#29 – BEEF RENDANG at NYONYA

For the third year in a row, I’m going to attempt to eat every single item on Time Out New York’s annual 100 Best Dishes list. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100. Let the gluttony continue…

There was a dish that I used to eat on a regular basis during college in Pittsburgh. It was the Shan Hin Lay Pork at Spice Island Tea House and would most certainly have made my Top 100 Dish of the year list if I had been keeping one back then. It was a stew of slowly simmered pork and potatoes in a sweet brown sauce. It was like the best pot roast ever but with even more tender meat flavor since it was comprised of pork.

I found the dish at Village Mingala, a Burmese restaurant in the East Village a few years back, but that venue is now sadly closed. I still demand a trip to Spice Island each time I’m back in the ‘burgh (it’s never as good as I remember), but I’d like to get a taste a little closer to home. And so based on the description of the Beef Rendang at Nyonya, I was hoping to re-live my college days.

Nyonya is a Malayasian restaurant on the outskirts of Chinatown (it’s technically in Little Italy) and it seems to be hugely popular. It was jamming when we arrived around 6:00, but we snagged a table. However, when we left, the wait was literally out the door.

We ordered a few things to share and they were delivered fast and furiously. It was a little frustrating that we had five dishes on the table at once. I think the motto here is “turn and burn” without any thought about appetizers or entreés. Yet the food was across the board quite tasty.

The roti canai seems like an obligatory order since every table had a plate of this delicate fried pancake with a rich, curry sauce for dipping. We also really liked the baby oyster omlette which was just that with aquatic, briny flavors and a fleshy, meaty texture throughout the decadent egg cake. The achata was a unique combination of sweet and tangy pickled vegetables that had a nice refreshing crunch. And the ginger duck noodle soup had deep gamey flavors, but could have used more spicy ginger.

And now on to the beef rendang, the item that made Time Out’s 100 best list and I hoped would replace my shan hin lay pork. I was surprised to see one of those chili pepper symbols next to it because I didn’t expect it to be spicy.

And it wasn’t at all. This was another hearty stew of tender meat, but the curry-like sauce was much brighter with hints of coconut and spices. The beef definitely fell apart upon touch (not even requiring a knife), but I found it just slightly chewy. The flavors were sweet, nutty, and distinct.

It’s in the world of my previous love, the Shan Hin Lay Pork (turns out Spice Island even offers a rendang on their menu) and in some ways may have more depth of flavor, but to be honest, I don’t think anything can replace the version I hold tight in my memory.

Would Nyonya’s Beef Rendang make my Top 100 of the year? It may have if I discovered it a few years ago, but it still gets an 8 out of 10 for the tender meat and tasty sauce.