The Malaya Put Malaysian Food on Sydney’s Map 62 Years Ago. It Just Opened the Doors at Its New Home

In 2020, siblings Duan and Isabella Wong started talking about moving their third-generation family restaurant, The Malaya. It had already been done once before , why not again?

“King Street Wharf is fantastic,” Duan tells Broadsheet. “But it definitely isn’t the dining precinct that it was all that time ago. We looked at 10 venues in the city and settled on Grosvenor Place.”

After 62 years in business, first near Railway Square, then at King Street Wharf, The Malaya opened its Grosvenor Place location this week. Located in one of Harry Seidler’s iconic buildings, the new restaurant is a two-storey, 180-seat space with a lovely terrace that looks down the length of George Street. With skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows, the rooms are lighter and brighter, fresh seafood is always on the menu (rather than by advance order), and there’s just one new dish: babi kesam glass noodles.

Other than this dish of sliced pork belly with glass noodles and fermented, pickled mustard greens, the menu that put Malaysian cuisine on the map for Sydney remains unchanged. There’s dry-fried, fragrantly spiced mud crab; XO pippies; char kway teow; and the original Malaya Curry, made with a spice blend that was developed six decades ago.

The cocktails and wine list have been completely reimagined though, and there’s a sommelier on staff for the first time. There are 160 bottles on the list, mostly Australian plus a handful of German rieslings. “We’re not trying to do fine dining. We just want to make the offering more polished,” Isabella says.

Even though there are changes, this isn’t a reinvention. “We’re trying to stay true to what The Malaya has always been,” Duan says. “It’s been a slow evolution. For us, the key to success has been consistency and building relationships with customers. We’ve got a tried and tested formula; there’s not a lot of reason to change that.”

The Malaya is steeped in history. A pioneer of Southeast Asian cuisine in Sydney, the original location was opened on George Street near Railway Square by the siblings’ grandfather, Wong Tai See. In 2001, the restaurant moved to King Street Wharf. In those early days, authentic ingredients were near impossible to source, which is why, even today, the menu features a handful of dishes featuring make-do ingredients – like dairy milk instead of coconut milk. That includes the laksa, a deeply flavoured, rich noodle soup that’s so popular, the curry paste base is made in 60-litre batches every week.

“I’ve always loved the laksa,” Duan says. “I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love my spice and it’s such a strongly flavoured, spicy dish, nothing else I’ve been able to find scratches that itch.”

Isabella’s favourite is popiah, a fresh spring roll filled with prawn, chicken, vermicelli noodles and fresh herbs. “Dad used to put it in my school lunch box. All my friends loved it so much, I had to pack extra to share with everyone.”

The pair are nonchalant about the fact they grew up in one of the city’s most loved restaurants, but it’s undeniable that growing up with The Malaya in the family was unique. “I remember the old restaurant, exploring the dining room. It felt like a big playground,” Duan says. “Moving this time was like packing up your house, but on steroids.”

The move deeper into the CBD has been nerve-wracking, but the siblings are confident about their decision. “We’re nervous about the opening and getting everything right. But we feel we’ve made the right choice,” Duan says. “We’re really excited.”

The Malaya
Grosvenor Place, 225 George Street, Sydney

Hours:
Mon to Sat midday–4pm, 6pm–11pm

themalaya.com.au
@themalayarestaurant