Malaysian Express

Bought a now Groupon for this restaurant. Drove there only to find it closed for remodeling. Bad experience.

DON’T DO IT !! I made the mistake of trying this place out for a quick lunch bite. Had the runs a few hours later.

The food was awful, sitting out for who knows how long. I’m also trying to eat healthier so this place is just bad… worse than panda express. Things looked dried out and had no flavor.
NEVER EAT HERE!

I’ll go back for the fried rice at least.
Otherwise their execution is way off. The place bland and boring. The food is displayed in the least appetizing manner, small portions on the steam trays, looking sad, lonely and dry.
Despite that, the food was palatable, and didn’t come out the other end burning. If desperate times call for desperate measures, I’ll hit up the express again.
Otherwise avoid. This is mostly a cafeteria for the high schoolers.
and +1 for taking plastic.

It’s kind of an upscale new fast food place featuring Malay dishes. We went late on a weeknight and there were just small amounts of each dish in the steam table trays. Not a good look. It looked dried out and left over.
I had the nasi goreng fried rice. Fortunately, they cooked me a fresh order instead of the stuff left in the steam table tray. Certainly different than your usual Chinese fried rice, and I thought it was tasty. The chicken rendang had a very strong flavor, and should have been ordered with steamed rice to make it more palatable. I also tried the egg curry, which is exactly like it sounds — two very hard boiled eggs floating in curry. Again, I should have had it with white rice. I did try the chicken curry over steamed rice and it was good. The mixed vegetable entrée looked great, but I didn’t want to try something that didn’t seem authentic Malay. Finally, both the naan bread and the roti were very tasty and worth the trouble of going to this restaurant alone.
What I discovered here was that it’s best to order one entrée with steamed rice. If you order too many entrees, the intense flavors will overwhelm you. Besides, it will be cheaper that way. $ 4.99 for a nasi bowl. Throw in some naan and you’re good to go. Accordingly, I can’t recommend the $ 5.99 entrée plates because it’s just too much flavor to deal with in one sitting.
Difficult street parking. Park in the theater parking structure or at the high school.
Service at the steam table was fine. Restaurant was clean and new.

Ugh…
Yes, I know its fast food and I get what I pay for but this place is looking UP at Panda Express in terms of quality. Food is bland, super oily, lukewarm and leaves a strange taste in my mouth. I really hope that people don’t go into this place and think that the «food» served is real Malaysian food which tastes good; unlike this place. Stay away!

New, very clean, and attractive inside. Really friendly service. Good value. My favorite dishes were the chow fun and the curry dish with eggplant. My kids loved the chicken satay (and the free cookie that came with their meal). Next time we will try the roti/​wraps and samosas. Turns out I like Malaysian food. We will definitely be back.

The only dishes that interested me were the Honey Chicken & Nasi Goreng.
Food is Alright.
Service is Great.
I hope that they add more choices to their menu in the near future.

malaysian express opens in or near where quicklys was. fast food setup. associates offering free sampling.
offerings: many combos, appetizers, entrees (2.99, 8.99)
eats:
–veggie spring roll (1.25)
spring roll not crisp, doughy, seems cheap spring roll wrapper used. fillings very sparse, just some peas, carrots, cabbage.
–noticed menu later, should be 2 pieces, got only one.
–picture shows dipping sauce. sauce doesn’t come with it. got one anyways.
–samosa (1.25)
2 pieces, good value, mostly potatoes and peas inside
shaped like an apple turnover
–chicken curry (2.99sm/4 oz?))
much potato, little chicken, some spiciness.
footnotes:
–food cheaply made, hey, it’s fast food. fast food =fast profits
–palm oil used. palm oil is composed mostly of saturated fat which promotes heart disease.
–palm oil use leads to irreversible harm to the environment (deforestation).
–friendly, forgetful, unfocused service.
–could be 3 stars, but it’s not good value, so it’s 2 stars.

Disappointment happens when expectations are not met.
C’mon people, if you wanted authentic Malay food, you knew better than to go to a fast food joint. I walked in and the server behind the counter offered to give me a sample of a few entrees. I tasted them and picked the 2 that I liked. The dishes I had were fine. It’s not fine dining but my expectations were met. I knew I was stepping into a fast food restaurant and adjusted my pallet accordingly.
They’re a nice addition to Alameda.

STAY AWAY!!! Food on steam tables yet cold? Rice undercooked and cold with frozen peas and carrots? The food tasted like it had been sitting there all day and smelled bad.

I was really happy to see a Malaysian place opening up here in town, a little scared by the ‘express’ moniker, a lot scared by the steam tray setup… but still willing to try.
We’ve been twice, both times the situation was the same… sad.
This restaurant looks like it is in the last days before closing, NOT like a new restaurant that is trying to establish itself. The steam trays are barely lined at the bottom with scant traces of food. The food looks and tastes old. I really wanted to like the dishes, but, well, not a chance.
The rendang was OK, I’ll give them that. The roti was not bad — better than BSS — but the dipping sauce was junk, goopy and salty. Why not just use a little chicken curry like everyone else? The food was over-​oiled, in some cases with pools forming at the side of the plate partition.
The biggest violator would have to be the ‘Chow Fun’ where all the noodles were stuck together and it had dried to a clumpy mess. When you think Malaysia you think about fresh Char kway teow out of the wok, not this sad patty.
I think a good sit-​down Malaysian place with an owner that understands quality would make it in Alameda. Maybe this place can step up their game, but it looks like a Malaysian Taco Bell without the corporate oversight.
I’ll hope for the best and try it again in a month or so, meanwhile, the 2 stars were generous.

Having lived and worked in Malaysia for 2 years I was excited to finally see a Malaysian restaurant come to Alameda. I was quickly disappointed. The curry and rendang was OK. But the rice and bread was horrible. The white rice was hard and dry and since it was 11:30 AM I suspect if was left from the previous day. The nasi goreng was very oily and the oil seemed to have a rancid taste which is odd since it was a grand opening. The roti was doughy and chewy; seemed to be frozen and cooked on a grill that was not hot enough. I guess I will have to keep trekking to the south bay for my Malaysian fix. I hope the east bay doesn’t get the impression that this is what Malaysian food is like. Malaysian food is delicious. This place doesn’t have any.