Kancil

WOW (or WAU! haha), I am shocked by how good Kancil, and I'm Malaysian American. I went today for Lunar New Year dinner today and was thinking "no way they'll have yu sheng" but low and behold they had a special for it that day. This place skillfully refines traditional Malaysian flavors, imo making it more accessible to a wider audience.The Sarawak Laksa was great, with the perfect amount of heat for spice lovers like me. However, a friendly warning about the dish's spiciness would probably be appreciated for others. I enjoyed the Moon Light Hor Fun too, although it's below the laksa for me. I would've appreciated more wok-hei flavor, but that may be personal preference as my partner loved it as is. The side chili soy sauce made the dish more whole for me as it adds another layer of complexity (and heat!). For dessert, the Apam Balik was pretty good, albeit missing the traditional creamed corn I'm accustomed to, but I can't complain.I'm so grateful that there's a solid Malaysian option in the UWS. Can't wait to return and try everything else!

My meal was just fine, and kind of unmemorable. I had high hopes since this spot replaced WAU, which was one of my favorite restaurants, and is run by the same restaurant group. Unfortunately, I felt it didn't quite deliver.A friend and I shared the thunder tea salad and crispy tofu. The tofu was fine, with a creamy but very simple satay-type sauce and crispy texture, with tart pickled turnips on the side as a palate cleanser. The salad was somewhat disappointing, with the dressing a bit too light.The abacus beads were also just fine, almost like a taro gnocchi with some mushrooms and truffle oil dropped over top at the table. The portion felt a bit small, closer to the appetizer section in size. Overall, it was a savory dish with little else going on.My friend had the sung har yee mee, which he really didn't like (I didn't try this one). He mentioned the prawns were quite difficult to eat, and the flavors were mostly a miss. He also wasn't expecting the noodles to be in a broth, the menu doesn't make that clear.Finally, we shared the apam balik for dessert. This was tasty, with a nutty and chocolatey filling inside a fluffy pancake.The meal worked out to $60 per person, which is a bit overpriced, but somewhat comparable to the other higher end options in the neighborhood. I would have liked to see more vegetarian options and dishes with stronger flavors to justify the price tag.

I was pretty excited to try this spot after seeing it on Instagram, but I thought the food was kind of meh.Tea leaf salad - Really bitter, which was maybe the fault of the tea leaves themselves, but I felt that the dressing didn't do much to cut the bitternessPulut panggang - Looked cool, and I thought it had interesting texture and solid flavor, but not mind blowing + really smallRoti canai - This was def not what I was expecting when we ordered this (it's not your traditional flaky roti). I thought it was an interesting aesthetic they were going for, but the problem was that because of its shape with all the holes, there wasn't much bread... and the sauce to bread ratio was very highLaksa - I thought this was the best dish we had here. It was flavorful and didn't feel too heavy

Side note: This restaurant just opened a month or two ago with the first 400+ reviews for this spot being for Wau, their previous place with a different chef. I'm not sure why they did this (possibly to keep the high average) but whatever. Also outside of scarce toppings, the best dish by a mile here is the Sarawak Laksa. Solid are the Abacus Beads, ,Roti Jala, Pea Shoots, and Ayam Percik.Anyway, I went with a group pretty recently to this spot. The service was friendly and the food was alright with a couple notable good dishes, a couple dishes that were flavorful but worth the price, and a couple dishes I disliked. The price point is a bit high here even for an Upper West Side spot and in general if you're looking for a pricier Malaysian spot, I would recommend Rasa instead with also some cheap places just having better food also.We started with two appetizers. The better of the two definitely was the Roti Jala for $14 with lacy turmeric crepes and a curried vegetables dip. The crepes were as expected for the dish but the highlight was definitely the dip which was a slightly sour and somewhat spicy dip which had some eggplant and string beans I believe inside.The Pulut Panggang for $9 with grilled sticky rice (colored with butterfly pea flower) stuffed with dried shrimp in banana leaves was alright. I preferred the heavier shrimp flavor from other spots such as Kopitiam and this was tiny (but expected.)The best of the main dishes by a mile was the aforementioned Sarawak Laksa for $26 with shrimp, chicken, omelet, rice vermicelli, and spiced coconut broth. They could have given more shrimp but there was surprisingly also some type of fish cake in there (I didn't try as usually the cheaper stuff is made with cuttlefish.) There was otherwise a bit of chicken and shredded egg as well as a lot of noodles. The broth base which was easily my favorite part was this style entirely having much less coconut and was more on the shrimpy side. It was also quite spicy being above most of the table's heat tolerance but definitely not me and I found it delicious. I hope they don't tone it down as this was the one dish even with the faults which was better than Rasa among other spots.The popular Abacus Beads (or seeds) for $23 with taro root and pumpkin dumplings, mushroom duxelles, and kulim oil was different but tasty. The menu lists the unique oil as having a shiitake, truffle and garlic flavor and this was apparent with good umami. The taro dumplings (said abacus beads) had a very chewy fun texture. I would recommend this for sharing as it would probably be a bit too much as a solo dish. We also got Pea Shoots for $16 simply wok fried with vegetarian oyster sauce which was very tasty. The pea shoots were well flavored with a good texture and I would recommend them.The Ayam Percik for $35 with BBQ half Green Circle chicken, wilted Swiss Chard, and a turmeric lemongrass sauce was good. The chicken was cooked well and was pretty large for it only being half. The sauce had some good flavor from the lemongrass and the color was nice from the turmeric.The Climbing Tree Farm Pork Shank for $34 with lettuce and tortillas, Cinchalok chili, culantro chimichurri, and braising broth with rice ziti was fine. The presentation wasn't what I expected with there basically being a plain large pork shank that was mostly deboned though I got a tiny piece. I don't remember any "rice ziti" and the sauces were pretty tasty with the former being light and refreshing and the broth having a pleasant sour flavor.The Moon Light Hor Fun for $28 with shrimp, pork belly, cabbage, rice pappardelle, egg, and dark soy wasn't good mostly because of the noodles. There was entirely a lack of wok hei which was unfortunate as this was the primary ingredient as again, there weren't many shrimp. This reminded me in a bad way of their other spot Laut (I guess avoid any noodles at either place.)The Chai Boey or braised mustard greens in tamarind, chili, pork bone for $11 was OK. It consisted of maybe eight large pieces of mustard grains with the pieces further up having less and less of the excellent sauce. It had a lightly spicy kick and some sourness from the tamarind. Finally, there was the Nasi Ulam or steamed rice with a thousand herbs for $6 which was a small portion but well flavored rice.For the price point, I would need better quality to recommend this spot. I liked some dishes and the service was friendly but I would go back again for the laksa only which doesn't really bode well. Upper 2.

We had a very enjoyable dinner this week at Kancil. The fritters appetizer was flavorful (Cucur Udang). We loved the Sarawak Laksa (shrimp and chicken noodle soup). While it was spicier than what I'd normally eat, it was so delicious that I didn't mind. I also really liked the wok fried pea shoots in oyster sauce. It was a bright and fresh side dish. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the braised mustard greens side dish. It had a very strong flavor that was not appealing to me.

Had a great experience here & was able to walk in for a weekend lunch. Really enjoyed the Roti Canai, Satay with amazing peanut sauce, and the Nasi Padang which had a nice kick. The food was so good and service was attentive as well. Highly recommend this spot for Malaysian food!

Another great meal at Wau. We started with the tropical salad and added shrimp. It wasn't worth adding the shrimp since all they do is give you 3 pieces of shrimp on the side. We loved the dressing! The mangos weren't very ripe. I ordered the Singapore Laksa. I wanted to try this after seeing my friend order it the last time we were here. It had a nice spice level. A good assortment of seafood. Overall I enjoyed!I sat in the outdoor patio this time. It's nicely heated and decorated so you don't really feel like you're outside. The service was still okay. When we sat down a waiter came over with a pitcher of water as if he was going to refill our glasses but we hadn't been given our glasses yet. They did a better job refilling them during dinner. The (non-alcoholic) drinks we ordered didn't come out until after our appetizer.

We've been so looking forward to coming to Wau but sadly it was not up to par to what we were hoping for. When we walked in, we have our little puppy with us, so we had to sit outside (or under a shack). We had to sit at a high table as the hostess refused to seat us at the table due to a "reservation" however the entire time we were there, the table sat empty ! I asked our server what she'd recommend, and took her recommendations. We ordered the chicken skewers, which were excellent and had a delicious peanut sauce. Followed by the beef rendang, which hubby loved and had a delightful spicy kick to it. And I ordered the black pepper prawns. Which left nothing to be desired. How can this dish be considered a Michelin Guide recommend?! It was terrible. It had a stiff coating over the prawns and the dark sauce was just so blah. I had to eat this with the sauce from the beef rendang. Otherwise I would not be able to eat it. Overall was very much looking forward to this but sadly left absolutely nothing to be desired. Unlikely we would return.

We visited for the Wau (floating) Noodles :)I saw a picture of the floating noodles online and instantly booked a reservation. While yes, I visited for the photo op, I stayed for the food.We ordered calamari and roti to start. Then we ordered the Wau Noodles with seafood and ended the meal with the mango sticky rice. There were great flavors all around. The highlight was the floating Wau noodle, which was fun to play with.Service was attentive and friendly. The restaurant is well decorated, too.

4 words.You.Have.To.Go.Love the ambiance. Love the music. Love the service. AND THE FOOD.The experience started with a box of spices. Pick one, and they'll customize a cocktail based on your preferences. Fun. Thoughtful.We ordered a bunch of things, and we loved all of them. Here are my favorites:Appetizer: Pulut Paggang--Grilled sticky rice with dried shrimp, wrapped in banana leaves. I can't stop thinking about the texture of the rice--it was spot on, which is harder to get right than you'd think. The dried shrimp were the perfect amount, adding flavor without taking over the rice's aroma.Entree: LaLa Bee Hoon (Vermicelli soup with clams)--LaLa means clams in Malaysia, and Bee Hoon means vermicelli. Generous amount of clams! The broth is very Malaysian. So flavorful! Dessert: Apang Balik--Malaysian pancake with peanut filing. Beautifully browned and not too sweet. Off-menu goodness: Try your luck and ask if they have the "fried quail." Think KFC, but elevated. Juicy, tender, and crispy! And it's topped with a delicious Malaysian relish. Sooo good!Restaurants like Kancil make NYC a magical place. Thank you for crafting these dishes with so much love and flavor!Can't wait to come back and try more menu items.