Over the past few years, Sydney has lost some of its oldest venues. Take Cafe Hernandez (that was reborn as Vermuteria), the OG Golden Century and Tetsuya’s. In a city addicted to the buzz of the new, it’s not easy to keep a restaurant going for more than 60 years. The Malaya is bucking the trend.

The Malaysian restaurant’s secret? Moving when the city moves. Having opened near Railway Square in 1963, the family-owned restaurant relocated to King Street Wharf in 2001. This March it’ll run its final service there before joining the CBD mix in April.

“After 23 years [at King Street Wharf], it feels like the right time for a new start,” Duan Wong, who now runs The Malaya with his sister Isabella, tells Broadsheet. “The city has definitely moved away from where we are – there’s a lot of development around where we’re going, with The Rocks rejuvenating and Martin Place taking off again.”

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Two expansive floors, split into four spaces, make up the new venue. “It’s a quarter-pie shape, which has been a nightmare for building, because there are no straight lines,” Wong says.

Small groups will be fighting over the cosy wine room, while large ones will want to take over a breezy outdoor terrace overlooking George Street. Beautifully coloured, custom-built, modular waiter stations will light up the dining room. “It feels special. You can be seated in different areas and experience a different environment and dining experience. It’s like you’re walking into a complex, not just one restaurant.”

With the move will come two significant menu changes. The first is the introduction of always-available live seafood. No more ordering in advance – you can walk in, sit down and opt for mud crab or pippies without any planning. The second is a drinks overhaul. “We’re completely redoing it. We’re introducing a sommelier team, who’ll be elevating the wines, to bring in fresher styles.” (Look out for a bunch of new rieslings, which pair well with restaurant’s fiery dishes.)

The Wongs are committed to keep doing what they’ve always done, which is what (in addition to the staying-on-the-front-foot address changes) has made them popular for so long. “We’re not looking to change the menu too much, apart from freshening up some dishes,” says Wong.

If you’ve been eating at The Malaya since it opened, you can count on the laksa made to the 1963 recipe, as well as the original curries, given a fiery kick with the restaurant’s secret six-spice blend.

“People like new and shiny things, but we’ve bucked that trend, and it’s worked well for us,” says Wong. “Maybe they just like knowing there’s something consistent, and they can keep coming back.

“When we started near Railway Square, we were close to Sydney Uni and UTS. A lot of our first customers were students, who discovered us in the ’70s and ’80s, when the restaurant was simpler and cheaper. Now they’re working in the CBD, so we’ve moved with them, and as they’ve grown, the restaurant has changed.”

The Malaya will run its final service at King Street Wharf on March 29, 2025, before opening at Grosvenor Place, 225 George Street, in early April 2025.

themalaya.com.au
@themalayarestaurant