Kaya Malaysian Restaurant in Manchester

Amazing food! Definitely coming again

Authentic, yes. Coffee was good to start with. The food are decent, we had chicken rice and mee Siam, both taste relatively close to native land. Nasi lemak with Rempah Fried Chicken a must to try. Visited 3 times during my short stay of 4 days in Manchester. You know they are good with repeated customers.

Amazing Malaysian food. Reminds me of home and Acap provides amazing service! Would definitely come again!

Great food and the service was immaculate. The food tasted really good and very authentic. The restaurant had a really cool aesthetic to it and felt very welcoming. Overall the experience here was great :)

Helloo We ate at this restaurant this afternoon. The food is excellent! This is the first time I taste Malaysian and I am very surprised. We loved it! We were two adults and 2 babies. The quantity is very correct and the prices very affordable. The staff is very friendly. A few steps down to the restaurant if you have a stroller but nothing terrible. The only negative point is that the decoration is not exceptional but the quality of the food is worth the setting.

As a person not used to spicy, we asked the worker if my friend and I were able to eat the curry they offered that was a little spicy. We indeed were able to eat it with no problem and found it delicious! It was yummy and I 100% recommend this place if you pass by Chinatown and desire something delicious&halal to eat that is also generous in its portion! Worth!

Incredible, great service, very laid back place. Get the nasi lemak and the roti canai. Insane.

Great malaysian good, will absolutely hit the spot!

It’s a real hidden gem. Reminded me of being in Malaysia. Really lovely staff. Fresh and well made.

I ate it with high expectations, and the result: it tasted even better than expected. Hainanese chicken rice, beef rendang rice, Mala milk tea. I didn’t expect that Hainanese chicken is served on the spleen. I think they are quite authentic. Will come again! When eating out in the UK, the prices are very reasonable. A restaurant worth recommending.

Was really disappointed with the food from this place, ordered the nasi lemak rendang and teh tarik. Read mixed reviews about the food being authentic but from recently visiting Malaysia and loving the cuisine this did not seem authentic at all in my opinion. The teh tarik was served luke-warm and did not seem like it was strained, tasted more like a slightly sweetened glass of breakfast tea. The glass was very small considering it was over £4. The beef rendang was very dry and bland, could only taste ginger and was missing the rich thick sauce. The rice seemed to be plain boiled rice and not nasi lemak. The price was far too high for basic food and canteen style restaurant. On the plus side, the service was quick and friendly but wouldn’t recommend.

The food is sooooo delicious!! The chicken and beef are super tender and juicy, veggies are fresh and the sauces very flavourful. I would definitely recommend this place for anyone looking for some amazing Malaysian and Singaporean food. 💜

Authentic tasty Malaysian food. Ordered most things on the menu, we enjoyed everything. Friendly service. Good job.

Served by Ross and Juan. Wow. Absolutely amazing food. The food tastes as good as the authentic street food from Malaysia. Even better than Jalan Alor! New favourite place !!! Thank you and see you soon

just really great food, our server Ross was great and he helped us with a drinks suggestion. will definitely be coming back!

Some of the best noodles we’ve had in our lives! Ross was very nice too. Will come back just for the Char Kuey Teow

Lovely and flavoursome food , reasonably priced . Prompt service . We will definitely come again

Mamak feel, great crew(Ros and Acap were hilarious and great front facing staff), the nasi lemak ayam berempah and roti canai really hit the spot and made me shed a tear of happiness. Would definitely make this place a regular and bring all my friends.

I wouldn't normally have bothered with a review for this place as it's a fairly simple Malay style café you'd pop in for a quick bite rather than planning an evening out. The reason I thought I would is because when I was trying to get an idea of whether it was authentic Malaysian food, I'd seen a couple of negative reviews about the service, almost to the point I didn't bother going. On the contrary, we found that the service was excellent. Our server was friendly, attentive and made great suggestions about the combination of dishes we should try. The food was excellent and the portion size was decent for the price. I'd recommend this place and would definitely go back.

Really good food, well portioned and very delicious. Thank you to Ross for serving us!

Located at the heart of Manchester Chinatown, it is quite convenient to have a go. I’ve had Nasi Lemak with fried chicken, Kopi (Malaysian coffee with condensed milk) and kaya toast, all of which were pretty good and had authentic Malaysian taste. Will definitely come back again for other items in the menu.

Found on a discount app, glad I did, is very basic place but look past that, the people who run it are lovely and friendly, the food is so nice, was tasty and authentic, so nice also got more as takeaway for next day

Service is fine. Place looks clean. But food is whyyyy is this even served at all. Bandung is just way too sweet. The prata is handmade and passable. The curry is whyyy does it even exist. Curry puffs is just bad. Everything is watered down for white people. Super not authentic. If that's what you want this is the place for you. Take it from a Singaporean. Literally the neighboring country of the place's cusine that they claim to sell.

Manchester’s hidden gem! The only Malaysian restaurant in town. Authentic taste, brilliant service!

nasi lemak is best, feels like an authentic homemade from my Malaysia homeland. love it. curry is normal, but still good in the UK

Please don’t go there, The food is pathetic and very expensive, They are charging nearly 5 pound for 1 piece of roti canai and it’s not the authentic Malaysian one. If the food tasted good wouldn’t even cared about how much it cost, But it was total disappointment.

We were sat down immediately and food was served quick. The laksa and beef rendang tasted authentic. Service was great and friendly. The Milo drink was just 10/10. Would definitely come back.

Popped in on a Saturday afternoon and ordered laksa and roti canai. The laksa was watery and not rich, the roti took 10 minutes to arrive and I was half way done with my meal. The roti was dry and more like a filo pastry than a delicious accompaniment to my meal. I heard this place was good but I left disappointed

Authentic Malay cuisine well prepared

Edit: Revisited the place after a few months and unfortunately was disappointment on this occasion. I wouldn't recommend getting anything other than curry laska. Laksa delicious as before with very addictive broth + had an impression serving was bigger this time. I assumed all items on the menu would be as authentic and was very wrong.. £8 for two rotis, pricey but been craving a Malay roti for years. Roti wasn't crispy, nor flaky. It didn't remind me of Malay roti at all. I tasted like a thick tasteless crepe. All three sauces were bad: weird sambal with no spiciness to it, "chicken curry" sauce which tasted like a dissolved broth stock with way too much salt - not a hint of chicken and below the average dhal. Previous review: I've stopped for a quick lunch and had my chicken laksa curry served and finished within 10mins. It's not a huge serving, but absolutely delicious and I'm excited to visit again and see these guys grow. There's finally a Malaysian place in city centre.❤️

Kaya offers a cozy ambiance, friendly staff, and exceptional halal Malaysian favorite cuisines. Standout dishes include roti canai, char kuey teow, nasi lemak, and beef rendang. The meat and chicken are from halal suppliers. A must-visit for authentic Malaysian food enthusiasts.

Just like home. Very satisfying fix for homesick Malaysians. Had the Kaya toast and tea which are really good. Have also packed a takeaway mee goreng

The food was amazing. I had takeout. The food was done really quick. Fresh and delicious.

Great Curry Laksa, very swift service during midweek lunch.

Great place for authentic Malay food. We had rendang, chicken curry and roti cennai with satay skewers.

Kaya Resto is a delightful culinary gem that promises a memorable dining experience. The foods and drinks are consistently tasty. A special mention goes to Wan, whose exceptional service and warm hospitality make every visit enjoyable.

All round a great experience and introduction to Malaysian food. I was really impressed by the variety on the menu - I would highly recommend the satay chicken as well as the roti canai (which is probably one of the best value dishes I’ve had in Manchester.) The staff are very friendly and accommodating and made some good recommendations for the dishes we ordered and what would go well together. I will definitely be coming back and trying some of their new dishes too

Couldn't reccomend the roti enough, Great mains as well

Absolutely worst malaysian restaurant out there.

Was very excited to try this restaurant as have been trying to get decent Malaysian food in Manchester. Unfortunately, besides the mee goreng, the rest of the food did not live up to expectations.

The food and drinks taste pretty yum, however the portions were a bit too small than we expected. We ordered a chicken rice and the chicken maybe is slightly undercooked which the meat was kinda red. I quite like the atmosphere as the space between each set of tables are perfectly not too crowded. Overall it’s a nice restaurant.

Great Malaysian restaurant, feels like back home! Great staff as well!

Food was nice, service was great. Ross was very helpful and kind!

Host was lovely! And food was amazing

Amazing food Get the Maggi goreng or any of the roti. Lengest Malaysia food 👌🏼

God sent Malaysian food! And very reasonably priced! I would say this is better than most of the Malaysian food in London! The Nasi Lemak with beef rendang was absolutely amazing. Literally tastes like Malaysia. The Nasi Goreng Kampung was so good that it reminds me of Malaysia. Half boiled egg with toast to dip cost only £3. In London, I pretty sure some of the Malaysian restaurants would charge at least £5 or £6 for it. I really wish they have a branch in London, this would be one of the most competitive priced, delicious authentic Malaysian food! If you are a Malaysian craving for Malaysian food, just come here without hesitation. It is superb.

Food not nice, and the price expensive £14.80, £16 something for really standard rice dishes and noodle. Doesn’t taste nice. Afterward felt sick and vomited. Overprice for basic street like food and especially for the basic environment decoration. Theres also service charge on top. Seems unorganised with food running out like no rice on menu etc when we went to order few more…. Just very strange awkward restaurant. The only thing tasted nice is the satay chicken.

We were served by a lovely gentleman named Ross. The service was great. The food was great. Felt like we were transported to Malaysia. 10/10

If you are looking for local Malaysian food, this is legit. The nasi lemak curry chicken and fried chicken was so delicious and reminded us of home (Singapore). Chicken was tender and you could certainly taste the spices and char. We also had the hot teh tarik and cold Milo dinosaur. Truly reminded us of home. Authentic. Must try!

bosh, amazing, great, fantastic, what else do you want me to say? every staff was bosh, and the one that i’m mentioning now, Sadio Wane, I said it last time I was on it he is the best kitchen staff in the werld, I don’t know why people why he is laughing for, Chris what are you laughing for? I’m being sherioushh I’m bring sherioushh

Food transported me back to malaysia. it had all the bursting flavors you’d expect. Nasi Lemak ABG - 10/10 ( THE CHICKEN WAS PERFECTION) Laksa - 8/10 ( tastes more like curry mee but didn’t mind it ) Roti canal - 7.5/10 ( Roti was nice and crispy but the curry and dhal could be better but the sambal was good) Kaya toast - 10/10 Kopi ice - 9/10 Teh Tarik - 9.5/10 Overall service - 10/10 ( guys were friendly and accommodating ) Overall experience - 9/10 will definitely come back whenever i’m ever in manchester.

Ordered Malaysian fried rice and it was absolutely disgusting. The rice was sour. You can tell all the ingredients are not FRESH!

Foods are really delicious. Will definitely come back.

It was good to have Malaysian food with friends after class “as if we were at Mamak to lepak & makan”. Decent food and portion for the value (abit high for students). Loved the Malaysian energy and vibe by the Abang2. Overall had good time & good food with friends. Just to comment on the Teh Tarik could have served “hot, hot”.

The food was so delicious and portions were very generous considering the reasonable price. The staff were also very lovely and will be coming back again!

Loved the service -thank you Abang Ross! had a great time

We should definitely not underestimate this place based on its humble and simple decor, because the food is authentic and the "mamak"-like metal chairs/tables make you feel right at home! Despite some nuances of dim lights and dirty toilets, the food remains the ultimate focus, and friendliness of the staff reflects the true Malaysian hospitality. Looking forward to brighter dining experiences, more cultural displays, and continuous good food and hospitality!

Really delicious food - I especially liked the Kaya toast with pandan and the beef rendang. We will be back to try more. Server was really friendly as well.

Waited for 40 minutes for cold food

Plz serve the food to be warm. My first time having malay tea (expensive and Cold)!

Great food, nice setup and most importantly awesome service people. Will definitely visit again. They can even make teh c kosong. Awesome 👌.

Food was nice at the beginning but now it’s just not as good as before. The fried rice was stale and not fresh. Even the roti canai tasted old.

Love the food here! And Milo dinosaur too!

Firstly let me start by saying I am half Chinese Malaysian half white British. I have travelled to Malaysia more than 35 times in my life to see family and take my family. So I know Malaysian food and love Malaysian food. I tried this restaurant as I regular visit Manchester chinatown and thought I'd get my "Malaysia fix" now that Kaya is there. Sadly I was left enormously disappointed. Reasons being... The restaurant in general was very cold and to dark. We was given two menus for 4 people. I had to get the attention of a waitor to take our order. When ordering they didn't have any curry puffs left. I ordered a Char Kway teow WITH extra prawns (Char Kway teow came with No prawns) also it was extremely nothing like Char Kway teow and poor in general. I ordered a CURRY Laksa with only chicken and No prawns ( I got a ASSAM Laksa WITH prawns. I ordered chicken satay and the chicken seemed to be deep fried. Ordered roti canai and the roti was not scretched enough so cooked to thick. Ordered lime just that was absolutely nothing like lime juice in Malaysia. Then to top it of after a poor meal/food/service, the establishment had the cheek to automatically put on a service charge on my bill. All in all a very bad one star out of five. Strongly would not recommend it if you are wanting Malaysian food. This place does not represent malaysian cuisine at all.

My first time in a Malaysian restaurant and it was a great experience. The coffee and Kaya toast were very good, we’ll be back again as all the food looked delicious!

Great authentic curry Laksa noodle soup and tasty Kaya toast 🍜🇲🇾

Amazing authentic food, nice ambience and our waiter Wan was really accommodating!

Lovely hidden gem! ☺️ The food reminded me of my travels to Kuala Lumpur. It was delicious! The portions are great and the dishes very affordable. Everything is made from scratch, certainly a must try 👍🏻

Amazing food, really friendly and nice staff, and very nice atmosphere. Highly recommend

The food was so delicious and well-seasoned. It’s the kind of food you continue to eat after you’re full, IT’s THAT GOOD! The staff was so friendly and we didn’t have to wail long for our meals. It’s such a nice place to have a meal with friends and family. It’s also very affordable. DEFINITELY RECOMMEND 🙂

Johan was such a lovely host! Great knowledge and let me know some good recommendations. I got the beef rendang and the roti. I’ll definitely be back!

Finally ate at Kaya, I had the char kuey trow, sirap bandung and my boyfriend had nasi lemak agb, we also shared some satay. The nasi lemak was really REALLY delicious, the rice was perfectly flavoured and the chicken was full of flavour too. In my opinion, the sambal can be a bit better, the spicy-ness was there but I feel like something was lacking in the flavour. The char keuy trow was also good but can be improved, I think maybe a bit more soy sauce will do the trick! But I really liked it and the prawns were huge and tasty. The sirap bandung made me want an Air Batu Campur (which I hope they may introduce during summer). Will definitely come back to try more stuff, especially the curry puff, laksa and a nasi lemak for myself this time! We were served by Ros, he was very friendly and attentive and we bonded over life in Malaysia. 😊

Happy service, delish food and good environment; feels like you are in Malaysia yourself!

Love their chicken rice everything was on point! The staff were friendly too. Will come back soon :)

The queues are long but once you are sat down the food comes quick! I visited Kaya on an evening when they were sorely understaffed, and so was pleasantly surprised that the food came as quick as it did. The food was absolutely Malaysian, with the ayam goreng berempah (AGB) evoking “Village Park” nasi lemak in KL - iykyk. There are tiny design elements here that evoke the Malaysian kopitiam experience, from the metal furniture, to the hanging batik on the ceiling, to the use of acronyms such as the AGB above on their menus (we Malaysians love our acronyms as much as our food… almost) Overall I think one or two more hands on deck in terms of staffing and a thought as to how cold the metal furniture must be in winter (I visited in spring) and I would find this a faultless dining avenue for a nice, relaxed Saturday night out. 9/10 but as Google doesn’t allow me that I’m rounding up a 4.5, this is probably partial as I am Malaysian and so the Proustian madeleine for me is evoked here, but if my bias is an indicator of authenticity then so be it.

5 stars! Host Ross was lovely, amazing customer service! Food was delicious will definitely come back !

A hidden gem! Lovely food, good size portions and everything was cooked fresh, and the host Ross was lovely! Highly recommend the chicken satay and the roti :)

The food is good, I'm used to bigger cups of teh or kopi, but ok. Presentation wise, the food would be better served in smaller plates and placed better on the plate, but the flavour is there. The restaurant was busy when I visited, but I feel there should be more service staff to support during peak times since the waiting staff did not ask us for our order until we prompted them, but by then we had lost 2 positions in the order queue. The roti telur came out 45 minutes after our order, and a while after all the other dishes came out. I suspect it was missed or messed up on the order. The restaurant is downstairs with no enclosure. I was sitting with my back towards the entrance, so the cold wind and rain made me chilly and my food went cold very quickly. I think there was a missing pane of glass protecting guests from the cold, but I think a storm shield would be better to comfort guests. All in all, not the worst experience, but definitely tangible room for improvement.

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal here. Authentic Malaysian street food. Roti Canai tasted just like it did in KL. Friendly and welcoming staff. Will definitely return next time we visit Manchester.

I dont normally write bad reviews but here goes Food didnt taste anything like malaysian food I ordered the nasi lemak Chicken curry had a strange taste to it Place is quite small and stuffy which isnt a huge problem The only thing i liked was the milo

Very good food. Definitely recommend. Ross, the waiter, was lovely and very attentive too. 10/10 :)

Everything was delicious, 2 guys serving us were really friendly and happy to explain dishes as we’d never had anything like the kaya toast! Cafe style dining , nothing fancy but that’s fine with me, it’s all about the food!!

Best kaya butter toast. Tasted like the one we had in malaysia itself. Very friendly staff.

A bit overhyped, nothing extraordinary.

Honestly. This was the first thing I’ve eaten since CBRB closed, that gave me that “life is alright again” pure glowy feeling to the soul. Shout out to Ross for recommending the fried chicken too, legend. If I died on my way out, I’d be at peace.

Nice waiters good food and drinks nice restaurant in general

Food was not flavourful, laksa was overloaded with coconut - dishes have been adjusted for the British palate unfortunately.

This was a great find, the food was delicious and very reasonably priced. We had the nasi lemak and roti canai, reminded me of my travels in Malaysia. Ross served us and he was really friendly and the service great. We will be returning!

Amazing place, never disappoints! I don’t know why it’s only got a 4.1 it deserves more. A Chinatown gem😍

Great food, portions sizes smaller than the other restaurants around. Unfortunately the atmosphere and design very poor feels like you are sitting on the stone as they have metal chairs. Not sure what did they want to do with metal tables and chairs definitely gives the vibe of Malaysian street market. However, that’s not something I want when I come yo restaurant and get charged additional 10% service charge. The toilet was in poor state too.

Loved their food. Laksa is my favourite as it has a thick curry taste. It’s a must. The dine in option seems to give better portions than the takeaway but it’s just how it felt personally. The fried chicken tastes nice too, but the outer shell is a little crispy. Price: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Freshness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cleanliness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kaya toast is a must try - the whole family loved! A great menu with generous portions and a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Make sure to book so you don’t miss out as the busyness is deceiving!

Went in today for lunch. Service was slow and blend. Food was cold. Very disappointed!!!

Was very underwhelming experience. A lot of the things we wanted to order such as the laksa chicken rice or chat kway trow were not available. Also, the waiter kept us waiting a long time whilst he was talking to his friends and did not seem to care for us. Also when we wanted to order more we were told the kitchen was closed. Overall a very disappointing experience. Ended up having to order the mee goreng which was underseasoned too

Had the Chicken Satay and Roti Canai for starters. The sauce with the Satay was really good. Satays themselves were crunchy but not dry. For mains we had the Curry Laksa and one of the other noodle dishes (which I have forgotten the name of)I enjoyed both although my wife found the Curry Laksa quite strong in flavour. Staff were friendly and the service was reasonably quick. Decor is quite plain but clean.

2nd time we have been and was amazing. We will be returning again and again. Proper traditional Malaysian food made and served with love ❤️

Great and authentic foods, terrible management. Wouldn't visit again due to poor management. First time we came to this place was when China town having event, so it was very busy in China town. We entered the restaurant, waiting to sit in and the staff saw us waiting but didn't say anything. About 10 mins later, one staff came to us said "we are closed". We were shocked as the opening time outside was 12pm - 9pm, and it was just 4pm. They should have told us when they obvious see us were waiting if they gonna close earlier. We passed by the place again couple days ago, as I really want to try laksa noodles, we decided to eat here. And again, we entered the place, still busy, we were waiting, and saw some tables were empty just need clean up, but the staff for some reasons just not clean the table tho they saw there were ppl waiting to sit in. Even one table of the guests saw us waiting, they quickly get ready and stand up so that the staff can clean the table, but unfortunately, the staff were still walking around, really taking their time. (It's not like they were busy to bring foods to tables, they just standing next to the kitchen area, looking around.) There were few tables were empty just need to clean up, but it took them forever.. My partner already want to leave again at this point as we could see the staff not so proactive. 20 mins later, we finally got to sit in. We had - Chicken laksa noodles £10 (£9 for original) The noodles were egg noodles, the laksa broth was very creamy and thick, very tasty and authentic. Light coconut flavor not too overpower the soup, very nice. Chicken was delicious as well, not dried chicken. - Roti with onion & egg (£4.50) We never tried this dish before, it came with 3 kind of dippings. I think one of the dippings was sambal (Indonesia chilli sauce). This dish was more like trying something new, a standard but not a must try dish. - Kaya toast original (£4) It came with Kaya jam & butter. The combination of the coconut flavor with butter was so good! I'd have it for breakfast everyday. - Iced cham (£3.50) It's tea + coffee + condensed milk. It's a bit similar to the Hong Kong Yuenyeung tea, just the HK style has stronger tea flavor. It's a good choice of drink with Kaya toast. - Iced sirap (£3) It's my partner's drink, I had a sip. I think it's rose syrup, taste a bit too sweet and special to me. Prefer my iced cham. Overall, good foods, very authentic and delicious. But unfortunately I don't want to visit again. The management need to be improved, if you don't have enough staff, you need to find a way to manage the tables and pay attention to what's going on in your restaurant. I could see the lady(I assume is the owner, very nice and kind)was rushing in and out the kitchen, busy with arranging the tables, and she seemed panicking. This is what happen if you don't have enough staff and lack of management. You need to pay more attention to the whole restaurant. Pay attention to each tables and people who are queuing at entrance. You can't just tell people "we are closed" when you can't handle it anymore, and it wasn't even the closing time🤦‍♀️ We saw a group of people waiting and then been told the place closed at 4:30 (literally same situation we had the first time we visited). A while later, another group of people came, waiting, then were able to sit in cuz there were tables available after the previous group left. You need to state your opening time clearly outside if your restaurant has break time (4:30 to ? Time). 12pm to 9pm means you are opening during this hours, and people can walk in to have their meal. It's my first time, especially 2 time in a row, experienced such terrible restaurant management. It's such a shame when you have great foods but really bad management. Not visit again tho I like your laksa noodles, I don't feel like the male staff were that proactive to arrange people sit in. Please have your male staff work as same attitude as the lady with short hair. It seemed like she's the only one care about the restaurant..

Everything was great except there was no chicken and only potatoes in our chicken gravy.

Had a wonderful meal here. Great value for money and incredible attentive service from Ross. Will definitely be back! Thank you.

Food and service by ross was exceptional. Would definitely come back here. And they serve halal aswell so Alhamdulillah