Malaysian Noodles & Rice House — Restaurant in Whau

TL; DR

Come here for: Amazing char kway teow The fish ball soup with rice vermicelli noodles

Remember to: Bring cash - no eftpos here Simple set up - you get your own cutlery, chilli, soy sauce, the works, from a cabinet. It is as much self service although they do have table service in the sense that they bring the food to your table.

We came here just by chance. The missus was wanting a Malaysian breakfast and this was the closest place on the map as we were hanging out at the Avondale Farmers Market just half an hour before.

This restaurant is reminiscent of Malaysian coffee shops or better known as kopitiam. A cheap and simple setup with a large open plan space where the kitchen occupies about 80 percent of the space of the restaurant itself. The elderly gentleman does the cooking and his wife (presumably) does the serving and mans the cash register. This place is old-school - does not take eftpos - so do prepare some cash in hand if you are wanting to go there.

The menu is written by hand on a large green chalkboard above the counter so do take your time going through it.

We ordered three dishes - fish ball soup with rice vermicelli, salted fish and chicken fried rice, and the most telling of Malaysian dishes, char kway teow (or sometimes spelled chow kuo tiaw in Mandarin). Drinks wise, the missus ordered an iced coffee and I ordered a hot milk tea.

According to the missus who sat facing the counter and could see what was going on behind it, the drinks are made from premixed powdered drink packets. I felt slightly cheated but it tasted authentic enough that I let it go. That said, you could easily go to any Asian grocery store and get a large package of the powdered drink sachets for 3 times the cost of the drink prices here. I was not fussed that morning, obviously.

Ranking the dishes in terms of what finished the fastest, first place goes to the fish ball soup with rice vermicelli. Second goes to the char kway teow, and last place goes to the salted fish and chicken fried rice.

The broth of the fish ball soup reminded me of a noodle dish that we used to have in my hometown where if we requested for a "light broth" noodles, we would be served egg noodles with this exact broth. Light, slightly salty, but incredibly refreshing, even the missus was surprised that I was drinking the soup (I am not known as a soup drinker.) With a few slices of bok choy and commercial made fish balls, it made for a very satisfying first dish that we shared.

Char kway teow is usually my go to for authentic Malaysian food. And this place aces it. With charcoal underneath the wok, the noodles are salty and full of "wok hei" - the crispy, slightly burnt taste that comes from a freakishly hot wok. Fried with eggs, bean sprouts, chicken strips, chinese chorizo sausages (called lap cheong), and surprising amounts of crispy pork lard rinds scattered liberally throughout, it is now without a doubt, the BEST char kway teow in Auckland, hands down. They will ask for levels of spiciness - go for extra spicy if you feel like a challenge.

The salted fish and chicken fried rice, unfortunately, was a tad of a let down. Not having enough salted fish taste or chicken in the dish, even the addition of the crispy pork lard rinds was not enough to save the dish. It was good, but I would not order it again next time.

It is located randomly in Wolverton Park in Avondale - a bit of a trip to some, but one well worth it if you know what you are...

A Malaysian friend recommend this place because of its authenticity. We came around 7.30 pm, the place was small and it was already full. We were just there for a take away anyway. The Malaysian Auntie was not that accommodating maybe because probably they have a lot of costumer(should be happy since money coming in?). We just ordered 2 items and she told us it will take 30 min because she said " We have lots of costumer". We told her its fine we will just wait anyway, so I hand her my eftpos. She said in a strong note "NO EFTPOS! Go to the dairy next door and buy something and have cash out!" We just said no thanks and just left. Food looks good(I really just wished that their food matches their hospitality), but will just look for another authentic Malaysian dish with better hospitality elsewhere and one with an eftpos. Night market stalls already have eftpos

UPDATED REVIEW FEB 2025 I am updating my review to a 3 star from giving them 1 star. New owner and definitely friendlier and more customer friendly than the old not ageing properly previous owner. New owner welcomes you with a smile. They already accept EFTPOS, We ordered CKT and Tom yum. We have no comparison from the previous owner's CKT but we find the new CKT to be on the oily side and on the small side of serving portion, we had better CKT in other Malaysian store in Auckland. Tom Yum was good. We will definitely come back to try other items on the menu and I am sure ratings will be...

BE ASHAMED OF YOUR GREEDY ATTITUDE - At 2.45pm, waited for a table because all was occupied, no worries....waited for 20 minutes. Then 4 tables became available around the same time and there was no one else waiting for table. I ordered 2 large dishes for me and my wife but my 2 children were not eating. The lady owner said we "Have" to order at least 3 dishes in order to be eligible to dine in at her restaurant, if not, order take away. She said in the busy time she can't give a table for 4 people but order only 2 dishes. So, she was deciding the number of dishes we should order for her to make her money per table. But the point is there was no one else waiting for table. There was no customers behind us. The lady owner should learn that it's not all about money. I have been repeat customer since 2002 and this is the wonderful customer service I get in showing my loyalty to her restaurant. So parents, in future don't take your children to this restaurant unless your children are eating there, otherwise the owner will not welcome you nor serve you. Me and my wife were quite upset with the attitude and the level of Greediness displayed by the owner. She must learn how to be grateful and thankful to customers and...