Sentosa

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Good restaurants don’t die. They just move to this Flushing side street, where the relocated Sentosa, a top-notch Malaysian kitchen late of Manhattan’s Chinatown, has materialized two doors down from the transplanted Spicy & Tasty. Like its Szechuan neighbor, Sentosa has spruced up its décor but preserved its brash, taste bud-grabbing flavors characteristic of its native cuisine. Malaysian is the ultimate fusion food, with a penchant for the pungent shrimp paste called belacan and a tendency to bury treasures, like shrimp and squid stuffed inside tofu. Roti canai, the fried pancake you dip into chicken curry, and beef rendang simmered in a chili powdered coconut milk curry are our go-to litmus test dishes for Malaysian restaurants; Sentosa’s are smashing. So is its ice kanang ABC, a Southeast Asian kitchen sink of a shaved-ice concoction, full of red beans, corn kernels, palm seeds, and jelly. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Roti canai, $3.50; beef rendang, $12; ice kanang ABC, $4

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld's Full Review (8/8/05)

Featured In

• Cheap Eats Guide 2006 (8/7/06)