Malai Kitchen

We have always been big fans of Asian food, but things changed for the better when Samantha found a starter kit of Tom Yum Soup at Kroger one day. While Garrett really liked it, Samantha found her new favorite soup...and thus began a journey to find Tom Yum soup "in the wild". 

Several months ago, we noticed that there was a new Asian restaurant opening in Southlake. Looking at the menu, Garrett noticed that Malai kitchen had Tom Yum soup on the menu. That was all it took to get Samantha there!

Malai Kitchen prepares almost everything in-house, including several in-house brewed beers. 

We have eaten at Malai several times and here are a few of our favorite things to try.

For an appetizer, Malai brings every table some sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf with a side of eggplant dip that is great. We are not huge eggplant people, but this dip is outstanding. And who doesn't like using their hands to eat rice. To go along with this, we always get an order of Fried Imperial Rolls. They are simply delectable.  

We usually get water at most restaurants, but Malai is a place where we both get a beverage. Samantha almost always gets a Thai Tea (a strong black tea sweetened with condensed milk). Garrett always gets the Peach Ginger green tea. We strongly recommend both of these to accompany your food. 

For the main course, here are a few of our favorites. 

• Tom Yum Gung soup - A lemongrass soup with tiger shrimp that Samantha gets all the time. She usually chooses the "mild" level because the hot soup tends to intensify the heat. 
• Shrimp Pad Thai - This is Garrett's favorite. He prefers to get it with medium heat. He even likes the tofu that they make in-house. The ingredients in the dish are outstanding.
• Drunken Noodles - This is another go-to for Garrett. He generally switches between the Pad Thai and this. The drunken noodles are fantastic and is great for anyone who is attempting to try Thai and Vietnamese food for the first time. 

It's a must to save room for dessert at Malai! We had a server comment on how good the Coconut Creme Pie was on our first visit. The name didn't immediately intrigue us, but after we realized this wasn't your ordinary pie, we ordered a slice. They actually make the crust out of a coconut macaroon and serve it with the coconut gelato. It's like taking a vacation to the beach with every bite you take! 

If you find yourself there for lunch, try the Banh Mi. It is a classic Vietnamese sandwich on a French baguette, and they make a great one. Try it with the chicken or the pulled pork. We don't think you will be disappointed!

A note on a future update: they have a great brunch menu, but we just haven't made it there to try it yet. Hopefully we will head there soon and we will write a review of that! 

Malai Kitchen