“Malaysian food, it’s not like anything really.” That’s how Juliet Moo, a co-owner of Chinatown’s newest restaurant, Kaya, puts it to me when we sit down for a chat after dinner.
Having just worked my way through piles of fiery curried Laksa noodles, buttery jam toast, tea, eggs, fragrant rice, cucumber, and fried chicken, I want to know more.
The special thing about Malaysian food, she says, is how it takes influence from the country’s three main ethnic groups – Malay, Chinese and Indian.
“Because Malaysia is a multi racial country,” she explains, “our cuisines are unique in the sense that it’s like a combo of all these different cultures and ethnicities coming together and sharing flavours.”
Heat, I have already learnt, is a must. Even the national dish Nasi Lemak – a mellow sort of Malaysian ‘picky tea’ with coconut milk aromatic rice, cucumber slices, boiled egg, fried chicken, peanuts and salty morsels of dried anchovy – has a chilli-based sambal on hand to spice things up.
ADVERTISEMENT
Curried laksa noodlees with chicken, prawn and tofu at Kaya in Chinatown. / Image: The Manc Eats
Toast with Kaya pandan jam at Manchester’s new Malaysian restaurant. / Image: The Manc Eats
Kaya hasn’t yet been open a month, but Juliet says they have been ‘overwhelmed’ with the response to the new opening – admitting that they weren’t quite prepared for the number of people they would get coming through their doors.
Most of the flavours here are big and aromatic, with dishes using a lot of lemongrass and galangal, turmeric and other spices.
ADVERTISEMENT
That said, there is also a surprising amount of toast on the menu served with homemade Kaya jam and thick chunks of butter that could’ve well been laid on with a trowel.
Eggs come two ways – half-boiled with a little soy and pepper with strips for dipping, or hard-boiled and halved – whilst noodle and rice dishes comprise the bulk of the mains.
It is, as Juliet has already explained, a real mishmash of flavours. But it totally works, with Kaya already drawing in the crowds.
ADVERTISEMENT
“It was quite overwhelming to be honest, in the beginning, because we were not expecting this turnout,” she reveals.
“I guess a lot of people are obviously curious as to what Malaysian food is, so we had a lot of people coming in just to try, but we also had a lot of Malaysian coming in, just to, you know, because they feel like ‘oh cool, I can come here and eat the food from home.'”
Fiery laksa noodles at Kaya in Manchester. / Image: The Manc Eats
Kaya can be found on Faulker Street in Manchester’s Chinatown. Image: The Manc Eats
She also says they’ve already found it to be a balancing act with spice tolerance levels. Simply put, some English customers – myself included on this occasion – can’t always handle it.
I don’t know if I was having a bad day, because I’m usually into it when my lips start to tingle and my mouth feels like it’s on fire, but on this particular afternoon, I confess to finding the spicy curry laksa noodles a bit of a challenge.
Juliet laughs and tells me their Asian customers say the opposite – that it should be hotter. It doesn’t do my ego any good, but I suppose I’m not that surprised.
Her goal, she adds, is to make Kaya “as authentic as it can be, but at the same time introduce this type of food to locals.”
“I’m trying to find a balance, it’s been quite overwhelming, but it’s exciting to try new things, see people eat the food and we’re always improving, definitely, we want to make things better.”
Eggs are served as a starter half-boiled then mixed with soy sauce and black pepper with toast strips for dipping. / Image: The Manc Eats
A plate of chicken satay skewers with a chunky peanut dip, diced cucumber and red onion at Kaya. / Image: The Manc Eats
Whilst Malaysian cuisine has exploded in London, here in Manchester we’ve been slower to catch on – at least in the city centre.
For Juliet and her family, though, the lack of competition in town is a plus. They had previously tried opening a different style of restaurant a few years back, she tells me, that was a franchise and on a “very different scale altogether.”
ADVERTISEMENT
By comparison, Kaya – she adds – is “very small, but it’s a nice size to start.”
“My brother, Nicholas, my older brother. He’s been in Manchester for I think about thirteen years. So we’re all from Malaysia, so we’re all born and raised there, so he came here for school and he stayed on,” she says.
“So the fact that there’s not much Malaysian food in the city itself made us feel like there could be a chance, so we just went for it.”
It certainly makes a very welcome addition to Manchester city centre.
ADVERTISEMENT
Whether you’re already a diehard fan of Malaysian food, or you’re curious to experience something new, take it from me: Kaya is well worth a visit.
Featured image – The Manc Eats
Eats
Live your Come Dine With Me dreams with this all-new dining concept
Thomas Melia
Across the world, one app has been uniting strangers in 235 cities, matching six lucky diners for an evening meal at a surprise restaurant table and now Manchester is the latest city to open its taste buds to this pseudo-Come Dine With Me concept. Only this one involves less cooking.
Guests are expected to partake in an evening of food, booze and plenty of interesting conversations between six total strangers, only with hopefully less drama than the hit Channel 4 show. Strictly no Jane’s spoiling anything…
The concept is being pushed by French entrepreneur Maxime Barbier and his company ‘TimeLeft’. He has a lengthy career in the nightlife industry behind him and now wants to further strengthen good food and good times via this app.
And it’s clearly working: according to the company’s official website, 96% of dining groups consider themselves compatible meaning their carefully selected pairings are pretty accurate.
All curious diners have to do is download Timeleft and take a personality test before they’re whisked away for a night of entertainment and lush catering picked out by the pioneering new app.
Fear not, there will be a ‘Break the ice’ game where you can get to know the like-minded and compatible strangers you’re spending the rest of the evening with.
Once the table fills up and the evening is well away, everyone round the table will receive a notification to continue the night at a nearby bar chosen once again by this new dining concept app.
This new mealtime experience is a really good way of making connections, especially for newcomers to the city who are looking to expand their friendship group and navigate Manchester with some similar fresh-faced companions. There’s crucially much less cooking involved too, by which we mean none.
Throughout their website, the company shares a range of blogs breaking down everything from ‘6 tips for smoothing over a heated conversation’ to ‘the ultimate guide to Timeleft’.
In a standout piece entitled, ‘The 10 types of strangers at your table‘, they discuss the different types of personalities that you may come across during your meal.
From the simpler and recognisable labels like the introvert and extrovert to the more complex like the contemplative and the humourist, these little excerpts are handy to anyone who may have any nerves ahead of the meeting.
So, anyone located in Greater Manchester who might be interested in this new dining concept can participate by downloading the TimeLeft app and seeing where the night takes them.
You might not go home with £1,000 in cash but you’ll certainly create some memories and come pretty close to living out your Come Dine With Me fantasy – there really is an app for everything.
The stalls causing massive queues at the Manchester Christmas Markets
Daisy Jackson
If you looked at our comment sections during the Manchester Christmas Markets you’d assume everyone hates them – but one look at the queues forming again this year proves that is FAR from the case.
The annual festive event is back with a vengeance for another year, with wooden sheds and pop-up bars all over the place.
Whether you’re after a traditional mulled wine and bratwurst, or a loaded mac and cheese and shimmery cocktail, you’ll find it.
And while the Manchester Christmas Markets always get busy, especially at the weekends, this year is looking especially lively.
Videos shared online show huge queues of gridlocked people on Market Street, in Piccadilly Gardens and on King Street.
The cause of one of the biggest queues is again The Flat Baker – the Ancoats indie debuted at the markets last year with huge croissants served with pots of dipping sauce including pistachio and dulce de leche.
For 2024 they’ve introduced hot chocolates served in an edible cookie cup.
It went viral last year, it’s gone viral again this year, and the queues have gone so wild there’s now actual fences, Disney-style, specifically to manage The Flat Baker crowds.
These wind all the way from their stall in Piccadilly Gardens to the outside of the markets, travelling along the Piccadilly Wall.
And while getting your hands on a Flat Baker croissant requires some grit and determination, it’s not the only spot where you’ll be facing a wait.
Molten dark, milk and even golden chocolate can be bought here in an edible chocolate cup, poured over brownies and strawberries, or used as a base for hot chocolates and affogatos.
The Flat Baker are at The Winter Gardens in Manchester Christmas Markets and causing big queuesWaffle Kart are back at the Manchester Christmas Markets 2024
The team here move fast but if you go at peak times you’ll still be looking at a queue.
Down on the King Street section of the Manchester Christmas Markets you’ll find Waffle Kart, a brilliant little business serving fun family recipes inspired by Hong Kong street food.
Expect fried chicken and waffles, waffle prawn toast and loaded waffle fries – and a bit of a queue that’s worth the wait.
And finally, the biggest queue of the lot is just Market Street in general.
This is Manchester’s main shopping street so ahead of Christmas it’s always busy, but now that there are stalls all the way down it luring shoppers in, it’s totally gridlocked.
Georgina Pellant -
6th July 2023 
