Yesterday afternoon a friend called me to ask if I wanted to go to dinner at her boyfriend’s favorite Chinese place before we all went to a birthday party. Before I could respond that I was in, she said, “I have to warn you, it’s a total dive.” This did nothing but make me look forward to it more, because I love dives. I like the restaurants that no one knows about, the places that look grubby and gross on the outside, but are wonderful (and typically really cheap) once you give them a chance.

She told me to meet them at the Asia Cafe on 8th Street, just north of Washington Ave at 7:30. She was waiting for me when I walked in, the boyfriend was off looking for parking, and I have to admit, it was far sketchier in person than I was prepared for, even coming forewarned. There were the illuminated pictures of menu options stretching across a wall, remininscent of the Chinese takeout places in North Philly that have bullet proof plexiglass up to protect the cashier.

We sat down and the waitress brought us hot tea and water. I started to give the menu a first glance and sat up in surprise and excitement. It wasn’t your standard Chinese restaurant faire. Those options were there, but there were also several columns of Malaysian food, including a lot of the stuff I lived on the summer I spent in Indonesia. They have a whole page of juices, ices and drinks, the red bean juice and avocado juice both made me excited. I’ve got to back for them someday when I’m really hungry. We ordered gado-gado to start out with, and it was terrific, fresh ingredients, amazing peanut sauce and topped with fish chips. After that, my memory of what we ordered starts to get fuzzy. I know I got the Chicken Curry Noodles, which were terrific. The Pad Thai also ended up on our table, and it was so yummy. They use a wider rice noodle than most places, but they were tender and carried the sauce and bean sprouts to our mouths very effectively. There were a couple of other noodle dishes that we excellent as well. I think that you probably wouldn’t go wrong with any of their Malaysian offerings.

The best part of the evening? Five dishes and three pots of tea later, the bill came to $32. And we all took home leftovers. I am already planning my next visit.