Mamalee Malaysian Delight — Restaurant in Vancouver

We have been to Mamalee's a few times. The last time we went there, we had such a horrific experience that we never went back for a few years actually. So finally we went back giving this place another chance. The decor is nothing to write home about. There's just nothing special about the interior when you step in. It's average at best. The seating is limited.

The customer service is average. The waiters and waitresses don't actually come to you unless you wave them down and are ready to order. Filling of tea and or water - same ordeal - you'd have to wave them down. Get their attention and then they will refill your tea or water. They are, for when we went to visit them, short staffed but the food came out relatively quick still. Maybe they have a different idea of a "long time" than I do ‍ nevertheless we are grateful that the food didn't take too long to come out.

My wife got the Hainanese chicken which is a popular dish at Mamalee's. I'm not the biggest fan of it. But it was tasty, still. I got the beef laksa and it was good in the sense where the soup base was nice and spicy. Had a good kick to it. I still, however, prefer Amay's laksa. They do it VERY WELL, even better than the Laksa King restaurant.

I would come back and would recommend this place if you're looking for a Malaysian restaurant in the area of West Broadway. It's decent. It's relatively fast. And it's decently clean. The ambiance like I've said. Morning to write home about. They don't seem to have put a ton of resources into their decor. It's average. Maybe.

Parking can be a little difficult to find if not pay parking on Broadway. 10th Ave is a good bet to have some free parking (no limitations). Short walk to the restaurant.

I'd recommend to try. But if you're looking for great customer service this isn't the place. Good, quick Malay food? This...

We’re always up to try a good Malaysian restaurant and I’ve heard some good things about Mamalee located on West Broadway in Kits.

This is a pretty basic Malaysian restaurant (not a very huge menu) and the interior is quite utilitarian. Still… we’re here for the food. We wound up ordering the Hainanese Chicken (regular size) with a side of soup as well as Roti Canai and a Milo Dinosaur. A cold Milo Dinosuar really is refreshing on a hot day. The simple soup was so aromatic when it arrived at the table.

First up is the Hainanese Chicken, served cold, with a side of rice. The poached chicken was quite good and we managed to finish this rather easily. While it comes with a bit of dipping sauce, I would have liked if it had more ginger and scallion dipping sauce (you have to pay extra for more).

The Roti Canai was a bit disappointing… not sure what was really going on here. It seemed quite shredded up and the outside seemed to be overcooked and not the least bit fluffy on the inside.

We also wound up ordering the Chee Cheong Fun with Fish Balls. This actually turned out to be a pretty good dish and I enjoyed the tender rice rolls but I thought the sauce was a bit too runny as it was difficult to coat the rice rolls with it.

Overall impressions… a very minimalistic Malaysian eatery with some hits and misses. In either case, don’t order the roti canai unless you like it overly dry...

We ordered the Chee Cheong Fun (rice noodle rolls), 1/2 Hainanese Chicken, Yellow Rice, and Roti Canai. I recommend ordering the Hainanese chicken like we did instead of the Hainanese Chicken with Rice, as I heard tables around us complaining to each other that the portions were much smaller than they expected. Chee Cheong Fun - While tasty, the sauce slipped off the rice noodle rolls too easily due to its texture. I felt that the sauce could've used more thickening ingredient such as corn starch. Hainanese Chicken - Above average taste but short of spectacular. I felt that the pieces that the chicken were cut into were too small, but that may be personal preference. Overall, pretty standard. Yellow Rice - Not the best chicken rice I've had, but still much better than white rice to go with your chicken. Don't expect the rice to have a strong chicken smell and taste to it. Roti Canai - Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, this was arguably the best roti canai I've had. The sauce they portioned for our two orders should've been clearly not enough though. Seating is very crowded and uncomfortable. They really fully tetris'd their space to fit as many people as they possibly can. Overall, food was above average and I would come again for Malaysian food. A little pricier for the casual dining that it is, but the demand is certainly there so you...