Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian Delight
- Food served: Mon–Thu noon–3pm, 5–11pm; Fri–Sun noon–11pm.
- Number of wines sold by the glass: 3
- Also offers: Children's portions, Children's high chairs
- Music on stereo: Nothing
- Capacity: 32
- Largest group: 32
- Open since: 2007
- Average price:
£10 (lunch)
£10 (evening meal) - House wine: £10.50 per bottle
- BYOB: £2.50 wine; £1.50 beer corkage
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The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).
This review is taken from the current (2011) edition.
Every city has its secrets, those in-the-know places that are easy to miss in the search for better and brighter eating experiences. While it’s hardly off the beaten track, Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian Delight’s unassuming shop front and barely decorated canteen-style space means it’s easy to walk on by. Don’t. Here is seriously good, wallet-friendly soul food, which you really should not miss. Heart-sick, hungover or just plain skint, an enormous bowl of laksa, brimming with noodles, meat, fish and a spicy, coconut sauce is guaranteed to make the sun rise in your tummy. Home-made roti bread served with a spicy sauce is flaky and comforting, while a beef rendang – a slow-cooked, dry, not-quite curry – is tender, spicy and complex. The menu is long and unfamiliar but staff take great pleasure in helping newbies make their choice. It isn’t fancy, you’ll be in and out in an hour and it’s a bit rough round the edges, but that actually doesn’t matter. Go. Eat. Get change from a tenner.
- High point: Laksa, laksa, laksa!
- Low point: Rickety staircase to the loo
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Reviews of Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian Delight (28 Clerk Street, Edinburgh)
- 16. scottie, edinburgh – 23 July 2011, 11:10pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Starter was nice but the main course arrived cold on a cold plate. I have visited and eaten in most asian countries including JB in malaysia and thought the malaysian spicy prawns were very bland. Also service was very slow - unlikely to go back.
- 15. CockneyBoy, Livingston – 23 July 2011, 5:34pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Was here again last night... the Achar veg stated was lovely... the Rendang, Nasi Lemak and Satay still wonderful... I'll be back!
- 14. erialc, Edinburgh – 22 June 2011, 8:39pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Very tasty food for around £7 a dish, and good service - we turned up not long before 11pm and were made very welcome even though we stayed for about an hour. Enormous soup portions and ample choice for vegetarians. Also no muzak which gains an extra point!
- 13. Mark Lim, Edinburgh – 26 March 2011, 7:40pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
This place used to be good and reasonably priced in the early days, but now prices have gone up quite a lot. I was told that the owner has decided to increase profit margin by cutting down quality and increasing prices. You can see that in reality because the quality of ingredients have indeed been quite appalling, e.g., the texture of the meat is rough and usually sparing in amount. The soup-based dishes usually have a lot of MSGs now, so I might as well make myself an instant noodle for 5% the price.
Overall, they are now offering poor quality, low value food. Disappointing.
- 12. Smasian, Edinburgh – 28 August 2010, 5:57pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
When I first went over a year ago, the prices were reasonable. Prices have been going up and food standards possibly dropping. It depends on what dishes you order. Their noodle soups are still reasonably priced and probably quite good value. Satay- good. Spicy chicken wings- good. However many of the dishes uses very poor quality meat and can be quite sparing in amount. I wish there was a good Malaysian restaurant in Edinburgh. There is another but very very limited menu but high quality.
I will visit Kampong Ah Lee once in a while but if they could improve their quality, I would come more often.
- 11. EDR – 24 August 2010, 2:51pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Went here for Sunday lunch and wasn't impressed. Had the charsiu & duck set rice dish. The pork was fatty and the duck had been sliced without being boned first and there was as much bone as there was duck. I spent half the time picking shards of bone off my plate - not easy with chop sticks and not what I expected given the rave reviews above. While you got a decent portion it was mostly rice and overall the dish was too dry.
To be fair my dining companion had a beef dish and really enjoyed it but I won't be back.
And if you use the toilet - take your own paper towels - there were none there and the hand dryer didn't work.
- 10. mangotime, Edinburgh – 14 July 2010, 1:26pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Its good in here, but dont expect 'malay treats' in abundance as the list high point says. Malay food is not what is generally served here - its predominantly Chinese Malaysian dishes.
The Roti Canai is very good, as is the Nasi Lemak. The quality does tend to vary a bit from visit to visit, but the prices are very reasonable so no complaints. The staff are also nice and the ambience great, its really bustling!
Some dishes are so-so - the sambal chicken was not what I expected and not how it had been in Malaysia - but I guess people have different ways of doing it. Looking forward to more visits though, its pretty unique in Edinburgh!
- 9. CockneyBoy, Livingston – 31 May 2010, 9:04am
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Was here last night. Lovely relaxed atmosphere. Great tasting Malaysian food. Very pretty and polite waitress ( actually two ).
My 15 year old daughter and her chinese-malaysian mother both enjoyed the evening also. We'll certainly be back for more.
- 8. Christina, Edinburgh – 6 May 2010, 12:57pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Amazing! I'm Malaysian and the food my friend and I ordered tastes almost like back home. I expected the cooking to be altered for local sensibilities but they exceeded my expectations.
The sweet and spicy chicken wings tasted so good on the tongue, not too sweet or salty, yet had the right crunch that melted in your mouth with the sauces.
The nasi lemak was excellent, although I thought the chicken sambal was mild although my Japanese flatmate who ordered it felt the curry sauce was spicy, even if she did enjoy it. Different tastes, I suppose!
And my rice with salted fish and pork slices was perfect - fragrant with that salted fish smell I miss so much, and plenty of yummy vegetables with meat that was tender and not too fatty at all.
And one drink of their Ice White Coffee transported me back home - it was not as strong as I'd like but it tastes sooo good. I ordered another Teh Tarik drink which tastes a bit strange and there was no froth, but not bad.
I don't know if we were just lucky to order the good tasting dishes or everything tastes this great. I want to try the rest of the menu now. And the place has such a friendly atmosphere!
- 7. Maureen, Edinburgh – 19 April 2010, 2:08pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
The roti canai and the pearl milk tea were delicious. However, the nasi goreng was a great disappointment. The rice was in sticky clumps and it was underspiced and seasoned. And since when did nasi goreng have tomatoes in it?
- 6. japman, aberdeen – 15 March 2010, 8:26pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
its not the ritz but go here if you want great asian cooking in a no faff atmosphere. Delicious home style Malasian dishes, very reasonably priced and served by the charming lee family. We'll be back the next time we are in Edinburgh.
- 5. iwannabelieve, edinburgh – 26 September 2009, 5:16pmKampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport
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the food is really delicious especially the fried kway tiow...yummy!!!! however the rude and arrogant waitress there make me think twice to visit that restaurant ever again. She ordered a wrong menu for me and when i complained she had risen her voice to me...Oh My...!!!!!!What a nice treatment to a customer who had been to this restaurant more than 5 times ( i was served by a friendly waiter before) and for the first time i was served by a waitress....mmmm, not a good thing happenned!!! The food makes me think to visit this restaurant again, the waitress prevents me, though!!
- 4. cp123, Edinburgh – 20 September 2009, 4:47pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
A busy dinner serving delicious fresh Malaysia food.
My plus point was the 2 friendly, smiling young lads who were serving....nothing was too much trouble.
My minus point was the menu. Although very inviting a lot of the translations to english were not descriptive enough. Despite help from the boys I still couldn't help like feeling i was missing something!
yum none the less!
- 3. Adit, Edinburgh – 5 May 2009, 7:03pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Good, tasty, authentic food. The food is mostly Chinese-Malaysian with a few purely Malaysian dishes. The laksa is good but unfortunately lacks the vital ingredient of laksa leaves. Nasi lemak is a popular dish in Malaysia and is a good choice if you want to try a few dishes on one plate. (Its a serving of rice cooked in coconut milk, surrounded by a serving of chicken curry, a handful of dried anchovies and peanuts, a spoonful of pickled veg and half a boiled egg.) This is not a place to go for a formal meal, it is more of a cafe than a restaurant, but for the quality of the food which is very reasonably priced, it is definitely worth a visit.
- 2. NeilT, Edinburgh – 16 April 2009, 4:45pm
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
Its such a relief to find an Asian diner that sells top notch food for such reasonable prices. Needless to say this kind of joint can be found all over London where people go to eat on their way home, or pop in while shopping rather than go out for an arduous dining experience. When I popped in Asians were in abundance, always a good sign! I had a couple of dishes including Malaysian style ribs in a really tasty sauce and randeng noodles. My neighbours were sharing 3 dishes and enjoying their lunch too. I will be going back because the food was tasty, reasonably authentic and very keenly priced. Don't care about table cloths, uniformed waiters or decor - just the food, and it was good!
- 1. YUM – 5 September 2008, 11:29am
Kampong Ah Lee Malaysian DelightReport -
THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!!!
try the black bean beef noodle dish and the Rendang Beef!!!!!
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