Cinta Malaysian Restaurant

It was my birthday last week, Tony wanted to have a celebration for me. However, I was a very private person preferred to have a simple dinner to celebrate between us. I suggested to go to Cinta Malaysian Restaurant. We had been there once last year before Christmas with John and Carol. We were quite impressed with the food served there during our last visited. Tony and I enjoyed the Sambal Eggplant and Chicken Rendang so much that we wanted to patronize the restaurant again. My birthday was a good excuse to go again.

Cinta Malaysian Restaurant is just 15min from our place. The restaurant is warm and inviting. The service is good with very accomodating staff. There are 2 dishes in this restaurant that I highly reccomend- Sambal Eggplant (Aubergine/Brinjal) and Chicken Rendang (They do serve Beef Rendang).

Sambal Eggplant

What is Sambal?

Sambal is actually a  spicy Southeast Asian condiment, it is a chilli based sauce. Cinta's Sambal Eggplant was prepared and cooked was different from how it was done in Asia. In Asia, it is cooked with Sambal and dried shrimp. Cinta's eggplant dish was not spicy and this dish did not seem to have dried shrimp, though I was not 100% sure. I am allergic to seafood especially dried shrimp, I did not have any reaction when I had it during both my visits. The cook/owner may have customised the sambal/this dish to accommodate Kiwi's palate, which expalined why the dish is different from Asia. Though it was different with dried shrimp, it was packed with unexpected flavour/taste. It was just delicious and it is a dish that I would strongly reccommend this Sambal Eggplant to Kiwis, who wanted to patronize this restaurant. Do not be intimated by the word "Sambal". Tony is a Kiwi, does not take spicy food simply enjoyed this dish. 

Chicken Rendang

This 2nd dish I would like blog about is their Chicken Rendang. Rendang is a spicy meat dish, Rendang is rich in spices, Rendang uses coconut milk, and mixture of ground spices paste, that include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaves, lemon grass, garlic, shallot, chillies and other spices. Meats are slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices in perfect heat until almost all the liquid is gone, allowing the meat to absorb the spicy condiments. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender. Rendang is considered a "dry" curry, as the sauce is simmered down to a minimum. If you like your curry packed with flavours, the you will love Rendang.

Cinta's Chicken Rendang has abundance of flavours from the mixed spices. A word of Caution: If you can't take spicy food and would love to try out this dish in Cinta, REMEMBER to tell the waitress the level of spiciness you love like the dish to be done. Else it might turn out to be too spicy and ruin your dining experience. Our 1st visit with John and Carol, the Chicken Rendang was not that spicy as compared with this visit. Maybe during then there were 3 Kiwis in our group, they knew and expect that most Kiwis can't take spicy food. On this visit, just 2 of us. And with me being an Asian, love spicy food. The Chicken Rendang served that night was spiciness enough to satisfy me but not Tony. It was way too spicy for him to enjoy! Kuckily, we did order other dish Honey Pork Ribs. Overall review of the food at Cinta was good. Good quality of Malaysian food at reasonable. We will definitely patronize and recommend to others.

This Restaurant is located at: 
 Cinta Malaysian Restaurant
454 Dominion Road
Mt Eden, Auckland, NZ
Phone:09 623 2808
Website: http://www.cintamalaysianrestaurant.co.nz/