Mingala Restaurant — Restaurant in Newark

I found Mingala Restaurant on Yelp when searching for a new Malaysian restaurant in San Jose. Mingala seemed to carry both Burmese and Malaysian food which made me a little hesitant to try it as both these cuisines are very different. However, as it had a solid 4-star rating, I decided to give it a try. I generally get Nasi Lemak at any new Malaysian restaurant that I try. This is a dish that consists of coconut rice, sambal, egg, peanuts, cucumber, onions and a curry which could be either Chicken or Beef, so it gives you a pretty good idea about the overall food at the restaurant. I used the on-line ordering tool on Yelp and got with Nasi Lemak ($10.99) and went with the chick curry (beef curry is $2 more) and landed up there after about 20 minutes.

Mingala is in a small strip mall with hardly any parking. I had to hover a while before I got a spot so by the time I got in, it was well over 40 minutes, yet the order was not ready, and I was made to wait another 10 minutes or so before I got my order. This was around 9 pm on a Friday night and the place was about 60% full. I got 2 containers, one with the rice, eggs and salad and another with the chicken curry. The food made up for the long wait. The rice had a rich coconut flavor and even though the portion size of the chicken curry was small it was very tasty. Overall this dish came together very well.

As I liked what I got the first time around, I decided to try Mingala again, this time for the Burmese cuisine. Again, as usual I got the Mohinga ($10.99) which is like the national dish of Burma and it consists of a fish-based soup with vermicelli noodles. This time I landed up after 30 minutes to pickup the order, fought for parking and picked it up without any wait. The Mohinga soup was a little runny and lacked the deep fish taste that you expect. The vermicelli noodles looked like they had all clumped up together, but they opened up, when dunked in the soup. Overall this was good not great. I definitely liked the Nasi Lemak more than the Mohinga soup.

Price-wise it is pretty cheap with both the dishes being slightly over the $10 mark. Looking at the overall package of cost, quality and service Mingala, definitely gets a thumbs up from me which means I will be back to try more stuff off their menu...

Originally on Warm Springs Blvd near Mission blvd and now at its new location next to Lion center on Mowry Ave in Fremont, and offers Burmese-Malaysia and Singaporean fare.

The interior has been updated and the ceiling and walls have been repainted with bright yellow colors.

I recall Mingala billing itself as offering authentic Malaysian cooking (as in using grandma's recipes perhaps). That said, their curries and masalas are great.

Curry fried rice - this one is good. Plenty of assorted vegetables (and chicken or beef) in a well flavored fried rice dish. A good departure from Chinese style fried rice. Rice was little mushy though.

Beef masala- beef shanks braised in a fragrant mix of herbs and spices. This the southeast Asian version of beef stew.. Masala is the Hindi word for spice so this truly is a spiced beef dish. Fragrant, with some spiciness along with a little sweetness, iIt tastes fantastic . the sauce is the star of the dish. It is a little expensive at $20. They should offer a smaller portion for something like $12

Roti prata - much thicker than the thin stuff you may see at thai restaurants, mingalas version is oilier and more bready. Some may prefer it, some may not

Mohinga - Burma's national dish. Mohinga is a pungent fish soup with small bits of fish. Served as a soup or a meal, it is best paired with rice or noodles. Its too intense to eat on its own.

Salt and pepper eggplant - nicely deep fried (as in crispy but not oily)chunks of eggplant with onions and peppers. Quite tasty and even better when dipped in curry sauce.

Service is friendly and efficient. Parking is relatively easy. Several adjacent restaurants have closed so parking has freed up.

Prices are moderate and have gone up over time due to inflation and other factors. Nevertheless, There's a lot to choose from at Mingala and most if it is good.

Perhaps Mingala will start to offer some more "Home cooking" style Malaysian and burmese cuisine. Most restaurants think people don't want to eat "that kind of stuff"...I think otherwise. That's how they got started in the first place.

We...

The other day, I and my wife wanted to have some roasted duck wonton noodles at Newark Lion market supermarket shopping center, but it only for carryout. We stopped by this new restaurant in the complex, quite crowded so we decided to try. We didn’t even know it’s Malaysian, burmese, Chinese food. I like curry so I ordered Red Curry Chicken and my wife ordered hot and spices vermicelli. Many times at Thai restaurants, I didn’t like the curry has coconut juice too rich and sweet for my taste but this Red Curry was perfectly made. The taste was just right, flavorful and delicious. My wife noodles were good too but I enjoyed my curry with white rice more. The service was excellent, attentive and pleasant. This used to be a Chinese restaurant too, but now it’s remodeled brighter and cleaner. Good atmosphere for family eating out. The price is a little high but still excellent for the food. Average about $20 per person. A few days later we came to order take out for my daughter and she loved it too. We will come back and try other dishes when we’re too lazy to...