For the past two years, The Fiance has lamented about the closure of his favourite Malaysian restaurant and the loss of their famous “coconut shrimp”. After some serious time spent Googling, he found the dish on Gourmet Malaysia’s menu. While the shrimp was close to our expectations, a number of other dishes were also hits.

Atmosphere: Occupying the corner of a strip mall in Scarborough, Gourmet Malaysia was easy to find and their parking was available. Our group arrived just as they opened for dinner and tables filled up quickly. The interior decor was a bit dated and a stage was set up in one corner for karaoke nights. TVs around the dining room played karaoke children songs, that was kind of bizarre, and the volume fluctuated throughout the meal. A table filled with Malaysian snacks for sale was also set up near the front of the restaurant. Clearly, the restaurant is prepared for many uses.

Service: Generally the service was standard with one hiccup. We had asked for three glasses of ice water (some of the dishes had heat) and this request was lost in translation. A poor server struggled to bring over three glasses of boiling water in plastic cups to our confused table, only for us to ask again for ice water. I can understand his frustration, but he very audibly “harrumphed’ and walked away without a word. My rating wasn’t affected.

Food: In total, we ordered 6 dishes. 1 was disappointing, 2 were fine and 3 were outstanding.
Fine: Boxing Chicken and Vegetables with Shrimp Paste
The plate of boxing chicken were drumsticks, butchered for a clean bone, deep fried and served with a sweet and sour chili sauce. Although the menu states 6pcs for $5.99, our plate had 8 or 9. It’s a nice starting dish, but not special. The plate of Tong Choy was a generous portion, tender and spicy. This was a solid dish and a good vegetable option.

Disappointing: Singapore Laksa
When the bowl arrived, it looked so promising. Rich, opaque broth with a deep colour and heaped on toppings. Sadly, the visual appeal didn’t translate to taste. While there were plenty of toppings (shrimp, tofu puffs, bamboo) and the thin noodles were cooked al dente, there was little flavour or heat.

Outstanding: Crispy Butter Prawns, Penang Char Kwei Teow and Roti with Beef Curry
There’s two things to love about the Crispy Butter Prawns. First was the prawns themselves, fried with the heads on, tender, full of flavour and so so crispy. Second is the fried egg string topping. This topping makes the dish and I’d happily pay for it by the bucket. It was crispy, not oily, savoury and just delicious. Just order this dish (unless you’re allergic to shrimp, but even then, how allergic are you?). The Penang Char Kwei Teow, fried flat noodles, had great wok air and was well seasoned. Again, I couldn’t get enough. Lastly, a small bowl of spicy Beef Curry with the fluffiest roti I’ve ever had. The roti was flaky, had so many layers and a perfect match for the curry. This was the spiciest dish of the night and it was very good. I would’ve enjoyed every dish at this level of spice.

Parked along the beach in Kahului, the Geste Shrimp food truck is a treasure. The Fiance raved about their shrimp from his previous visit to Maui and made sure I included them in the itinerary. Geste operates every Tuesday to Saturday starting at 10:30am. There is room on the curb to park and eat but it’s very limited space and you’re eating in or on your car. We grabbed two shrimp plates for $13/each and drove down to the harbour (right next to where the truck is parked), where a few picnic tables were set up.

For our shrimp plates, we chose Hawaiian Scampi and Spicy Pineapple flavours. Each plate comes with a dozen shrimp, crab salad, and a scoop of white rice. Both flavours were amazing and I had a hard time picking a favourite. All of the shrimp are deveined and cooked with their shell on, retaining all of their juiciness. You do need to peel the shrimp as the shell isn’t quite crispy enough to chew through (saucy and messy). The Spicy Pineapple was tangy, sweet and very spicy. I enjoyed the sauce and used the steamed rice to soak up and eat more of it than I should have. The Hawaiian Scampi had lots of Asian flavours like ginger and green onion. The shrimp were mild compared to the spice level of the Spicy Pineapple, but they still had a good kick. I found this flavour was the saltier one. The creamy crab salad was a nice palate cleanser in between shrimp.

Geste Shrimp is a definite must try in Maui. Be sure to bring wet wipes, it’s a messy meal, and drink lots of water, it’s also pretty high in salt.