UPDATE*****NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS***** In local Food News there is a Forking Lot of Hype for the New Restaurant BP Street Cafe because they are possibly the only Malaysian Restaurant in the Metro Phoenix AZ Area.

Malaysian Food is different from other Asian Foods and some people describe it as food with influences of Chinese, Indian and Thai but unique and all it’s own. Also you won’t find pork here because Malaysians are mostly Muslim and pork is prohibited under Muslim teachings.

The BP Street Cafe is bright and airy with a modern decor decorated with Big Screen TVs on the walls that play videos of Malaysian Food. This is a family ran restaurant and everyone is friendly and ready to offer any information you might want to know about Malaysian Food.

We started sharing the Al Roti Canel appetizer.

It’s described as an Indian Style Pancake with Chicken and Potato Spicy Curry.

I liked the flavor of the spicy coconut curry. To me the pancake seemed like greasy chewy puff pastry. I would have liked the pancake with less butter.

For my entree I tried the Ri Nasi Lemak. It was fried chicken with rice, hard boiled egg, peanuts, cucumber and spicy anchovy chili sauce called Papa Sauce. The white meat chicken seemed oil free and was tasty. It seemed mildly infused with flavors and the “Papa sauce helped to bring out more flavors. The rice was almost creamy in texture and was a blank canvas to the chicken. The plate was also garnished with peanuts, a slightly over cooked hard boiled egg and fresh slices of cucumber. Ri Nasi Lemak is the National Dish of Malaysia and is usually eaten for breakfast but can be served any time of day. BP Street Cafe’s version does differ slightly from the National Dish.

BP Street Cafe’s Ri Nasi Lemak

I have been told by people who are familiar with Malaysian Food that this is an inauthentic variation of this dish. However it must be said that it is almost impossible to get authentic style Malaysian Food in the United States. In Malaysia you would get served a piece of un-breaded fried chicken on bone that was marinated in galangal, turmeric, lemongrass and other seasonings. The coconut soaked rice should have been cooked in Pandan Leaf to infuse exotic flavor. An essential part of this dish would have been Ikan Bilis.

Iran Bilis

Iran Bilis are dried anchovies combined with peanuts and chili paste. Maybe the owners of the restaurant wanted to present a more Americanized approachable dish for a wider span of customer appreciation.

My husband had the Char Kway Teow. It’s a Malaysian Stir Fried Noodle Dish with Shrimp and egg. It was very hot spicy but tasted sort of like Chinese Fried Rice with Soy Sauce.

Pricing is very low. Our appetizer and two entrees with tax were under $19.00.

For more information on BP Street Cafe in Tempe AZ visit www.BPStreetCafe.com

Not rated…….Nothing was terrible and the food really was OK but, I left slightly underwhelmed and didn’t feel I had a true taste of Malaysia.

BP Street Cafe serves the only Malaysian Style Food served anywhere in the metro Phoenix area so by default it’s the best Malaysian Food Around!

******UPDATE****NOW CLOSED FOR BUSINESS******

So it’s worth a try!

The Forking Truth