Penangite’s Kopitiam restaurant in New York listed among best new restaurants in America
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Malaysian food is the BEST.
You know it, we know it, Singaporeans know it.
But it looks like the rest of the world is waking up to it as well.
A Malaysian Kopitiam restaurant in New York has been listed among the BEST new restaurants in America TWICE this year!
That’s right, the Malaysian restaurant simply called Kopitiam has been named among the best new restaurants in the United States for 2019 by two well known culinary publications, Eater and Bon Appetit.
On Bon Appétit‘s America’s Best New Restaurants 2019, Kopitiam is on the publication’s “Hot 10”. Meanwhile, Eater lists it on their “16 Best New Restaurants in America”.
Run by Penangite and third generation Nyonya, Kyo Pang, the Malaysian restaurant has been winning over gourmands with two quintessentially Malaysian dishes – Nasi Lemak and Pan Mee.
The Malaysian coffee shop that has us craving nasi lemak day and night.
Bon Appétit on Kopitiam restaurant.
(Credit: Jeenah Moon/The New York Times)
Instead of staid tossed salads or more roasted chicken plates, Kopitiam serves pungent anchovy noodle soup (pan mee soup), thrillingly flavourful shrimp-paste chicken wings, and understated milk toast sandwiches.
All of Pang’s meticulously rendered food stands on its own as some of the city’s best – which is why the restaurant has become a go-to for both local and visiting Eater editors.
Stefanie Tuder, Senior Editor, Eater NY.
Located in Lower East Side of New York City, Kopitiam serves up all sorts of Malaysian favourites such as nasi lemak, pan mee, curry puff, otak otak, pulut panggang, ikan bakar, teh tarik, bandung, Milo dinosaur, white coffee and all sorts of kuih which Americans are absolutely LOVING.
In an interview with Plate, Kyo mentioned that she comes from a family of restaurateurs. Her grandfather owned a kopitiam in Penang that her dad took over and transformed into a family-style restaurant.
She moved to America in 2008 to study and afterwards worked as a promoter. However, her father soon suffered a bout of depression.
Kyo realised that that food and cooking was something that made her father happy and she opened Kopitiam in 2015.
(Credit: @kopitiamnyc/Facebook)
Kopitiam then began making waves in New York for the comforting Malaysian dishes. However, the restaurant was forced to close due to the increasing rent.
Thankfully, Kyo and her business partner Moonlynn Tsai found a new nook in the Big Apple to reopen Kopitiam and that’s when things really took off!
(Credit: Jeenah Moon/The New York Times)
Last September, the prestigious The New York Times and The New Yorker sang praises upon praises for the Malaysian restaurant, especially its nasi lemak.
I don’t know another kitchen in the city where the fragrances of coconut and pandan leaf infuse the rice as elegantly, or where the tiny dried fish, which Kopitiam fries with peanuts, form a caramelized crust that erases the distinction between sweet and savoury.
Pete Wells, Restaurant Critic, The New York Times.
Kopitiam’s latest success was when Bon Appétit’s editor received a nasi lemak masterclass from Kyo on how to make Malaysia’s beloved nasi lemak!
TRP would like to thank Kyo for making Malaysia’s name as aromatic as our pandan-infused nasi lemak!
Let us know what you think of Kyo’s fantastic work on TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
