Oriental Kingdom Cafe is tucked away in Cuba Street’s Leftbank (116 Cuba St, Wellington), making it slightly off the beaten track – the friend we were dining with asked me, “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” We are, though, and there is plenty of room, though there are quite a few other punters, too – clearly it’s a popular spot, since we’re having a late-ish mid-week dinner.

We’re greeted by the woman at the counter, who comes over and provides menus and tells us to order at the counter when we’re ready. It takes us a while to choose as there are lots of options – and there’s no rendang on the menu, which means I actually have to think about what to order!

I stay with beef and choose a black pepper hot plate. Mr Cake opts for the mee goreng. We also couldn’t resist trying the burger on the starter menu, as well as the satay (below) and the compulsory roti. The food and drink is all great value – mine is one of the more expensive mains, at $13.50, but most are $9 or $10 for a very generous serving.

My dinner appeared very shortly after we ordered – perhaps five minutes – and the rest followed very soon after, which was great as we were pretty ravenous. This is clearly a good spot to come if you want a quick bite!

The burger was just that – a regular-sized burger with a nice piece of satay chicken breast and a bit of salad inside. I reckon this would be a great light lunch (though Mr Cake would probably need two!), and at $5 it’s also great value. The satay and roti were fine - good but not exceptional.

I thought Mr Cake’s mee goreng was delicious. He wouldn’t have minded a bit more flavour, but then he is a bit of a spice fiend.

By far the star of the night was my black pepper dish – it might not look like much, but it came out sizzling hot, and the sauce was utterly delicious, peppery and dark and rich. Both our mains were really enough to feed two – huge portions.

We had a lovely dinner, and it was undeniably great value – perfect for a quick meal between work and whatever else you need to cram into your busy life, or just for an easy evening out without breaking the bank.

Rosa, a.k.a. Mrs Cake, lives in Wellington. She loves food, especially making pretty cakes and desserts, and she's also a huge fan of dining out. Her experiences in her own kitchen and her take on restaurants and cafes around Wellington (and anywhere else she goes) is captured in her blog, Mrs Cake.

Kayu Manis is right in Wellington’s prime Malaysian food zone, on Cuba Street, and always seems to be buzzing. We’d tried to visit for a Friday night dinner previously but they were full, so this time round we booked to make sure we’d get in.

The restaurant is a bit more formal than many of the Malaysian eateries in Wellington, and felt more leisurely because of that. It’s a bit pricier as well but only by a couple of dollars per dish, so is a great option if you want to linger over your meal.

We ordered three starters: beef satay, karipap (curry puffs) and cucur udang (prawn fritters). The satay was delicious, the sauce with a good depth of flavour and gentle warmth, and the beef was pretty tender. There was more sauce than we needed and when the meat was gone we ate it by the spoonful, which probably tells you all you need to know.

The curry puffs were nice, if a little bland – the pastry was good and crispy, though. The sweet chilli sauce was excellent (the same was served with the prawn fritters) but I wasn’t too sure about it with the savoury curry filling. The prawn fritters were great, though, with fresh juicy prawns hidden inside, and they went wonderfully with the sweet chilli – a much better match.

Mr Cake stole my default choice and went with the beef rendang for his main, forcing me to choose something different. In the end (there were a LOT of choices!) I settled on ayam percik – chicken in a spicy barbeque sauce. It was great, with a mild chilli kick – the flavour was what you’d expect from a (good) barbeque sauce, and the chicken was beautifully moist and tender. My biggest gripe was that the chicken came on the bone – not really an issue, just something I find awkward.

The flavour of the rendang was really nice, like the satay the heat was gentle and full-bodied, and the beef was tender, though the marinade was quite dry – most other rendang I’ve had has been saucier, which I prefer.
The roti was the best I’ve had for ages – fluffy and fresh. I understand that Kayu Manis make their own, and that if you play your cards right and get a table downstairs you can watch them being made.

Overall it was a good meal – the satay, ayam percik and roti get special mentions, and the atmosphere made for an enjoyable evening.

Rosa, a.k.a. Mrs Cake, lives in Wellington. She loves food, especially making pretty cakes and desserts, and she's also a huge fan of dining out. Her experiences in her own kitchen and her take on restaurants and cafes around Wellington (and anywhere else she goes) is captured in her blog, Mrs Cake.

Rempah is an unassuming wee shop located in Miramar. It’s more a takeaway than restaurant, but there are three or four tables and it would be a great spot for a quick curry before a movie across the road at the recently refurbished Roxy.

Takeaways were ordered on the day for us – we chose a couple of nibbles and a meal each, and perhaps ten minutes later we were on our way with a delicious smelling bag of food. I commented to Mr Cake that the only bad thing about takeaways is the tormenting trip home, with the aroma of dinner wafting through the car.

Mr Cake ordered the chicken Nasi Goreng, while I had my favourite (I’m so boring!) beef rendang, and we also got some beef satay and lamb curry puffs.

The curry puffs were absolutely delicious – still good and hot even after our pilgrimage home – with a flavoursome and gently spiced lamb filling. The satay sauce was scrumptious, though the meat was a tad tough - perhaps this is just not a dish that travels well.

My rendang was just as I like it – warming, rich with coconutty goodness, and with generous and tender chunks of beef. The curry meals come with included rice and roti, and the roti was great: Rempah make theirs on site, which does tend to indicate (correctly in this case) a softer and tastier roti.

Mr Cake’s Nasi Goreng was great, mild but with a nicely level of spice and flavour, and the chicken was well cooked and moist. It was also a very generous serving - he probably didn’t even make it halfway through it at dinner. That’s great, of course, as you get to experience the great flavours all over again for lunch or dinner the next day (perhaps even breakfast if you can stomach it!).

The whole meal was great value as well – we only spent $32 all up, for a very generous feed. If we lived a little closer to Miramar Rempah would definitely become a regular destination for us – luckily, though, they sell their sauces at Moore Wilson Fresh so I’ll still be able to get my rendang fix!

Rosa, a.k.a. Mrs Cake, lives in Wellington. She loves food, especially making pretty cakes and desserts, and she's also a huge fan of dining out. Her experiences in her own kitchen and her take on restaurants and cafes around Wellington (and anywhere else she goes) is captured in her blog, Mrs Cake.

The Beehive Cafe in Molesworth Arcade, Wellington, is a surprising name for a Malaysian eatery (or so I think) - and indeed, at first look it appears more like a run-of-the-mill sandwich shop, with lots of cafe tables and some display cabinets. Our visit was in the evening – very handy to my work, so an easy on-the-way-home pit stop – and there weren’t many other punters, but it is apparently very popular with the lunch crowd.

We ordered a couple of very yummy-sounding appetisers and a main each, and the servers were very friendly and helpful. After a very reasonable wait (only about 15 minutes) all our dishes arrived.

The mini murtabak were little parcels of deliciousness, basically like roti samosas, with a nicely spiced lamb filling. There was also a wonderful satay dipping sauce, and though not overly peanutty it had a wonderful warm flavour that went wonderfully with the wee parcels.

Our other starter was a dish which combined chicken with lovely fresh salad veggies – and dull as that sounds was really tasty. It was topped with a zingy sweet chilli sauce – I’m not a huge sweet chilli fan but this was very flavoursome, not too sugary. Though this was an appetiser it was a generous portion and would make a perfect light meal option – it would be a great alternative to curry.

My rendang was very good, with a very complex spicy flavour and just a little bit of heat. The beef in it was well cooked and not tough (as I’ve often found in that kind of dish) – and the sauce was so good that I kept nibbling just a little more well after my belly was full.

Mr Cake ordered the fish sambal, which was a firey red colour, and as ordered was nicely hot, though not mouth-burningly so. It was a little sweet and had chunks of fish through it, though the fish wasn’t great – the dish was good but paled next to the rendang.

Mr Cake adores roti so we couldn’t not try Beehive Cafe’s version, and it was fantastic – fresh and chewy and not too oily.

All in all we thought it was fantastic – it’s only open till 8pm so a good option for lunch or an early dinner, and being up by Parliament means it’s not in the prime evening eating zone – but we’ll definitely be back for more of that rendang!

Rosa, a.k.a. Mrs Cake, lives in Wellington. She loves food, especially making pretty cakes and desserts, and she's also a huge fan of dining out. Her experiences in her own kitchen and her take on restaurants and cafes around Wellington (and anywhere else she goes) is captured in her blog, Mrs Cake.