Rasa, Sand Lake Rd Area

I tried this homage to Malaysian food stalls on Sunday night. It is aside the cigar place and the Middle Eastern (Cedar's?) place in the strip mall at the Dr Phillips and Sand Lake intersection. It was some kind of wine bar the last time I was here (years ago). It seemed like the same decor (in general). That was odd because it seemed like the time between when they promised to open (hung their shingle) and did open was long. I think they opened in January. I last checked at Xmas. It is what it purports to be. A peek into the world of Asian street food. Now, it is 3x as expensive, but, you get air conditioning, napkins and service minus the noise and congestion. Plus we are talking about $4 meals. They have a fair representation of dishes you might find in Malaysia or Singapore. The apps are a little "Americanized" and there may be a tad more Thai and Indian influence than you'd normally see. The owner is Indian, so, that may explain that part. Indians are everywhere, so, maybe you get more Indian dishes depending on the region or neighborhood in Malaysia that the food stall is in. I don't want anyone complaining that I'm misrepresenting the facts. I've only been to Singapore and Kuala Lampur, but, I found that the Indian food was more prevalent in the Indian neighborhoods than at the food stalls. I also don't recall much Thai. A lot more Chinese. Anyway. Back to Rasa.

I had the black pepper fish (cod) for 12. The fish was much fresher (no smell) than you usually get at an Asian place. They also weren't stingy with it. I must had had over ten marshmallow sized pieces of it. There was also some superfluous vegetation in their too. The sauce was brown and could be spiced to your tolerance level. They also served a side of properly steamed white rice on the side. You didn't need an app. This was filling. They have around six fried rice dishes and six house specials and eight noodle dishes and four soups and maybe one more category. The wine menu is a little blase. The sake and beer menu is better. The place seats about sixty. It was a mostly professional pan-Asian crowd (a living representation of the menu) that ate late. It started getting full after 8pm. Like I said, it seemed like they kept the brown brick and iron work of the old place (the bar seemed the same) and added some Asian "flare". Not that it is bad. You wouldn't notice if you have never been there before. Service was fast and polite and competent. You probably aren't going to get a chance to experience much of this cuisine (I recall one food truck and Mamak in Vietnam town) anywhere else in town. So, you could be less fortunate than being forced to try it here. The prices are fair. The atmosphere is pleasing. The service is good. And you don't have to wash your hands in a water fountain (or wipe your spice inflamed sinuses with your hand) when you are done. Give it a try.