Polly Campbell reports:
Paul Liew, an accomplished chef, and his brother Alvin are opening Straits of Malacca, a Malaysian restaurant in Mason that will encompass fine dining, a bar with Malaysian food in snack format, and a cafe with Malaysian street food. It will open in the former Mason municipal building (once One restaurant) on Tuesday.
Malaysia, and particularly the state of Malacca, has been a crossroads for hundreds of years. Its original Malay cuisine has been affected by Chinese, Indian, and European traders.
The menu of Straits of Malacca shows how varied and diverse the cuisine is, with Thai and Chinese and Indian-sounding dishes, all in a fine-dining style. Chef Paul Liew worked in Malaysia at Passion Road, a favorite, according to Alvin Liew, of the Malaysian royal family. Since coming to the United States, he’s worked at Jean-Robert’s Table.
There will be lots of ways to enjoy Straits of Malacca, including the very casual lunch cafe set-up, where you order at the counter, the bar, where you can ease into the menu but order small bites of food, and the full-on, white-tablecloth dining room.