Istana Malaysia Restaurant has been part of Wellington dining since 1994, serving Malaysian cooking from its Allen Street room in Te Aro. Meals are cooked to order with fresh ingredients, while spices imported from Malaysia help give the food its traditional aromatic base. Diners can choose mild, medium or hot seasoning, a useful touch when one table contains different tolerances for chilli. The result is a restaurant that makes a broad Malaysian menu approachable without flattening the distinctive flavours that define it.
Rice and noodle dishes provide an inviting route through the menu. Char kway teow combines thick rice noodles with a choice of seafood or chicken, egg, oyster sauce and soy sauce, bringing wok cooking and savoury depth together in one plate. Nasi goreng takes a different direction, frying rice with chicken or seafood before adding egg and satay sticks. Soups and satay widen the choice for diners who want to begin with smaller portions before moving into the richer main dishes.
The curries and sambal dishes show the kitchen's range of spice, herbs and coconut. Beef rendang marinates tender beef with root herbs and spices, then rounds those flavours with a coconut base. Udang sambal pairs prawns with a thick sauce of garlic, ginger, onion, chilli, tomato and coriander, building heat alongside sweetness and freshness. For groups that would rather sample across the menu than choose isolated mains, the banquet format offers a natural way to turn these different styles into a shared meal.
The dining options are broad enough to accommodate mixed parties without making the experience feel like a compromise. The restaurant describes itself as vegetarian, vegan and halal friendly, giving diners clear starting points when navigating the menu. It is fully licensed and also allows BYO wine, so the drinks arrangement can suit either a bottle chosen at the restaurant or one brought for the table. Lunch on selected weekdays and dinner service make the venue workable for both a midday meal and a more leisurely evening in central Wellington.
Address: 1 Allen Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
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Istana Malaysia Restaurant Menu
Entrée
Satay
Half a dozen traditionally marinated Satay Beef, Chicken or Mixed tender slices, served with peanut sauce and condiments. Hot Option Available. 🥜 G
Rojak
Combination of fried tofu, potato, vegetable fritters, fish-balls, spring roll, boiled egg and cucumber, set with peanut and sweet chilli sauce. Also available in Malaysian Style. 🥜 V
Masala Chicken Salad
Pan-fried Masala spiced chicken fillets served on a seasonal salad with papadom and Istana Malaysia’s own mango dressing. G
Mini cocktail Samosa & Spring Rolls
10 pieces of Vegetarian Samosa & Spring rolls, served with Istana Malaysia’s own mint yogurt and chilli sauce. V
Vegetable Pakoras
Deep fried chickpea and masala coated seasonal vegetables accompanied with Istana Malaysia’s own mint yogurt and chilli sauce. G V
Curry Puff
5 Spiral curry puff shells, filled with potato and vegetable, served with dipping sauce. 🥜 V
Soto Ayam Soup
Pieces of chicken and vegetable in a clear soup specially prepared with a touch of coriander and spices. G
Mamak Lamb Soup
Pieces of lamb and potato cooked in a blend of spices in a coriander based soup. G
Pan-fried Garlic Prawns
6 fresh prawns sautéed with garlic and oyster sauce, and served with salad
Prawn Twister
5 pieces of peeled prawn with fresh herbs in a crispy pastry served with sweet chilli sauce
Mains – Chicken Dishes
Chicken Curry
Boneless tender pieces of chicken and potato cooked in a traditional Malaysian style curry. G 🌶️🌶️
Chicken Sambal
Boneless chicken pieces cooked in a thick gravy with onion, chilli paste, ginger, garlic, lemon grass and fresh coriander. G 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Chicken Korma
Boneless pieces of chicken cooked in an almond and cashew nut paste with coconut and curry sauce. G 🥜
Chicken Murtabak
Expertly fl iced and delicately made dough filled with chicken, potato and egg, served with curry and pickled onion
Honey Butter Chicken
Tender pieces of chicken cooked in butter, honey, tomato and spices with an almond and cashew nut paste. G 🥜
Chicken Varuval
Tender pieces of chicken, potato and capsicum, cooked with a touch of ginger, garlic and ground mix spices, with a splash of coconut cream and fresh coriander. G 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Mains – Beef Dishes
Beef Rendang
A superlative recipe exclusively created for Istana Malaysia patrons of Malaysia’s famous dish. Tender beef marinated in root herbs and spices with a coconut base. G 🌶️🌶️
Stir-fried Beef and Mushroom (In Five Spice Sauce)
Stir-fried lean beef with mushroom and a touch of ginger, garlic, oyster sauce and soy sauce
Chinese Black Pepper Steak
Stir-fried slice beef steak in black pepper and oyster sauce with onion and capsicum
Mains – Lamb Dishes
Lamb Curry
Boneless pieces of lamb and potato cooked in a rich curry sauce. G 🌶️🌶️
Lamb Korma
Boneless pieces of lamb cooked in an almond and cashew nut paste with coconut and curry sauce. G 🥜
Lamb Dhallcha
Boneless tender pieces of lamb, potato, carrots and peas, cooked in a thick dhall curry. G
Lamb Murtabak
Expertly fl icked and delicately made dough filled with lamb, potato and egg, served with curry and pickled onion
Lamb Varuval
Tender pieces of lamb, potato, onion and capsicum cooked with a touch of ginger, and ground mix spices with a splash of coconut cream and fresh coriander. G 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Mains – Vegetarian Dishes
Dhall Curry
Seasonal vegetables cooked in a thick lentil curry. G V
Navaratna Korma (Mixed Vegetables)
Seasonal vegetables cooked in an almond and cashew nut paste with coconut curry sauce. 🥜 G V
Potato and Green Peas Curry
Potato and peas cooked in a thick tomato based coconut curry. G V
Stir-fried Seasonal Vegetables with Tofu
Stir-fried vegetables with bean curd in oyster sauce and soy sauce. V
Mixed Vegetable Curry
Vegetables cooked in a rich curry sauce. G V 🌶️🌶️
Mains – Fish and Shellfish Dishes
Add Extra Seafood +$8.00
Fish Curry
Masala marinated fish with fresh herbs and set in a rich curry gravy with okra. G 🌶️🌶️
Fish Sambal
Masala grilled fish in thick onion, chilli and tomato sambal sauce with fresh coriander. G 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Squid Sambal
Stir-fried squid pieces with tomato, onion and chilli in a thick sambal sauce with fresh coriander. G 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Stir-fried Calamari (Squid)
Calamari cooked in a rich garlic oyster sauce with beans and carrots
Udang Sambal
Fresh prawns cooked in a thick sambal sauce consisting of garlic, ginger, onion, chilli, tomato and fresh coriander. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ G
Stir-fried Garlic Prawns
Fresh prawns cooked with spring onion in a rich garlic oyster sauce
Seafood Murtabak
Fish, squid, shrimps and mussels mixed with onion and egg, stuffed in thinly flicked roti dough, served with fish curry sauce
Mixed Seafood Masak Lemak
Mussels, tiger prawns, fish and calamari, cooked in a creamy coconut sauce with a touch of ginger, garlic, chilli, lemon grass and fresh coriander. 🌶️🌶️ G
Mains – Rice and Noodle Dishes
For Seafood Dishes Add $1.00
Nasi lemak
Coconut rice served with prawn sambal, beef rendang, boiled egg, peanuts and condiments. A classic favourite in Malaysia. 🌶️🌶️ G
Nasi-goreng
A staple rice dish, wok fried with chicken or seafood topped with egg and accompanied with satay sticks. G V
Curry Laksa
Hawkers noodle soup prepared in rich coconut curry gravy, garnished with fish balls, tofu, chicken pieces and boiled egg. 🌶️🌶️ V
Mee-goreng
Mamak style wok fried egg noodles in two types of soya sauce with chicken or seafood, bean sprouts and egg. V
Char Kwayteow
Thick rice noodles cooked with seafood or chicken and egg with oyster and soya sauce. G V
Fried Beehoon
Rice noodle (Vermicelli) cooked with vegetables, seafood or chicken in two types of soya sauce. G V
Set Menu
Groups sharing dishes – must have a minimum of four diners. Price per Person.
Set Menu $42.00
Entrée: Rojak. Mains: Choice of two meat and one vegetarian dish (excluding Prawn and Mixed Seafood Masak Lemak). Served with: Mee Goreng, Roti Chanai & Steamed Rice. Price per Person.
Set Menu $46.00
Entrée: Rojak, Mixed Satay. Mains: Choice of three main dishes (excluding Prawn and Mixed Seafood Masak Lemak). Served with: Mee Goreng, Roti Chanai & Basmati Rice. Price per Person.
Set Menu $50.00
Entrée: Mixed Satay, Mini Murtabak, Rojak & Mee Goreng. Mains: Choice of your own main dishes (excluding Mixed Seafood Masak Lemak). Served with: Roti Chanai & Basmati Rice. Price per Person.
Side Dishes
Istana’s own Roti Chanai
Istana’s own Garlic Roti Chanai
Steamed rice
Coconut rice
Peanut Sauce
🥜
Yoghurt Salad (cucumber, carrot, onion, tomato)
Raita (cucumber)
Mixed Salad Bowl
🥜
Malaysian Acar (mixed pickled vegetables)
Mango Chutney
Mango or Lime Pickle
Pappadom (3 pieces)
Dessert
Sago Pudding Gula Malaca
Sago topped with palm sugar and coconut cream
Banana Roti
Roti bread stuffed with banana, topped with chocolate sauce and served with vanilla ice cream
Trio Tropical Ice Cream
Home made mango, pineapple and lime ice cream, served with Kit Kat chocolate
Banana Split
Split banana with vanilla ice cream, wafer and topped with raspberry and chocolate sauce
Hot Fudge Cake
Served with French Vanilla ice-cream
Apple Pie
Served with French Vanilla ice-cream
Add Extra
More options available. Ask our staff for details
Chicken / Beef / Lamb portions
Eggs
Vegetables
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+ Log your visitHow prices compare
Against typical prices in Wellington
- Chicken korma Typical in Wellington: $22.00 $25.90
- Laksa Typical in Wellington: $22.90 $27.90
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