Malaysia Kitchen Insider: Little Malaya, Coolangatta.

After all the excitement of the last few weeks I’m a little behind on my Malaysia Kitchen exploration! We dined at Little Malaya, Coolangatta on Thursday night after doing some research on Malaysian restaurants on the Gold Coast with more than a few vegetarian options. Nick had enquired about vegetarian dishes at another restaurant but the person on the phone said we’d have to come in to have a look. This isn’t good enough, there’s no happiness in getting to a restaurant and finding you can’t eat anything, so we continued our research. It’s hard though when many places don’t put their menus online, and I encourage restaurants to do this because I guarantee that I and most of the people I know look up menus online before deciding on where to eat. It’s something that can make or break a booking!


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Nick came across the menu for Little Malaya and found a whole page of vegie dishes so we set off for Coolie (look how local I am!) After a bit of difficulty finding the restaurant (it’s just not actually on Marine Parade, and the street is unnamed on Google Maps) we were welcomed to a quiet restaurant with cool lighting along one wall. I opted to sit down the back in a dark corner but didn’t realise it would hamper my photo taking!

A photo of a pink wall in Little Malaya with a cityscape cut out of wood and lighting behind it.
A photo of vegetarian spring rolls, calamari balls and a bowl of tom yum.

We opened the menus and found that they didn’t match the website’s offerings, with only a few vegetarian options presented. Eep! I decided to go for some vegetarian spring rolls and laksa, not especially adventurous but it seems that the vegie options I’ve come across on my Malaysia Kitchen outings have been pretty stock standard. I ought to have asked if they would do me up a special dish but I wasn’t feeling too good and just went with one of my favourites! Laksa!

A photo of vegetable laksa in a big red bowl. Bok choy and fried onion sit on top.

The laksa was HUGE! This is definitely a dish for sharing, or for eating if you’re very hungry. The soup was delicious as were the fresh vegetables and silken tofu. I did chomp down on a few kaffir lime leaves accidentally and had a bit of a “WTF WAS THAT?” moment. While I’ve used them before, I’ve always taken them out before eating the dish! I managed to eat half of the laksa but had to take the rest home. It made for good eating the next day.

A photo of our dinner with Nick's crispy skin chicken sitting in the middle with crackers on top.

One of the wait staff came out after we’d ordered and encouraged Nick to try a special dish, so he got the crispy skin chicken because he’d never had it before. He was a little shocked to find most of the bird was on the plate and had trouble eating around the bones. The special sauce was apparently very good and he mopped it all up with his coconut rice!

A photo of me in the restaurant.

Hi, here is me looking tired and full! On the way out the wait staffer noticed my Malaysia Kitchen eftpos card and so I told him about my blog. Hi if you’re reading!

Little Malaya is quiet but has a nice ambiance, I especially liked the cityscape and light treatment on the wall. The vegetarian offerings are pretty standard but the meat dishes look to be more adventurous for those who have a western palate. Next time I get a laksa craving I’ll know where to go on the Gold Coast!

Little Malaya
Shop 14-15 Beach House Plaza
52 Marine Parade, Coolangatta, Qld
Ph – (07) 5536 2690

I dined at Little Malaya as a guest of Malaysia Kitchen Australia as a Blogger Ambassador. This is my second review out of four planned reviews over the next few months.

9 comments

  1. This restaurant looks beautiful.  Love the decor with those red wells, and the pictures of the food too.  All very photogenic.  And I agree, restaurants should put their menus online.

  2. You’re doing restaurant reviews now? Of everyone, I never thought you’d sell out. Really disappointed you would compromise the integrity of the blog for some free grub.

  3. I understand the disappointment but I have a few reasons for being part of the Malaysia Kitchen programme. It’s not restaurant reviews, it’s just talking about the experience of eating Malaysian food, and we do eat for free but there’s not much more in it for us except the fun of trying new food and talking about it. I chose to be part of this because I’ve moved to a new city and I thought it’d be a fun way to explore my new local areas and introduce readers to where I’m now living. I have reviewed Brisbane restaurants and eateries in the past for nothing.

    If this is selling out, I want more money. As it is, I’m happy trying new food and overcoming my disabling social phobia in a new city. 

  4. I understand the disappointment but I have a few reasons for being part of the Malaysia Kitchen programme. It’s not restaurant reviews, it’s just talking about the experience of eating Malaysian food, and we do eat for free but there’s not much more in it for us except the fun of trying new food and talking about it. I chose to be part of this because I’ve moved to a new city and I thought it’d be a fun way to explore my new local areas and introduce readers to where I’m now living. I have reviewed Brisbane restaurants and eateries in the past for nothing.

    If this is selling out, I want more money. As it is, I’m happy trying new food and overcoming my disabling social phobia in a new city. 

  5. “In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions.”

    Natalie has mentioned in any post related to anything that anyone has given her or provided for her that she got something for free, or cheaper, or whatever. That’s honest, truthful and accurate.

    She could have written that I devoured my Crispy Skin Chicken and loved it but she didn’t. I did find the bones gross because I have issues with chicken bones. But the chicken itself was delicious, if not a bit fatty (but you get that with crispy skin anything) and the sauce was amazing.

    Anyway, it’s Natalie’s blog. I don’t see why people think they get the right to dictate the type of content that appears on someone’s personal blog.

  6. “In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions.”

    Natalie has mentioned in any post related to anything that anyone has given her or provided for her that she got something for free, or cheaper, or whatever. That’s honest, truthful and accurate.

    She could have written that I devoured my Crispy Skin Chicken and loved it but she didn’t. I did find the bones gross because I have issues with chicken bones. But the chicken itself was delicious, if not a bit fatty (but you get that with crispy skin anything) and the sauce was amazing.

    Anyway, it’s Natalie’s blog. I don’t see why people think they get the right to dictate the type of content that appears on someone’s personal blog.

  7. “In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions.”

    Natalie has mentioned in any post related to anything that anyone has given her or provided for her that she got something for free, or cheaper, or whatever. That’s honest, truthful and accurate.

    She could have written that I devoured my Crispy Skin Chicken and loved it but she didn’t. I did find the bones gross because I have issues with chicken bones. But the chicken itself was delicious, if not a bit fatty (but you get that with crispy skin anything) and the sauce was amazing.

    Anyway, it’s Natalie’s blog. I don’t see why people think they get the right to dictate the type of content that appears on someone’s personal blog.

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