Review Chef Rasa Sayang - Auckland

One of the best Malaysian restaurant you can find in Auckland. The owner was super friendly and the food was so good with a good portion and price on point.

Delicious mi goreng and sweet and sour pork. One of the best mi goreng I’ve eaten. Very affordable. Place is small so it can be crowded sometimes but it’s worth the wait. Staff are an old couple who are very accommodating. For sure will come back here to taste their other menu.

The service here is exceptional. The needs of the customer are put first. How refreshing. We ordered Chicken Rendang and Chilli Prawns. The lovely serving lady suggested that these meals would be a bit too big for luncheon and suggested a small plate size. How correct she was, although the cost was 1/3 less it was more about us and our needs. How refreshing🙏

First time went there. Always looks busy so had high expectations for this restaurant. We ordered prawns Sambal. Prawns were good size and also tasty. We also ordered flat rice noodles (I forgot the name of the meal) which was also good. Staff was friendly, price is good. I felt I was in Asia! I am missing this atmosphere. Hope covid-19 will be ending soon and we can go travel soon.

This little Malaysian restaurant is a little known gem tucked away in a little suburb on the Shore. If you did not go looking for it, you probably wouldn't find it. But they do the best deep fried blue cod in a slightly sour-ish, spicy, and yet light sauce. The tofu dish reminds me of a Malaysian snack called "rojak" which is tofu cubes mixed into a cucumber and sliced carrot salad along with lashings of chilli sauce and crushed peanuts - amazing. The sambal chicken wasn't too bad, nothing exactly worth mentioning but it did the job. Service is prompt and with a smile and food comes out, quickly. To get hot water refills for your jasmine tea, it's self service from the hot water flask next to the cashier's desk.

Excellent authentic Malaysian dishes. Highly recommend the Rendangs, and love their Nasi Lemak, one of my favorite dishes. As tasty as any I have had in NZ. An added bonus, it's very reasonably priced. Excellent service too. Definitely my go to if I have cravings for Malaysian cuisine. Will have to sample more of their dishes for sure.

Absolutely delicious. Beautiful small restaurant. Fantastic Flavours. Will be going again.

The besy malaysian food I have had on Shore. Well priced and generous portion size. Well done👍 will definitely be back😬

Very rich flavours. Food was pipping hot and very authentic Malaysian food. The tables were a bit too close together. Would return for takeaway.

Ordered Hokkein mee and was totally satisfied! Great taste with pork lard from a really hot wok. Decent portion as well. Char kuey teow was also really good. One of the best we have tasted. Definitely be back.

Always a treat when visit Chef Rasa Sayang. Awesome food

Delicious Malaysian food. Very friendly staff. Highly recommended and will return when in the neighbourhood again.

Good food and reasonable price. I'd like to go to here again and again.

Authentic, delicious, and affordable! Chef Sasa Sayang is a modest, cosy little restaurant with fast and friendly service. <br/>-Mee Goreng ($12.9). Extremely flavourful, good serving of prawns, not so much chicken. It also included egg, a little portion of tofu, bean sprouts and green onion. <br/>- Chicken satay ($10 for 5 pieces). The chicken was tender and had that classic charred/BBQ taste. The peanut sauce was extremely yummy and the cucumber added a refreshing touch.<br/>-Chicken curry with roti canai ($14.9). Yum yum yum! The roti canai was slight oily but very soft and flaky. The curry tasted very authentic with large pieces of chicken, some of which were slightly dry, but super flavourful.<br/>We will DEFINITELY be returning to this awesome little eatery!

I used to come here a lot as a kid, and I've missed it so much. I came here last night for dinner and the place was already quite packed. The staff were quick to clear out a table for us and another couple. The food came out relatively quickly <br/><br/>We ordered the Malaysian Fried Chicken, Char Kuey Teow, Fish head rice noodles and curry puffs. I only had a little box of Char Kuey Teow to take for lunch tomorrow as I couldn't stop eating. They de-bone the fried chicken for you (which is absolutely amazing) and it's in this delicious lemongrass sauce but it doesn't compromise any of the crispiness of the chicken. The curry puffs were a bit too oily (the skin was a little soggy) but I still enjoyed it nevertheless. The noodle soup was good - the soup was perfect! The noodles didn't taste like fresh rice noodles but it's not a big deal. I absolutely loved my Char Kuey Teow as well. <br/><br/>I can't wait to come back to try more of the menu. Just remember to book if you want to come during the peak hours - or come a little earlier or later than usual so you can get yourself a seat.

Chicken curry was amazing re- the sauce, much thicker than elsewhere. But the actual chicken was not good, they used chicken nibbles which I found bizarre and ended up not eating it. Would rather pay more for good quality chicken in the curry. Roti was deliciously flakey but absolutely soaked in oil so I felt sick after one and couldn’t finish the other. Black bean beef was ok as was the char kuey teow, my partner liked them a lot more than me

This was our second time here and nothing has changed, the food was still great and the taste was authentic similar to the dishes I had when I was still living in Malaysia. This establishment is located in Mokoia Road in Birkenhead, it’s a small establishment so make sure you reserve a seat when you want to dine in at peak hours.

I've have been eating at this place since it opened I have introduced several of my friends here we all love the food and know the owners personally i recommend chef rasa sayang my favorite is the chicken laksa it is fantastic friends of mine Bob and chrissy go once a week for the laksa go and eat there you won't regret it<br/>Enjoy gavin packer

Stuff was rude and request who every seat in the restaurant must order a dish which my father had his lunch already but force not allowed to stay in if not making any order . Yet it had plenty of table on vacancy and it is not a busy afternoon for the restaurant.

I have tried their take away Hainan chicken, fried tofu and marmite pork. Very generous on the portion serving. Too far away from my home, if not, will be visited regularly!

I have been to this eatery quite a few times now and food is still tasting delicious! I personally love the green beans. It’s a small place but food is tasty. It’s good to book a table a head of time because they are always busy.

Legit Malaysian food! One of the best I have tried in Auckland with reasonable price. I had the Wat Dan Hor and it’s delicious. Highly recommended

Lovely owner and fantastic food. A family favourite! Top picks - beef rendang, sambal beans and marmite chicken. Beautiful flavour profiles and blend of spices.

I just simply love their Hainanese chicken - soft steamed boneless chicken in a super nice homemade sauce. Just can't find any elsewhere which has better Hainanese chicken than this place. Only small thing is the rice served with the chicken is not cooked with the chicken soup. Still, their chicken is nicest :)

We come here for the Hainanese Chicken Rice almost every fortnight. Tastes like home! Generous portion and reasonably priced. This is a must!

Delish. Love it so much, I definitely recommend. 5-star rating for me. The Hokkien Noodles will not let you down. Also the spring rolls are REALLY good.

For a restaurant which is so highly regarded, our meals at lunch on a visit yesterday, were very average and lacking flavour.  To start we had Curry Puffs. These were edible but very ordinary, with little taste. For the mains we chose Vegetable Curry and Char Kuey Teow. The curry needed more spices to lift it, as it was very bland. The Char Kuey Teow was a real disappointment. It had no Chinese Sausage, which I found very unusual for this dish. Another meal with no character. Last time I visited this restaurant, I had Marmite Chicken which was superb. Unfortunately It does not now appear on the menu. To me a Malaysian Restaurant is defined by the quality of its Char Keoy Teow. I might give the Chef Rasa Sayang one more chance, but it will be with trepidation.

My favourite go to Malaysian dine in place. Vouched for by my friends and by my parents. My go to is their Homemade “egg” tofu which is a deep fried and very milky tofu. I can eat a whole plate by myself. Otherwise their noodles and on rice menu are as great!

My family went for late afternoon lunch. The restaurant was very quite. There were 4 of us. However as 2 of us already eaten therefore only wanted to order 2 meals but been told by a rude lady the two people who are not eating cannot stay!!! I understand if the restaurant is very busy. This is very disappointing and poor customer service!!

Very authentic Malaysian food, my go to for mee gorang and Nasi lemak when in the area, small, friendly staff worth a visit if you are in the are and fancy some yummy Malaysian food.

Friendly and efficient service, some great dishes, Nasi Lemak recommended. Hainanese Chicken Rice could be more authentic. I rate it 3.7 (4 was the closest).

Ling collar fish vermicelli soup is good, satay chicken is grilled and tasty with good satay sauce, tofu is crispy outside and soft inside and comes with a special sauce- which is splendid; coffee spare ribs is average, mummy spare ribs is much better!

One of the best Malaysian places I've ever been too. All the dishes we tried were amazing. The ribs and the lamb curry were so good. Very well priced as well

one of my favorite malaysian resto in the shore ! been coming here ever since they opened their doors - even become friends with the owner. best hainamese chicken rice, beef rendang, butter prawns, chicken curry and fried rice in the shore, no contest. and they can make it REAL SPICY for you - LOVE it ! and another thing they do best is their DEEP FRIED ICE CREAM - this is a MUST TRY for everyone that comes to this place.

The lady waitress should not be there at all! She is rude and with a sour face unless you are white people then she will smile and kiss ass! Disguisting creature!

This is absolutely my favourite place to eat in Auckland. It’s one of those hidden treasures that it takes a few tries and then BOOM! Love the flavours and the service. If you looking for a taste explosion...totally RECOMMEND!!!

This is our go-to takeaway when we don't feel like cooking. Prefer taking the food out as there's limited seating (and space) on site. But always tasty, hot and satisfying.

Had the char kuay teow here on two occasions. Its the closest thing I can here in Auckland to authentic street food from Malaysia. The pricing is very reasonable. Highly recommend.

Had Mee Goreng, Hainanese Chicken, Malaysian Sago, and all turned out superb but didnt hurt the budget. Excellent service as well from the lady server.

Tl;dr: Good food but terrible service. Expect different treatment if you look a bit different from the rest of their clientele.<br/><br/>Long story : Went there during Friday lunch rush hour and noticed one solitary table free. Sat down there and out came the waitress. She looked at me with a stoic, almost rude expression, which I passed off as her just being busy. I asked if she had a table for one and I plonked myself down at the chair as she handed me the menu and smiled and chatted with the other customers. Then a group of two people came in and asked for seats, and she kept looking at me, then went to another table with one other gentleman and asked him something to which he said yes. Then sheepishly she came over and asked me if I minded moving over to the other table near the window. I didn't think much of it, but as I walked over, I wondered why I was asked to move rather than him, when I noticed he had a teapot with a small tea cup, much like the ones on all the other tables. I was then momentarily distracted as my phone picked up the signal of the free spark wifi and for a second comforted in the fact that I would be able to gaze down at my phone rather than look up and feel obviously unwelcome. As I lift my head up, I'm brought a glass of water. As she walks away, I request her for some tea. She then proceeds to take my water away, to which I say, no I'd like some water too please, feeling the thirst at the back of my throat. She then frowns and walks away pretending she didn't hear me and goes about her business at the till. I still think, ok fine, maybe it's just the language difference. Everyone else chatters away in a south east asian language (a mixture of what I could make out as Mandarin (probably also hokkien?) along with some Vietnamese), while me, being the sole member of the ethnic Indian community in there, speaks to her in English. Then I go back to scrolling through my Facebook feed before I momentarily lift my head up to see my food being brought over along with the food of the gent across from me. His cutlery: chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon, mine a fork and what seemed like a western soup spoon. And even then, I'm like, okay I'm having some beef rendang with rice, and he's having some noodle soup- so practicality rules? Then as she's about to walk away, I ask her for tea again. And she says, I have no teapots left, is a glass cup okay? And I say okay, that's fine. Then as I look up to see her walking to the dish cabinet, I noticed not one, but TWO teapots staring at me, begging to have tea poured in them. Now, as much as I'd like to find another excuse to be compassionate, I'm starting to have enough. But as I take bites of my food, I find it delicious and I continue eating while the warmth from my good (only? 😭) friend, food, fills my heart. Then she plonks a glass with some boiling water and tea leaves on my table and walks away. While I eat, I occasionally gaze up and she looks at me attempting a sheepish smile. I immediately look down and continue chomping on my food. Then I think the tea must have brewed, let's take a sip, even if I'm obviously being treated differently. As I bring the glass closer to my mouth, I notice that the glass is chipped. Then a rage (in my own, compassionate way) overfills me as I'm trying to decide whether to finish my food or just walk out. I decide to finish it, cause hey, I'm going to have to pay for it and did you forget, it's my only friend in there (😭😭). As soon as I finish, I walk up to pay, she attempts to smile, but I pay and tell her the glass she gave me was chipped. She smiles and say oh sorry, and it suddenly dawns on me, that it wasn't the language difference either. She says thank you, as I walk away, resolving never to come back. Sorry food, I can't take this once again!<br/><br/>Edit: This was therapeutic (and procrastination as I try to study for some exam). And as I read the other comments on here, I feel like I'm not alone in feeling this way after all.

Very bad attitude. Arrive at 19:00. There was two table available but was been told finish ordering. The smell in the room was pretty strange. BTW would recommend the restaurant beside this one.

I am a massive fan of authentic asian food!<br/>This place has been a go to for a while! Always busy, but the food and service is usually really fast! Its great to come with a large group and get lots of different dishes to share!

one of my fav malaysian place, not only the foods are great (my fav is fried kwetiaw with very hot spicy option) but also the prices are great.<br/><br/>The only trouble is the place is very busy, sometimes hard to find the carpark. Otherwise, all good!

Had the chicken curry laksa with noodles and it was delicious. The portion size is very generous. The overall vibe of the restaurant is very casual. Would recommend others to try it out.

Food is great. Had the chicken laksa and char kway teow previously. $11 for lunch is great value. Waitress was pretty miserable last time I visited however. Suppose you're going for the food, not the atmosphere.

Came here last night for dinner. Ordered the coffee spare ribs, mummy chicken (marmite chicken) , Hokkien mee and the pepper lamb. Really tasty and authentic ! The chicken was so juicy and all the food came out piping hot! Highly recommend! Service was excellent, despite it being so busy

Food was actually decent, but the service was bad. I asked extra hot for my sambal chicken, the lady said ok but I knew she didn't care about my request. Came the food, it was delivered by another lady, I asked if it's extra hot. Of course it wasn't. Back to the kitchen it went and this time the lady who okayed me delivered the food to me. Did not say thanks.

This is a great place to eat, the staff are friendly and the food is good. We eat here at least once a fortnight and are slowly getting through the menu. If you enjoy curry and spicy flavours but are tired of what's on offer from your local Indian or Korean then I'd recommend giving this Malaysian eat out a try. My favourites are the Chicken laksa and roti canni. On the back menu you can get rice and a small serving of your fav for around $11. If you haven't tried Malaysian before I'd recommend starting with the beef rendang. An awesome place to eat 🙂

I wanted to explore what Northshore had to offer and decided to hit Birkenhead, found this restaurant that I have never noticed before. At a glance, the menu looked very typical and was printed on plain paper, the decor was also very DIY like. It was quiet but I wanted to see if I could find a gem, and sure enough it was! I ordered Hainan Chicken & plain Roti, the two things that I always try to test the authenticity of a Malaysian restaurant - and I was very pleasantly surprised. The chicken was tender sitting in a plenty of delicious sauce, temperature was just right, the rice was 'chicken rice' and had an interesting texture and flavour flowing throughout. The roti was rich, slightly sweet, crusty yet chewy at the same time, and only at $3 a piece. This is a great new find, I will return to try some other dishes soon :)

Very small but super authentic. Great food for the price. Go with a few people to share a selection of dishes to experience this little gem at its best.

a small and low-profile place with funny wall papers which had turned me off a few times before when passing by, but it has usually been crowded with diners which tickled me to come in. The food is really good, and I particularly love the fact that it's strong-seasoned/flavoured in a great way which is normally hard to find for Asian food (usually lightly-seasoned to adjust to broader preferences).

Nice little restaurant! It's always busy. Foods are nice and authentic. You can find small, cheap dishes for one person as well as big sharing dishes; that is really good! You can eat the way you like!

Love the food here. Spare ribs, fish and tofu, tom yum soup. Sometimes the only server is too busy during peak hours and wait can take quite a while. We try to come off peak hours.

Amazing food; extremely authentic and excellent value for money. It is my local and I'm glad they're back !!

Always busy, tasty simple food that tastes authentic. Cheap meal options, great for a group but small so book! Lovely friendly lady works there.

Came here because the restaurant I was aiming for was closed but wasn't disappointed with what I got.<br/><br/>Lots of Malaysian classics like roti canai, char kwei tiu and mee goreng. Tried the char kwei tiu and it wasn't bad. Decent portions and fairly tasty. What got me going was the dessert as I'm a sucker for both deep fried ice cream and sago. The ice cream was really good. Nice coating and fried well. The sago wasn't the best I've had since it was lacking the palm sugar flavour but still went down easy.<br/><br/>Cheap tasty food so would come back if I was in the area.

This restaurant has very limited seating and is always full; I finally got to try it out after my third attempt of visiting. Upon entering we realised there were only 26 seats, which half explained why it constantly looked full. For such a small place we found the service considerably slow. There was one other table of 5 who ordered before us but we had to wait a long time for all of their dishes and then ours to come out. We went with the hokkien mee and fried kuey teow noodles. I enjoyed the texture and sauciness of the hokkien noodles although it had an overwhelming peppery taste which I don't consider traditionally 'hokkien' flavouring. This dish had lard ons (a great flavour and texture booster when done right) but they were a bit lost within the sauce - soggy and not crunchy enough to realise the pork skins where there. The kuey teow was okay but not at all spicy for anyone familiar with Malaysian or South East Asian cooking. I was surprised that they didn't ask for the level of spice we wanted. We had to request sambal (a type of chilli paste) on the side to add to our noodles. I was hoping the noodles would be better as I've heard good things about this place. The noodles were okay but they weren't extraordinary. I had a glimpse of what the other tables were ordering and the shared main plates looked much nicer: fried tofu, sambal kangkoong vegetables, curry chicken, pork ribs, etc. I hope to come back here soon to try out these dishes with rice. Those servings look generous but the lack of seating causes a problem again; you will need a big group to try lots of dishes but there simply isn't enough space to dine one group bigger than 10. Not a bad place but there were some small things which affected the overall experience. I look forward to trying other dishes.<br/> <br/><br/>Revisit: Phone ordered four main dishes to takeaway, however the lady at the counter refused to sell me more than 2 portions of rice to accompany the meal when I came to pick up (that much mains is supposed to feed at least 6 usually)! Cannot believe that they would (a) charge so much for rice when its' cost is already part of the dish if dining in, and (b) refuse to sell me enough rice when I was more than happy to pay for it. Takeaway is meant to be convenient; having to cook your own rice once you get home because they didn't cook enough is just silly. <br/><br/>Have to lower my score for this place purely based on poor service and cashier's attitude.

Listed as one of the top 100 Metro cheap eats, we decided head over the shore, despite not being very local for us. This restaurant is reasonably small and the table setting is a bit squished but naturally they want to fit as many people as possible so be prepared for little privacy. We were lucky enough to get the last table - surprisingly busy for a weekday! There is a few larger tables which is good for groups who want to share and try a variety of dishes. We ordered the Stir fry mixed vegetable ($16.80) and Sichuan tofu ($16.80). There's definitely cheaper Malayasian places out there and with bigger portions but the flavours here were authentic and hearty. Would be keen to return again to try more dishes as I feel the ones we ordered weren't the best they had to offer.

This place is probably my favourite restaurant. I really love the Hainanese chicken here. The quantity of the food is super with low prices. However the service of the waitress really annoys me. Never smiles, doesnt say hi, i find this unacceptable as a person working at a restaurant. <br/><br/>Good food<br/>Good price<br/>Bad service

Been here a couple times now. Best Malaysian restaurant in Auckland. Horfun really delicious. Lamb or beef rending taste awesome. All crowded during dinner.

This place was where I had my very first Malaysian tasting experience, and I had a such memorable, scrumptious dinner! Different to the traditional set dishes (where you get Nasi Goreng/ Mee Goreng set dishes), Chef R S has larger sharing plates that you eat with rice (ordered separately) that are very family-friendly! Located convenient on the main street of Birkenhead, this place has a warm and bubbly feeling to it and it is proven to be VERY popular (make sure you book beforehand so you don't end up queuing for at least 30 minutes in the weekend nights)! <br/><br/>Between 5 people, we ordered about 3 main dishes and a bowl of rice each and the food was very satisfying.  We had the sambal fish soup to begin the night, the soup was very well-seasoned, got the right about of spice and hotness to it and the fish was also very fresh. Then we had a true Malaysian specialty, Oat-coated King prawns and it was just mind-blowing! I never imagined that something you have on the breakfast tables would bring out amazing flavours with prawn. The prawns very very well-fried, big, juicy meat wrapped in a crispy skin. The outer skin of the prawns were coated in toasted/fried oats and it was a match made in heaven! Seafoods have a natural sweetness and it was enhanced by the sweet oats, which also left a lovely scent seeped right into the prawn meat (if I don't move on, I can probably write an essay on this dish alone! :D As a tofu fan, I pushed our table to get the Malaysian fried tofu and that was delicious. We were really full by the end of it, so we didn't get to order desserts. I can't resist anything sago related and I'd love to know what exactly what "Babur Chacha" is!

My family and I came here for a quick lunch. When I came here, my first impression was the size of the restaurant - quite small but full of people.<br/><br/>We ordered hokkien noodle, char kway teow, and nyonya curry chicken with roti canai. The hokkien noodle and char kway teow were nice but my favourite was the curry. I was so satisfied with the curry and the roti canai was perfectly fried (crispy but a bit soft in the middle part). The chicken came with the bones, as it was originally like that in Malaysia but it was not a big deal. <br/><br/>For me the portion is enough and they have a good price. The problems: it took quite a while for the order to be done (I think they only had one chef and one waiter) and the place is small so sometimes it does not really have a convenient ambiance.

I ordered take away today and the food was really authentic malaysian, not too spicy but full of flavor and spices. I am not gonna recommend any chicken dish, because all of them still come out with the bones ( not worth it) and somehow the flavor wasn't there. Anyway, you must try their nasi lemak with beef rendang and their noodles! The waitress not so friendly and the service was average.

Food 3.5<br/>Atmosphere 3<br/>Service 3<br/>Value 3<br/><br/>I ordered Fish head noodle soup (recently got addicted to it). It has a very very memorable flavor. Soup taste very very strong, noodles are the rice vermicelli, thinner than mixian and not as smooth texture compare to it.those fish cutlet has been deep fired as well as the mince garlic which enhance the flavor of the whole dish. But I guess its a bit way too strong for me. I didnt feel very well after eating the noodle (its not about the restaurant its about me getting sick whenever eating something strong). But heavy-taste lover would love this dish.

We had the fried kuey teow, ginger beef with rice and nasi lemak for dinner, they were nice. My husband likes the nasi lemak as it has a mild flavour instead of spicy. This place is small and always full of people, thats why after reading reviews, we decided to come early so we could get a table straight away. But that didnt guarantee that the food would come out quick. We waited 20min for the food, which is a tad long for Auckland malaysian restaurants measure. The ladies serving us were cold and all-about-business. When we asked for water, one of the ladies didnt even say a word, instead she pointed at the hot water boiler/dispenser while looking at something else. Dont expect nice service at this restaurant, but what can i say... The food is good.

Chef Rasa Sayang is owned by a Malaysian. The food is quite authentic and prices are reasonable. Unfortunately the restaurant is very small and can accommodate I think most 20 customers. It is usually full for dinner. My favourite here are their fish head noodle and fried kangkung (morning glory).<br/>If you like something spicy and stronger favour, try beef rendang. It is fantastic good!

Without a doubt the best malaysian resatraunt on the north shore. I have been here plenty of times now and always been wishing I can have more!The acutal restraunt space is quite small and can only cater to about 15 people. There is usually only one waitress who does all the things. Its pretty hectic during times where the restraunt has to do both takeaway orders and a full order so its waiting times can be a tad longer. The food itself is very much malaysian with a chinese base. All their rice and noodle dishes are full of spice and 'wok' flavour. Their curries are exceptional with the sambal chicken a definite highlight. Other dishes that were exceptional include their mummy chicken, beef rendang, sambal kang kong. Chef Rasa flavour is full of punch but with enough subtle influences to make it such a great restraunt.The only downside i thought would be its serving size considering most of the rice and noodle dishes only fill 3/4 way of their containers and their main dishes arnt particular big compared to other Chinese eateries.

I would give 4.0 for food coz they really taste yum. We normally get takeaways. <br/>Went there once in a Tue night. Very quiet. Quick for us to get the table. But waiting for ages to order the food. Had to repeat a couple of times to make sure she wrote down the right dishes we wanted, which was ok. Might be it wasn't her day on that particular day. But we had to walk to the back to get cutleries and bowls ourselves as she didn't want to get her bum out of chair and asked us to help ourselves. And all the cutleries were very oily and sticky. Well we had to clean them before we use them. I would never ever go back to dine in that restaurant. Will only get take-aways.

This place looks super simple but the food is amazing! If you get a curry make sure to try a roti with it - they are so crispy and delicious. I prefer takeaway here - the restaurant can get very busy at peak times and it can feel a bit cramped and chaotic as its only small.

Awesome food... So delicious. Recommend this place to anyone. The chicken laksa is so good. So authentic. So if you want really great Malaysian head up here for sure

hm... if you like strong taste yes.. this is the place you should try.<br/>for me to much salt.. and we order 5 meal and taste  almost similar.<br/>anyway nothing special.

Come to Chef Rasa Sayang if you want tasty, authentic Malaysian hawker food and you won't be disappointed. It's always busy, so be prepared to wait for a table outside of the restaurant or simply book a table; from what I've seen they seem to cater for large groups of people who wish to share dishes here. It's packed, not too spacious with bright lighting and plastic covered table inside; service is quick and friendly enough and their menu covers Malaysian dishes quite extensively.<br/><br/>I highly recommend their coffee flavored ribs, it's sticky and sweet and delicate at the same time. Their char kway teow is one of the smokiest and tastiest in Auckland (albeit sometimes being less salty than what I'd prefer). Also worth a try their nasi lemak, fish head noodles soup, prawn mee and chicken rice--all bursting of flavors and very close to their counterparts in Malaysia.<br/><br/>But the delight of my meal is always their sago dessert--it's very delicious and sweet to clean your palette! Palm sugar and rich coconut milk in warm sago balls. So good!

It felt really odd going across the Harbour Bridge for a meal, until I realised it was only 20 minutes from where I live. And for a place like Chef Rasa Sayang, you’ll be glad to have made the trip. This place is run by a husband and wife team from Kelantan. <br/><br/>This very nondescript place serves authentic Malaysian food in a friendly, family environment. Chef Rasa Sayang has only been opened a few short months, but has already amassed a loyal following. Quite a phenomenon as most of this has happened through word of mouth, - they do not yet have a web presence or even a listing in the white pages. <br/><br/>My Mersing friend described the char kuey tiaw here as the best in Auckland, and there’s no easier way to get Malaysians rushing to an eatery than to proclaim a place as having the best of its type. The kuey tiaw was definitely smokey (perhaps just a touch too smokey?), and had a good balance of sprouts and egg to the noodles. There was no lap cheong (Chinese sausage), but overall, it was an excellent plate of kuey tiaw.<br/><br/>I liked the mee goreng, though it wasn’t a favourite of some of my dining companions. I like the sticky sweetness and tangy sauce coating the egg noodles, and could have polished off the plate myself. <br/><br/>The nasi lemak with chicken curry (or your choice of beef or lamb curry) was perfectly spicy. The sambal was flavoursome, without too much heat. I thought the coconut rice was a touch too salty, but this was minor. <br/><br/>The massive plate of sambal kangkong was resplendent in the savoury and spicy hit of belacan and chilli. I wish these places would sell a half portion. As an aside, recently, a family member observed that it is getting very difficult finding kangkong at the Asian grocers, - it’s as if the Malaysian restaurants around the city has commandeered the entire kangkong supply. <br/><br/>The star of the meal was the recommended slow cooked chilli prawns, which came on a sizzling hotplate. The chilli taste was mellowed by the slow cooking, and hits all the right notes of heat, sweetness and sourness. Absolutely delectable. <br/><br/>There are the usual suspects of favourite noodles and rice dishes for a quick meal, or if you prefer, there is also a range of a la carte dishes for a proper shared meal. This place rightfully deserves its loyal patrons, and I look forward to trying the other dishes. <br/><br/>http://easyfoodhacks.blogspot.in/2012/04/chef-rasa-sayang-birkenhead-auckland.html#more