Old malls such as the likes of Textile Centre has always been particularly interesting to us whenever we are just passing by the location — chanced upon the new House of Malaysia 大马美食之屋 at the ground floor of the building one day whilst going around the building. Turns out, House of Malaysia does seem to have been an establishment that had been re-branded from the now-defunct Don Don Express which had occupied the space prior to the moving-in of House of Malaysia — some interesting cues on this that we have noted includes disposable bowls that are branded with Don Don Express’s logos and how the Facebook page of House of Malaysia does have an image of the menu previously offered by Don Don Express as well. That being said, the space did see a slight revamp transiting from Don Don Express to House of Malaysia — while there isn’t much work done to the walls and floors of the establishment, there is a large use of neon lighting that attempts to attract passers-by considering how the unit it occupies is hidden around one of the aisles that is deeper within the complex. Otherwise, one can describe the interior furnishing and fittings at House of Malaysia to be pretty much on the functional side of things — more for the practicality rather than the form. For its food offerings, House of Malaysia attempts to serve up a taste of Malaysia at Textile Centre; the food menu is being split up into several categories including that of Johor Pandan Nasi Lemak, Muar Wanton Mee, Penang Prawn Mee, KL Chili Pan Mee and Malacca Curry Laksa. In terms of beverages, expect Nanyang-style Kopi & Teh, Milo, Chinese Tea and soft drinks — just to name a few.

It does seem that there are a number of articles which one can find about House of Malaysia despite how new they are — having seen the articles and also the illustrations of the dishes that they have to offer on its menu, we found ourselves intrigued with their KL Signature Chilli Ban Mian that is listed under the “KL Chilli Ban Mee” section of the menu. While the menu does not describe the elements that are included in their variation of the KL Signature Chilli Ban Mian that they serve up here at House of Malaysia, we found the elements included to be pretty similar to what we have been having at Chilli Pan Mee (Batu Rd) at Telok Ayer all these while — elements in the bowl included minced pork, chili, anchovies, noodles, fried shallots and a sous-vide egg.

Gave it a good mix so that all of the elements could come together; the flavours were actually pretty on point considering how the chili provided a hint of umami against the slight fiery spiciness that tickles the tongue — all that while the sous vide egg comes with a runny egg yolk that provides a good texture to the noodles and all the other elements to gel them together. We felt that the minced pork came a little lumpy for our liking; would have liked it a bit more “loose” so that there isn’t too much of a strong meatiness that would get in the way of the chili. Meanwhile, the noodles were also a little harder than what we would have liked them to be; lacks the springiness that we would typically prefer. Otherwise, the other elements are decent; the anchovies and fried shallots being just crisp enough with an additional saltishness that gives a bit of flavour contrast to the dish. We had also given other dishes such as the Kaya Butter Toast and the Kopi a go during our visit; the former’s bread wasn’t really toasted for long enough and was oddly dry without being crisp — they also have seemed to use margarine over butter here. The Hot Kopi fared slightly better than the iced one, with the latter being rather watered down. Overall; the food at House of Malaysia felt like hits and misses, though they seem to have a slightly stronger suit in noodle fishes based off from what we had tried — definitely not an establishment for a gastronomical affair nonetheless. That being said, it does seem like a decent spot to stop by for a wallet-friendly meal — the lowest-priced main being the Fish Fillet Nasi Lemak at $3.80, and all items are priced comfortably below $10 except for the Hom Prawn Mee Set that is priced at $12. Not a spot that we would recommend one to make an out-of-the-way visit for, but somewhere to consider dining at for those whom are not too picky with their food and on a tighter budget.