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| - Review #7 of Yelp's 30 Day Challenge 2012.
Food: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Overall experience: 3/5
(1- Terrible; 3- decent; 5- Fantastic)
The Tropical Delight Noodle House is a mom and pops restaurant serving up traditional Malaysian food. It is fairly small with about 8 or so tables to one side and a large open area for takeout near the door. The decor could definitely use an upgrade; it reminded me of an old cafeteria. The servers were friendly and offered to answer any questions about the menu.
I would have never known about this place until my Malaysian friend mentioned it on a post online. She suggested trying their specialty, the "Spicy Laksa Soup" with shrimp, tofu, egg, fish balls, and rice vermicelli ($7.50). The dish is a good individual size. The soup was tasty ...the combination of heavy amounts of chili oil and coconut milk was unique, but I've had better spicy soups elsewhere. For the price and quality though, it will hit the spot if you're craving spicy noodles. If you can only handle mild spice, then this dish might be too spicy for you.
I also ordered the "Nasi Lemak" ($8.99) with coconut rice, anchovies, hard boiled eggs, sliced cucumber, Sambal Nanas (pineapple chili paste), and a choice of meat. I chose the Malaysian Beef Rending (other options were: black pepper beef, curry beef/chicken, sweet and sour pork, ginger beef, or satay chicken/beef). The Nasi Lemak is true home cooking. It was like something my mom would make for me on the weekend. There was a neat pile of lightly flavoured rice with a scoop of super tender braised meat. The flavour is quite hard to describe, but it was mild, with hints of coconut milk, ginger, and warm spices typically found in Asian/Indian cooking. The texture of the dish is similar to a thick stew (not like a watery curry).
The rest of their menu was minimal with other items like beef subs (~$6); spring rolls; tom yam or wonton soup ($7.50); and roti chanai with curry beef/chicken (~$9).
Overall, if you're looking for cheap home cooking or want to try new ethnic foods in the NE,, I recommend Tropical Delight Noodle House. The food was good but not really memorable. My friend on the other hand who is from Malaysia said the restaurant had the best Malaysian food in Calgary which I can't vouch for.
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