Malaysian frenzy continues: Tropika

August 17th, 2006, 6:33 pm · 2 Comments · posted by Cynthia Furey

So here’s an update from Tamara Chuang who brought you the dish from her family’s visit to KL Malaysia. This time, the family pulled up chairs at Tropika in Tustin. The lady with the blue streaks in her hair reports:

Much better taste wise and style wise. The restaurant looks more ‘exotic’ than the plain-Chinese decor of KL Malaysia. But the bill was also twice as much. With the chef hailing from the Penang restaurant in West Covina - our favorite Malaysian restaurant in SoCal - we were already used to his style and flavorings. Everything tasted more authentic to the flavors I remember in Penang, Malaysia, the region my mother is from. We all gave it two big thumbs up, including the pickiest eater, my mother.

Click here to see a slideshow of Tamara’s dinner.

Tropika, 17460 E. 17th St., Tustin. 714-505-9908.

Share this post:

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Sidney Stone says:

August 30, 2006 at 4:32 pm

Thanks for highlighting this restaurant! I took my wine group there and they loved it! The rendang lamb was especially yummy

Craig says:

August 30, 2006 at 11:07 pm

We went there this evening and were pleasantly surprised. We love Thai, but have been wanting to find a Malaysian place ever since our days in Berkeley. The food, service and decor of this restaurant are just perfect. We ordered the Tropika dinner this time, replacing the beef dish with a lamb curry. They first brought out a naan-like flat bread (roti?) along with a curry dipping sauce. The bread was actually a bit sweeter than naan and somewhat delicate. The dipping sauce was somewhere in between Indian and Thai curry, being made with coconut milk. But, it had this very dark and earthy spice that distinguished it from anything we’ve ever had. Very cool for starters. The satays were typical of most Thai places, except the peanut-based sauce was anything but routine. Again, the flavoring was quite distinct. They then brought out various rice dishes, and the main dishes of lamb curry and a shrimp curry. These were again very distinctive and outstanding.

This place is easy to find, being right next to Zov’s (on the South side; easiest way to go is to park on the east side of Zov’s and the place on the left is Tropika). They stock a full bar and have a limited but tasteful wine selection. The waitstaff are very friendly and attentive. We’ll definitely be going back. If you like Thai and Indian food and want to try something a little unique, this is the place to check out!

Orange County Register