By Sherman Chan,
Special to The Post

We began with the Lotus Root Soup with chicken feet and peanuts, a classic Chinese homemade soup. It was lightly silky with the natural sweetness from the chicken feet. Subtle aromatics. I love lotus root. The Smoked Salmon Yu Sheng Salad consisted of julienned carrots, cucumber, daikon, scallions, red pepper, cilantro, marinated jellyfish, pickled ginger, wonton crisps, and smoked salmon.
My favourite dish was the Fish Head Hot Pot featuring local salmon. Normally, one would find cod or basa in this. The salmon was flaky and moist with almost a cod-like texture. Loved the tang in the sauce which brightened up the sauce. We found the usual fried tofu, napa cabbage, and roasted pork.
The Malaysian dish, the Wok-Fried Green Beans and Eggplant with tomatoes and shrimp, had crunchy, yet cooked-all-the-way-through, green beans, and tender eggplant. The version here tends to be sweeter with less spice than other Malay restaurants. There was proper caramelization. The Braised Lamb Shank was one of the best-executed lamb shanks I've had. This was tender. Flavours were impactful without being salty.
The Seafood Golden Fried Rice was full of tender baby scallops and large crunchy shrimp. The rice was chewy and fragrant. There was enough seasoning so that the rice could stand on its own without the need for any condiments.

To finish, the Malaysian Nian Goa with sweet yam and taro were deep fried with a thin crispy exterior giving way to a sticky and moderately sweet nian goa. The yam and taro were a bit firm, but the flavours really worked.

I would say this is pretty unique and ultimately tasty as well.

Kaya Malay Bistro

1063 West Broadway Avenue, Vancouver, BC 

The Good:

• Something a bit different

• Well executed proteins

• No absence of flavour

The Bad:

• Well, you'll need at least 4 people

• Taro and yam could've been softer

Sherman Chan is the #1 ranked food blogger on the Vancouver portal of Urbanspoon.com. Read more of his reviews at www.shermansfoodadventures.com.