Nyonya Malaysian Kitchen — Restaurant in Amsterdam

As someone who grew up eating Malaysian and Thai food, I like to think of myself as a bit of a connoisseur of Southeast Asian cuisine — so whenever I travel, I make a point to seek out authentic Malaysian restaurants. On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I finally made my way to Nyonya Malaysian Kitchen. It was a rainy, cold, breezy evening, and it took me quite a while to find the place. But as soon as I stepped inside the small, cozy restaurant, I was greeted by two of the friendliest waitresses I’ve ever met — neither of them Malaysian (one from Hong Kong), but both warm, welcoming, and attentive. That immediately set a positive tone for the night.

I ordered the Hainanese chicken rice, which came highly recommended by many reviewers — some claiming to be Malaysians themselves — as well as a glass of iced teh tarik. Unfortunately, this is where my experience fell short.

The chicken rice simply did not meet my expectations. The chicken was breast meat, lean and reasonably juicy, but lacking in flavor aside from the fried garlic garnish. The rice was the biggest disappointment — it tasted plain, without the rich, savory aroma that comes from cooking with chicken fat, which is the soul of a good Hainanese chicken rice. The chili sauce was equally underwhelming — watery and flat, missing the garlicky, gingery, tangy kick that makes the dish shine. Without a good chili sauce, chicken rice loses its identity. As for the teh tarik, it was diluted and lacked sweetness, tasting nothing like the creamy, frothy teh tarik that’s beloved in Malaysia.

The highlight of the evening, surprisingly, was meeting the chef, who hails from Penang and has been living in the Netherlands for nearly four decades. He was warm, chatty, and clearly passionate about sharing his story. Unfortunately, I suspect that so many years away from Malaysia may have dulled the authenticity of his recipes.

Would I return? Probably not for the food, but perhaps to chat with the chef again. With so few Malaysian options in the Netherlands — and my experience with the other one being equally disappointing — I can’t say I would take...

The eatery gives you a bit of Malaysian flavour if you would like to know before traveling there. Not all the dishes are Nyonya and not all the flavours are correct. I still commend the owner’s effort to bring Malaysian cuisine to Europe. We ordered a laksa, nasi goreng Nyonya and a teh tarik .

The pulled teh was pretty good and sweet enough for me. So I recommend this drink.

The nasi goreng or fried rice was flavourful, slightly spicy with enough greasiness so it was quite close to the actual dish. The laksa however was only half way to the actual laksa. The boiled egg, fish cakes, peeled prawns, and fried tofu were there, and so was the tauge. The broth had coconut milk and curry flavour in it. What lacking was quintessential cockles, thick beehoon instead of the soft yellow noodles. The broth also needed a deep shrimp paste taste to be in balance with the rich coconut taste. And the chicken pieces used in both dishes looked and tasted the same. They would be much better to make shredded chicken which is commonly used in Malay dishes. Each main dish set you back euro 15 and I feel it is high for these types of dishes. Especially if you have tried laksa and nasi goreng in Malaysia, you know they should be...

Good service, clean environment but food leaves much to be desired. If you’re in the mood for South East Asian food in Amsterdam, this Malaysian suggests that you opt for Indonesian cuisine instead.

Three of us had hainanese chicken rice, penang style char kway teow, mee siam and fried kang kung with prawns.

The char kway teow and kang kung are pretty alright. They were very generous with the prawns… which actually distract from the dishes.

The tasty rice is served with poached chicken with soy sauce, topped with fried garlic. The ginger sauce, garlicky chili sauce and soup typically seen with this dish are missing, and the otherwise decent chicken has a generous sprinkling of pepper over the top… not quite sure why?

Now, the mee siam… well, it just wasn't mee siam. The noodles were wrong, the spices were wrong, the seasoning was wrong. Perfectly fine plate of stir fried noodles, but not a plate of mee siam.

Others appear to be singing praises of the nasi goreng, so maybe try that instead? I won’t be… because I’m...