Southeast Asia has grasped my attention, particularly ever
since I started working around some amazing people in Jean-Georges’ restaurants
and lived not far from densely populated Asian community in Queens, NY. Being someone from the southeast United States,
I find a few parallels in their culinary communities: spices, tropical fruits,
and peanut butter amongst other minor similarities. Therefore, whenever I see
or hear of a Southeast Asian restaurant, I am always in for a try.
And that is what led me to Malay, a Malaysian restaurant
located in Morristown, NJ. I visited a friend last spring who moved to this
town, and we stumbled across this newly opened gem not far from the train
station for dinner before a movie. We noticed the packs of people inside so we
know we were already up for the experience.
The funny thing about this is that it was so good, that I
did not photograph anything. It was one the most eclectic dining experiences we
ever had. I remember the dishes so vividly that it took me no time to recollect
them as I was writing this post. That’s how good our food tasted.
We started ordering our apps but then we turned to the staff
for recommendations on main courses. We were so curious as to what we were
going to receive, partly because I haven’t specifically “tasted” Malaysian
cuisine in the past.
We basically had the following:
Thai Lettuce Wrap
Mango Salad
Malay Char Kway Teow: Stir fry flat noodles with shrimp,
squid, bean sprouts, eggs, soy sauce and chili paste
Salted Fish with Eggplant, the special of that night
Peanut Cookies: The best things ever.
The Thai Lettuce Wraps had an spice that lingered in your
mouth for minutes, and the mango salad I know for a fact I cleared the plate.
The Malay Char Kway Teow had squid that reminded me of my days in Spain and the
Salted Fish with Eggplant was clearly the piece de resistance. It served as a
full fish along with vegetables and eggplant complimented the fish in so many
ways that will never be forgotten. The butteryness of the eggplant and the
saltiness of the fish combined to really create a satiating explosion. Okay, I
will say it: It was pretty orgasmic.
The best part though was dessert. Mostly because we did not
expect this as we were paying the bill. They gave out some Peanut Cookies along
with our check, and we were just expecting some pre-made, packaged cookie. This
was a melt-in-your mouth, piece of magic that I can still remember the flavors
melting and crumbling in the mouth. It was like combining, cotton candy, peanut
butter, and shortbread into your mouth. I would return just to take the cookies
again and then go home because they surprised me that much.
This restaurant just proved to me that there is always going
to be a hole in a wall that clearly defines its place in the world, and Malay
knows how to paint a culinary postcard. If you are ever in the area of
Morristown, its definitely worth a visit.
Malay
147 Morris Street
Morriston, NJ 07960
973.538.3322