BP Street Cafe $
1845 E Broadway Road #127
Tempe, AZ 85282
480-268-7331
bpstreetcafe.com
Jewish people love Chinese food. We know it, the Chinese know it, there are jokes about it and it is why most Chinese restaurants are open on Christmas Day. Why we do isn’t really a mystery at all. It’s delicious, it’s different and we always treat ourselves to good food.
What I want to do is to invite you to look a little farther south than China, past Thailand (Jews love Thai food, too) to the country of Malaysia, where cooking traditions from China, India, the Malay and European countries have melded and become fabulous food.
Malaysian food is not bland; it is seasoned with coconut, chilies and, yes, sometimes curry. I know people balk and say, “I don’t like curry.” That’s because they’ve never had it done right. Good curry is a subtle enhancement that brings the flavor of all the ingredients together; bad curry is when all you taste is curry. Good curry, delicious curry, is delicate and wonderful.
I will admit that adventure eaters, and you know who you are, will be the ones who are most likely to try Malaysian, but there are delicious chicken noodle soups and other dishes that even the faint of heart will enjoy. Personally, I love roti. Every culture has its version of a tortilla, and the Malaysian version is called roti canai (pronounced row tee cha-nye). These handmade, buttery and flaky flatbreads are used for dipping and as a means to convey food to your waiting mouth.
B and P are the initials of the city the owners come from in Malaysia, and the BP Street Café is a family operation. The restaurant is sparsely decorated, a sign that the focus is on food not ambiance, and the owners and staff are friendly and genuinely excited to see you. I don’t like it when restaurants use the term homemade, and BP doesn’t, but their food is clearly what you would have if you were invited over to a Malaysian house for dinner. The owner called it “family cooked.” I like that. Another great feature is the prices. There wasn’t an entrée over $7.50. I’ll bet the Arizona State University students like that; the owner said, “So do families.” I like that, too.
Thai Tea
The ingredients weren’t listed on the menu, but this is an iced drink made with strong tea and deliciously sweetened with orange blossom water. There may have been a few other ingredients in there, but it was absolutely delicious. It’s almost like dessert. I had to make myself sip it slowly.
Roti Canai $2.50
(Indian-style pancake served with spicy curry chicken and potato dipping sauce)
This appetizer I was looking forward to the most. You just can’t find roti canai, and I don’t think you can make it yourself unless you were weaned on it. What a pleasant surprise to find this perfectly grilled, flaky flatbread, dare I call it pastry, served with a delicate (not spicy like the description said) red curry sauce with a chunk of chicken and potato in it. I could have had 10 of these. There was a hint of coconut in the sauce, and the flavors were complex and rich. The pancake, as they called it, can totally be eaten by itself. It’s that good.
Nasi Lemak $7.50
(Coconut-flavored rice with cloves and yellow onion served with chili anchovies, fried chicken, cucumber and hard-boiled egg)
OK, there’s a lot to explain here. The rice is heavenly – soft, tender, moist and a maze of delicate flavors. You can’t see cloves, you can’t see onion, you can’t see coconut, but you can taste each one of those flavors in every forkful of rice. The fried chicken was a boneless, skinless breast that had been brined and battered, then fried to a golden brown. It was good. I always see hard-boiled eggs on Malaysian dishes; I don’t know why but it’s a nice complement. To my surprise, there were also some roasted peanuts on the plate, which were great. I say surprise because they weren’t listed in the description, which could be a problem for those with a nut allergy.
As for the chili anchovies, what I think they meant was the little side of dipping sauce. It was a sambal, a paste, lovingly made from red chilies and other ingredients (probably dried anchovies and peanuts, and I just now figured out why there were peanuts on the plate). It was more sweet than it was hot and nice for dipping the chicken. The owner called it “Mama sauce,” because she makes it for her mother. There’s also “Papa sauce,” which is more of a Chinese-style liquid chili sauce.
Even though this is a simple dish to the eye, you can taste it’s not simple at all. There are many delicious flavors at work and no shortcuts are taken. Try it!
Kway Teow Mee $7.50
(Popular Malaysian stir-fried mixed flat noodle/egg noodle)
This sounded delicious to me and I ordered it. The owner said, “You know it comes with shrimp.” No, I didn’t know because it doesn’t say it on the menu, and I have no idea why she sensed I should know. “Could I have chicken instead,” I asked. She nodded and in a few minutes came back with a steaming plate of stir-fry goodness. There were two types of noodles and chunks of chicken. I asked for a side of the Papa sauce and went to work. I usually eat with chopsticks but forgot to ask. You can order it spicy and I did, but it didn’t seem spicy at all. Maybe they were protecting me, but I would have liked a little more kick to it. All in all, very well made – and oh that price!
The BP Street Café is an unassuming little gem located in a strip mall on the SE corner of McClintock and Southern in Tempe. It’s tucked behind a Burger King, and you wouldn’t know it was there unless you were looking for it. Look for it. Eat, try something new and talk with the owners. It’s easy on the wallet, and you will learn about Malaysia and its cuisine and have an international experience at college student prices. You’ll be glad you went.
