Healthy NYC Restaurant Reviews- Nyonya

We are going Malaysian with this week’s installment of the Healthy NYC Restaurant Reviews- a weekly blog post where we explore ways to eat healthy without while eating out. This week we we will take a look at NYONYA a Malaysian restaurant located at 194 GRAND STREET, MANHATTAN 10013. Note that when I last ate at Nyona, their health inspection rating was 10 (industry average is 14 and anything over 28 points requires serious work on the part of the establishment), however in doing this review, their last inspection left them with 34 violation points.

From the NYC Departement of Health Inspections:

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.
Sanitary Violations
1.) Thawing procedures improper.
2.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Let us hope that they quickly remedy this situation as the food there is pretty good and worthy of a high recommendation. Remember to always look up a restaurants inspection report before eating there, it is just a good practice.

The first thing that strikes you on a Malaysian menu is the abundance of peanut and curry sauces, (both are fine in moderation) as well as an abundance of seafood and healthy protein dishes. Looking at the menu at Nyonya, the appetizer section is filled with many wholesome choices for anyone trying to keep their eating patterns on the straight and narrow path. As always, don’t have appetizers if you are eating later in the day or are not going to be terribly active after your meal, (see my article- Managing Your Carbohydrates  for more information about food timing). Always try to veer towards the protein selections for an appetizer, like the Nyonya Satay Chicken Beef,  marinated chicken or beef on skewers or something more veggie based like the Achat, pickeled vegetables.The Roti Canai is really good, I will be honest with you, a light crispy wrap that is eaten with a curry dipping sauce, very much like the roti that I grew up with in Trinidad, but crispier. It is great, but with this dish, moderation is the key. If you do get it, make sure you share it with a friend and don’t get seconds (which isn’t as easy as you would think).

On to the Entree selections there are a host of great plates, try to stay away from the fried foods as always, and remember that crispy tends to mean fried! The seafood at Nyonya has a range of everything from Red Snapper, Tilapia, Striped Bass & Chilean Seabass in addition to crab and shrimp. There often seems to be some confusion as to whether shrimp is considered healthy food, and my response is that as long as it is not fried or pasted in butter, it really isn’t any different from any other protein source and has all the healthy fats you need as well. A lot of the dishes come with sauces, which for good measure you should ask for on the side and use sparingly. The Steamed Fish in Ginger Paste and the Curry Red Snapper with okra are great, and if you really are on a strict diet, you can even ask them to steam the fish for you without any sauce added. The Crabs In Special Aromatic Flavor works as well as does the Sauteed Frog with Ginger and Scallion for the more daring diners! (They even have a little warning that you ask the waiter about it before you order it, just so you understand what you are getting.)

Nyonya also has great casseroles, Chicken in Claypot and rice dishes, Duck with Ginger and Scallion over rice being a good one. They also serve a mean Curried Chicken with Rice for those that like a little spic in their rice. There are many steamed chicken dishes to choose from, Mainanese Chicken, Spicy Thai Chickenand some great vegetable dishes as well. All in all Nyonya is a great place and I do believe that in my travels you can go into a Malaysian Restaurant and eat well. Thanks for tuning in and I will see you next week!

Overview:

Nyonya-194 GRAND STREET, MANHATTAN 10013
Food Type: Malaysian
Price: On the cheap side
Quality Rating: I give the food 3 and stars out of 5 and the décor and ambiance 3 stars.
Diet Friendly Rating: 3.5 stars. There are a adequate selections that you can order here and stay on point!
Health Rating: A passing not so great recent grade from the NYC Department of Health  with some violations listed.

Malaysian Cuisine Rules For Staying In Shape

1.  Ask for sauces on the side, have appetizers only if you are going to be active later or if it is earlier in the day.
2. Choose protein foods as appetizers, and go easy on the roti.
3. Have water as your main drink- you’ll save a lot of calories that way and skip the sake!
4. Don’t overdo it. Think in terms of having a quality dining experience and not paying to fill your stomach to the point of bursting.
5. Learn to do without dessert. Like anything else, the taste for sweets is learned and anything learned can be unlearned with time. (Read my article here about controlling your eating habits)
6. Enjoy yourself!

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Another installment of the now weekly Healthy NYC Restaurant Reviews- where I help people realize that being in great shape doesn’t mean that you don’t ever get to eat out or have a normal social life, as there are always ways to have a quality dining experience and not compromise your diet. Every week I feature a new cuisine, and the great part about the reviews is that even though a specific NYC restaurant is reviewed, the rules used to make better and healthier dish selections apply to any restaurant with the same cuisine for the most part. This week we feature the Indian Cuisine of Tamarind Restaurant in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. Thanks for reading my posts and I hope that they go a long way to helping you stay healthy while still being able to have a good time with friends and family.

Review

I will admit that I do have a bias towards Indian foods. One of the interesting parts of coming from the West Indies is the merging of so many cultures and peoples to create a very unique and cosmopolitan society. Indian delicacies are very much a staple in the island of Trinidad where I grew up and that my great-great grandparents were from India has imprinted on me a certain affinity for both the food and culture.
I was introduced to TamarindRestaurant by one of my best friends when we met for lunch as it was very close to where I worked at the time and ever since it has been one of my top picks for Indian food in New York City. The décor at this restaurant is extremely impressive and is a great match for the great quality of food served there. One point that I have not made in past reviews has been that I always check the Department of Health Restaurant Inspection Information for each and every restaurant that I go to. I had a bout of food poisoning about a decade and a half ago that awarded me a night in the hospital and I learned after that experience to always err on the side of caution when eating out. It is a great service that most New Yorkers are not too aware of- that you can get up to date health information on just about any restaurant in NYC just from a click of the mouse, and I encourage everyone to do a check of the places that they frequent- as they might be a bit surprised at times as to the number and nature of violations. That being said, Tamarind has a clean bill of health with a more than decent passing grade from the DOH after cleaning up their act some with a near failing grade several inspections before. ( You can get a detailed review of inspections for any restaurnat in NYC here.)
Today I will go over the lunch menu at Tamarind, as it is still fresh in my memory from a business meeting that I had there several weeks ago (the restaurant is only a stone’s throw away from the 19th Street Gym where I have my personal training business). Tamarind can be a bit on the pricey side (and worth it in my opinion) but they do have a prix fixe lunch menu for only $24.00 (tax and gratuity not included). For a restaurant of this pedigree, I would call this a true steal, and the menu items are indeed diet friendly, if you know what you are getting. As a rule, soups at restaurants are usually not a great idea as the sodium content can be several times the amount required for several days all in one bowl of soup! It doesn’t have to taste salty to be high in sodium and for the water retention and health hazard it can be for those with pre-existing conditions it isn’t worth it. The answer to “Soup or salad?” is always “Salad.” Here for lunch they have some great protein choices as appetizers- Masaledar Boti Kabab Masala- grilled lamb in a tomato sauce and Nizami Machli Tikkasalmon marinated in yogurt, fenugreek leaves, carom seeds, chickpea flour andmustard oil both are great picks and come in portions adequate enough to satisfy your taste buds without overdoing it on your stomach. (When eating out I always tell my clients that being full is not the goal of a quality eating experience, the goal is to enjoy your food and if you really want to see your waistline stay trim, always leave with your stomach just about two thirds full.) For the dinner menu there are more selections, but as a rule I would advise you to try to stick to proteins as an appetizer and don’t have the higher carbohydrate choices if it is late in the day or if you are not going to be very active afterwards. The roti ( a special whole wheat unleavened bread) is to die for, but only have it in moderation.
For the lunch entrees almost everything is acceptable if you keep the sauces on the side and stay away from the dairy products. The Pudine Ke Tikke- a marinated chicken tandoori dish, Potli Baigan- stuffed eggplant (ask for the sauce on the side) and the Hyderabadi Korma- a delicious braised lamb. Again ask for the sauce on the side. All the main courses are served with   potato, green peas tikki, spinach rice, onion seed kulcha, and a vegetable, so Tamarind is really a place where you can go out to eat and not have to feel guilty about enjoying yourself. Dessert, well, I wish I could say that it would not be a problem, but I always try to press home the point that you don’t have to end a meal with something sweet. Before the 1870’s sugar really wasn’t part of the lives of most people on the planet, and we were far healthier for it!

For dinner the choices are almost endless, everything from chicken to goat to lamb to seafood. Once you adhere to the guidelines outlined above, pretty much everything is on the menu for you with a couple of tweaks here and there. I hope you enjoyed this week’s guide and tune in for next week’s review!

Overview:

 Tamarind-  41 E 22nd Street, Btwn Bway & Park Ave (Flatiron)
Food Type: Indian
 Price:A bit on the expensive side, but they have a great $24 prix fixe lunch.
Quality Rating: I give the food 4 and stars out of 5 and the décor and ambiance 4 stars.
Diet Friendly Rating: 4 stars. There are a lot of things that you can order here and stay on point!
Health Rating: A passing grade from the NYC Department of Health after cleaning up their act some.

Indian Cuisine Rules For Staying In Shape:

 
1.  Ask for sauces on the side, have appetizers only if you are going to be active later or if it is earlier in the day.
2. Choose protein foods as appetizers, especially if you are going to be eating a lot of carbohydratetype foods such as nan and roti with your entrée.
3. Have water as your main drink- you’ll save a lot of calories that way.
4. Don’t overdo it. Think in terms of having a quality dining experience and not paying to fill your stomach to the point of bursting.
5. Learn to do without dessert. Like anything else, the taste for sweets is learned and anything learned can be unlearned with time.
6. Enjoy yourself!
 

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Lose weight, build real muscle and get Superfit training only 10 minutes 3 times a week! That’s the slogan and the 100% guarantee of the Naturally Intense System of Diet & Exercise™ created by visionary NYC personal trainer, internationally renowned natural bodybuilder and fitness expert, Kevin Richardson. Get a copy of Kevin’s free award winning weight loss ebook here!