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    Rasa Malaysia

    4.2 (234 reviews)
    Open 11:00 am - 8:30 pm

    Rasa Malaysia Photos

    Business Info

    RASA MALAYSIA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Rasa Malaysia

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    Sambal Delek Fish
    Amy P.

    Great food and atmosphere. Service was amazing. My friend and I shared two great dishes Sambal Olek Fish and Penang Char Kway Teow. Both were amazing and plenty to share and have left over. Definitely will revisit and highly recommend to anyone wanting great service and great food.

    Laksa with chicken
    Christine W.

    Service was absolutely phenomenal. Our waitress (Olivia) helped us with our orders, refilled water regularly, and helped us box our food up. Everything flowed seamlessly. The laksa is a little smaller than I remember it being, but still packed with flavor. Restaurant interior is beautiful, as always. Nice and a tad formal.

    Beef rendang
    Natasha D.

    We visited Rasa Malaysia as we used to live in Indonesia and we wanted food that was similar to what we used to eat. It was really good. I had the Nasi Lamak which was excellent, very authentic and perfectly spiced. My husband had the beef rendang which was also really good. Our server was really friendly and helped make the experience even better. We would definitely come back.

    Nasi Lemak
    Dina P.

    [[HIGHLIGHT]]For the area, I would say it is very good.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] However, it's not really a Malaysian restaurant but a Southeast Asian restaurant with Malaysian food. I say that because there is a lot of regional food served that I isn't Malaysian. I understand it's probably to give more options to the patrons who aren't familiar with Malaysian food but are more familiar with other Southeast Asian food. The selection of Malaysian food are common foods you might find in a hawker center that takes little prep time and is almost ready to serve. We order a couple of classic Malaysian dishes: Nasi Lemak, Hainanese Chicken Rice, and Roti Canai. The sambal in the Nasi Lemak was quite nice and it came with Curry Canai which is not traditionally served with it but quite nice for extra food. I thought the Chicken in the chicken rice was a little dry. The owner is on site and is a pleasure to talk to. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The decor is pretty typical of Asian restaurant in the area, nothing fancy but presentable.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]

    Jun Hong Z.

    Although the name of the restaurant is Malaysian cuisine, their menu covers classic cuisines from many Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. We tried several dishes this time, and each one had its own unique flavor. 1 Thai milk tea: classic and not disappointing, rich milk flavor, and just the right sweetness. 2 Shrimp & squid: salty and rich, super delicious, and you can't stop eating it with white rice! 3 Malaysian Nasi Lemak: full of coconut milk flavor, the curry taste is very similar to what I had in Singapore, and it is paired with crispy Indian pancakes, which is amazing! Fish sauce rice is also a highlight. As the national dish of Malaysia, it is worth a try. 4 Signature Laksa: The overall taste is good, but compared to the authentic Singapore Laksa, the soup base is a little lighter. 5 Fish: The taste is sweet, the seasoning is very special, it is worth a try! Friends who like Southeast Asian food must not miss it! What are you waiting for? Go ahead!

    Assam Shrimp & Calamari
    Angela A.

    I am originally from Singapore and we share a lot of common food with Malaysia. Came yo NC for a work event. I Googled and found this gem. I am in NC for 4 days and came here twice! The staff are super friendly and the owners are very, very nice. I ordered the Fried Tofu & Peanut Sauce to start, and had the Assam Shrimp & Calamari and Fish Oelek for main courses, and Sago for dessert. I was eating by myself. It's been years since I've had an authentic home-cooked meal. The portions are generous. The food is made to order so please be patient. It's worth the wait. The ingredients are fresh and taste and authenticity on point. Delicious food and I promise you, the taste is exactly like what you would find in Singapore and Malaysia. Thank you for giving me delicious food from home for a fraction of the price.

    Roti Canai
    Mani N.

    Great portions, the Roti Canai was so flavorful. Not a fan of the potato in it but just loved the sauce and chicken and of course the flaky roti. The Laksa noodles were great and had very robust flavors. The crispy lemon fish was flaky, good spice with a tangy lemon touch. I would for sure would go back :)

    Sampler
    Samantha R.

    Amazing food and amazing service. The portions were gigantic (even for lunch) and we loved all of it. The hot tea was great as well as the Thai iced tea. The chicken lettuce wraps and skewers were my favorite of the dishes we tried. Can't wait to come back!

    Laksa

    This was our first taste of Malaysian cuisine, and we figured it was a great place to start. We arrived for a late lunch, although it seemed we just missed the lunch menu. The menu offered a combination of familiar and unfamiliar items, but it leaned towards what seemed like a Thai influence. Our choices were the Roti canai with curry and Laksa. The food was good but nothing out of this world. The roti was soft and flaky that paired perfectly with the curry. However, the large chucks of chicken were dry. As for the Laksa, it was interesting, and it comes with chicken and tofu, but seemed to be missing something. The service was great. We were promptly attended to, and our server, who might have been the owner, checked on us regularly. We thought it was a good meal but as a newcomer to Malaysian cuisine, I don't have much to compare it to.

    Drunken noodles
    Ken C.

    High yield alert Came here for din with some friends. Didn't know there was quality Malaysian food in the area but this place is it. We got the hainanese chicken and the drunken noodles. Chicken with super juicy and the noodles were delectable. Portions were huge and reasonably priced. We wanted to have some roti as well - turns out you can just get the roti (without the canai) for just $2 a piece. Excellent spot, will be coming back for dine-in and takeout

    Outside. Storefront. Located in Southern Village.
    Daniel B.

    We really enjoyed our dinner at Rasa Malaysia. Both the food and service were great. This restaurant compared favorably to my other Malaysian restaurant experiences, mostly in Atlanta, which is a good thing considering the smaller size of Chapel Hill. Rasa Malaysia is located in the Southern Village neighborhood. I believe the restaurant, which was originally known as Merlion before changing ownership, is about as old as the neighborhood itself which was established in 1994. The restaurant changed from Merlion to Rasa Malaysia in 2015. Our amazing server, Lia, told us that the cuisine has always been Malaysian. Our friends, who live in the neighborhood, recommended this place. My wife and I had also heard positive things about this restaurant from others. We found the food to be quite "authentic" and delicious. Here's what we got: Appetizers: * Beef Mango Salad ($9.95) - fresh mango salad and sliced beef with citrus dressing Kampong Favorites: * Roti Canai with Curry Ayam ($15.95) - buttery layered canai (Indian pancake) with chicken and potato curry * Penang Char Kway Teow ($15.95) - wide rice noodles with shrimp, egg, chives, and bean sprouts in Kechap Manis dark sauce * Laksa with chicken ($14.95) - udon noodles, tofu, bean sprouts, and egg in coconut-spiced soup * Rasa Malaysia Nasi Lemak ($15.95) - authentic sambal ikan bilis, crispy ikan bilis, curry chicken, egg, cucumber, roasted peanut, coconut rice Meat & Poultry: * Mango-Mango Ayam ($17.95) - crisped chicken filet, fresh mango salad with tangy mango sauce Seafood: * Sambal Oelek Fish ($19.95) - crisped filet over angel hair carrot in chef's sambal oelek sauce Our favorites were the Roti Canai with Curry Ayam, Penang Char Kway Teow, Laksa, and Sambal Oelek Fish. I recommend each of those dishes. Roti canai is a Southeast Asian flatbread. Rasa Malaysia's menu describes it as an "Indian pancake" which isn't wrong. It's Indian-influenced and it's a pancake in the Asian/Indonesian sense. The Roti Canai we had here was perfect, from taste to texture. For the latter, the flatbread was flaky with a little bit of chew to it. Most roti canai is served with curry and that's how they serve it here. There are sweet variations that include sugar and even fruit and condensed milk, but Rasa Malaysia's is the savory kind. "Ayam" is Malaysian for chicken so "Curry Ayam" is simply chicken curry. Rasa Malaysia's chicken curry was full of flavor. Rich and delicious. It was ideal for dipping torn-off pieces of roti into. The same chicken curry was served as a part of the Rasa Malaysia Nasi Lemak dish. In that case, the curry was fantastic with the accompanying white coconut rice. If anything, there should have been more rice to go with both the curry and the ikan bilis. "Ikan bilis" are small, whole, deep-fried anchovies. Nasi Lemak is a national dish of Malaysia and ikan bilis is one component of it. In Malay, "nasi lemak" literally means "fatty rice." I thought Rasa Malaysia did a good job with their sambal-marinated ikan bilis. It was very flavorful, but not overpowering, and the dried anchovies were delectably crispy. Sambal is a red chili paste/sauce that's used in a lot of Maritime Southeast Asian dishes (e.g. Malaysian, Indonesian, and Singaporean cuisine). Sambal Oelek (or Ulek) is a specific type of sambal, which I believe is technically Indonesian and not Malaysian. Regardless, it's good. The sambal oelek I'm most familiar with is the one you can buy at Asian grocery stores in the clear plastic jars with green caps from Huy Fong Foods: "Sambal Oelek Ground Fresh Chili Paste." It's always been a staple condiment in the fridge wherever I've lived. I'm not sure if Rasa Malaysia uses the same kind of sambal oelek in their Sambal Oelek Fish dish because the sauce in the dish tasted significantly more dialed back, spice-wise. Still, the sauce was quite delightful, packed with wonderful, complex flavor - creamy, curry, spicy, perhaps even coconutty - and the fish itself was fried crisp with outstanding texture, inside and out. The fish was served as a single filet with no bones, which I prefer. The Penang Char Kway Teow was excellent. This is a classic stir-fried noodle dish which is a popular comfort food. Again, Rasa Malaysia gets the consistency just right, this time with the wide rice noodles. They were addictive to eat, especially with their distinctive cooked, smoky flavor. Another terrific, comfort-food-type dish from the region is laksa. Rasa Malaysia's Laksa was served in a big bowl - generous portion size - with a broth and noodles that were very tasty. Even the chicken was nice and tender. Very good quality all around. The Beef Mango Salad and Mango-Mango Ayam weren't bad. They just weren't as outstanding as the other dishes to me. Service was great thanks in large part to our very friendly and attentive server Lia. The restaurant has a spacious indoor dining room and covered patio. The atmosphere is ideal for both groups and date night.

    Roti canai w/ curry ayam

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    8 years ago

    This place has pretty authentic Malaysian food. I'm from Bay Area so I'm pretty picky about my asian food too. I would come here again.

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    9 years ago

    Delicious food and amazing service. I was visiting Chapel Hill for an interview and ate here twice!

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    7 years ago

    The best hainanese chicken rice! The Tom Yum soup is also the best version of Tom yum I have ever had!

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    Page 5 of 6

    Ask the Community - Rasa Malaysia

    You might also consider

    Noodle 501

    Noodle 501

    4.0
    (114 reviews)
    6.4 mi
    $$

    I love the noodles here. Since developing food intolerances, I have to be more careful with my…read moreselection though. Today when I called to ask about if the coconut noodle soup had any pork broth, garlic, or onion (things I have to avoid or I will get sick), I could hear a man on the other end of the call being very rude towards me and the girl asking about the ingredients on my behalf. Stuff like this is what steers people with intolerances away from eating out or asking more information about the food we might want to buy. I didn't want a recipe as he suggested, I simply wanted to know if it had anything that is a common allergies or intolerance. Even when I provided the specific things I have issues with, this man continued to be rude. He had an attitude and was saying, "it's coconut" with a rude tone, as if I was dumb for asking if it has any type of broth in the soup. Meanwhile, many restaurants can make soups with chicken broth and other broths and it still be "coconut" or another flavor so I found that really aggravating. Food is a five a star but the man with the attitude bumped it down to three. 4/20: In response to owner's response-- Let's remember that people can develop food intolerances and allergies as they get older. I was having consistent issues before because I did not know what foods gave me issues and pain. However, now I know and am trying to be careful with what I eat. Additionally, recipes can change over time, just like people and their health. I was just asking and you were very dismissive and rude to both me and your staff.

    Tried Noodle 501 last week with anticipation and left with disappointment. The menu has a wide…read moreoffering but all of the items were not exactly right in terms of flavor profile. The Tom Kha in particular was only sour and did not leave room for "sweet and savory" as the menu described. For the price of the items the value also isn't there. The passable thing was the appearance of the restaurant and the theme. It felt like there was intention there. The main disappointments come from the quality of the food and also service interaction. The chicken in the Tom Kha and the pork in my friend's ramen were both tough. I was charged extra for the chicken in my Tom Kha order even though the menu said "choice of protein" and it did not indicate an additional charge. Upon addressing this at checkout I asked if it could be compensated since it was not written. The cashier just gave a blunt "no". I am understanding that maybe there was nothing that could be done, but the disappointment and lack of care towards the misunderstanding felt like a disregard for the customer experience. Lastly, my friend ordered a Tonkotsu ramen which is not pictured here and had food poisoning. Seemed like there were plenty of people that visited the restaurant for takeout and enjoy the food, but I will not be returning.

    Photos
    Inside. Dining room. View from back of restaurant facing front.
    Inside. Dining room. View from back of restaurant facing front.
    Drunken noodle
    Drunken noodle
    Thai Tea. $4.

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    Thai Tea. $4.
    Hope Cafe

    Hope Cafe

    4.5
    (50 reviews)
    6.7 mi

    "Great Thai food in strip mall"…read more Came here at 7pm on a Saturday night-- I had heard this place was good, and I was a little surprised just how small it is-- a little place in a strip mall similar-looking to a lot of strip mall Chinese or Japanese mostly-to-go spots. The restaurant was brightly lit and had maybe 6 tables (though a few were pushed together for a larger family sitting together at the other end). We were greeted quickly and told we could sit wherever we liked. The menu was pretty simple-- choose a noodle style (e.g., pad thai) and pick a protein to go with it. There were a few curries on the back, too. I got the pad see ew, and my girlfriend got the drunken noodles, both with tofu. She also ordered a fancy juice of some sort that I don't remember now. Food came very quickly-- 10 minutes or less. Both the quality and quantity were EXCELLENT. I LOVED my pad see ewe-- very flavorful and not too greasy. The broccoli in it was clearly fresh, too. My girlfriend loved the drunken noodles (it was spicy!). And the juice was excellent. We each finished only half to 2/3 of our food. Service was great-- I got refills quickly, and the server not only checked on us but was pretty friendly/ chatty, asking about our weekend plans and such. The restaurant was also clean, including the restroom. And price was fair-- something like $16 for each dish before tax and tip. Only one complaint-- the temperature was weirdly hot. It felt like it was 80F in the restaurant. I thought it was just me, but my girlfriend mentioned it too as we were leaving. Not sure what the story was with that! Overall, excellent food, great value, and I'd happily come back, though perhaps I'll skip the heat and get take-out. Or maybe come in winter to warm up-- ha ha.

    I got drunken noodles for takeout lunch. The food was prepped quickly…read more The dish was fine but a little one-note flavor-wise, with just a few slices of tomato and basil leaves for veg. I wish there was more vegetables and an egg like they do at Twisted Noodles. It was a pretty hearty portion for $17 (they don't have a lunch menu, as far as I can tell).

    Photos
    Inside Hope Cafe
    Inside Hope Cafe
    Hope Cafe's Chicken Drunken Noodles are a must-try.
    Hope Cafe's Chicken Drunken Noodles are a must-try.
    This salad has fresh glass noodles, shrimp, and a tangy dressing. I recommend it.

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    This salad has fresh glass noodles, shrimp, and a tangy dressing. I recommend it.

    Rasa Malaysia - malaysian - Updated August 2026

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