were Frozen veges (rather than fresh) I ordered Hainan Chicken rice, a famous South East Asian dish, I was served a large platter with very little on it, a few matchstick carrot strips (NOT usually served with HCC) a slice of tomato, again not served with HCC, three slices of cucumber and a Tablespoonful of grey colored boiled chicken of which half was fatty skin and gristle the 'Chilli' was a joke. Basically The rice was incorrectly served, plain rice rather than the ginger sesame flavored rice, the chicken had been boiled rather than steamed, which gave it the grey unsavory appearance, Properly cooked Hainan Chicken is served pink, it is poached, not boiled, it had neither garlic, sesame nor ginger in the recipe at all, also missing was the usual condiment served with this dish of Garlic/Spring Onions mashed in oil and a touch of salt.The cost of the two disgusting dishes was around $30.00, my estimated cost at Australian raw material costs were less than a dollar for the two dishes. Cash only at this restaurant too, I Complained about the poor, tasteless dishes to the Manager, not a word was said. I propose to send the Malaysian recipes for these dishes in the hope that the 'Chef' may find them useful Only people who have not eaten genuine Malaysian food accept this low standard as displayed by so many so called Malaysian cafe's here in Australia,pity really. I find that almost ALL Malaysian restaurants served mediocre dishes here in Australia, whilst, Greek, Thai and Italians always show their high food...

We stumbled across this spot and decided to treat ourselves to some Malaysian food — Penang Char Kuay Teow, Poh Piah (weekend special), Hainanese Chicken Rice, and a cold Teh Tarik.

The Char Kuay Teow was the standout for me — it brought back memories of my Penang uncle’s cooking. It was flavorful — not as greasy as the one from Lulu’s Malaysian Hawker or as salty as Kakilang’s version in Balwyn. My only wish? That it had arrived hotter instead of just warm. Still, the noodles were well-seasoned, slightly spicy, and carried that delicious smoky wok hei aroma.

The Poh Piah was another highlight. Only available on weekends, this fresh spring roll was packed with tasty fillings and had a clean, refreshing flavor I really enjoyed. The Teh Tarik was rich and creamy — I ordered the cold version and would suggest giving it a good stir before drinking, as mine had a slightly warm layer at the bottom.

Definitely keen to come back and try more hawker-style dishes — especially the noodle soups, fried noodles, and Lobak!

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We came back for another visit and tried the Sar Hor Fun, Salted Fish Fried Rice, and Lobak. The Sar Hor Fun stood out with its creamy, smoky flavor. The flat rice noodles were expertly stir-fried over high heat to achieve that unmistakable wok hei, and the raw egg yolk on top melted beautifully into the sauce, adding a rich, velvety texture.

The Salted Fish Fried Rice was also enjoyable. It was my first time trying it with salted fish floss instead of the usual dried salted fish pieces — a nice twist that gave the dish a softer, more balanced flavor.

Lobak is a staple in Malaysian cuisine, and it’s a dish I always order when visiting different Malaysian restaurants or cafés. Each place seems to have its own take on it, so it’s always interesting to see how the flavors vary from one version to another.

This second visit definitely confirmed it — this place is a gem. I’d love to keep coming back, whether on my own or with friends and family, to explore more of their menu and enjoy the warm, familiar tastes of Malaysian...