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TGI Fry-Day: Crispy Bean Curd at Sanur

TGI Fry-Day

Explorations of the frying arts.

Max Falkowitz
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Published: February 15, 2013 Last Updated: August 9, 2018
20130215-sanur-crispy-tofu-2.jpg

[Photograph: Max Falkowitz]

Sanur is not a great Malaysian restaurant. But it's an exceptionally cheap one, with a funky basement dining room—see the intricate shadow puppets on the wall and the Madonna sountrack—so at home on Chinatown's Doyers Street that you feel like it's been there forever.

It isn't the first place I'd take someone for a meal in Chinatown, but when I want to catch up with a friend in a quiet, cozy quiet place, Sanur is on my rotation. The order: Singapore rice noodles, Penang-style fried cubes, endless tea refills, and this Crispy Bean Curd ($4.75).

20130215-sanur-crispy-tofu.jpg

You may recognize the dish as rojak, an Indonesian salad of fried bits like tofu and potato topped with a sweet peanut sauce and sometimes crunchy shrimp chips. The dish is all about the play of sweetness and crunch with a little heat for balance, and for the most part Sanur gets it. The dressing isn't totally loaded with excess sugar, and the tofu retains a delicate crunch beneath it. There's a mild fish funkiness to the dish, a happy savory edge against the sweetness.

Sanur

18 Doyers Street, New York, NY 10013 (map) 212-267-0088

All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

Max Falkowitz Editor Emeritus
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Max Falkowitz used to work here. These days, he’s a food and travel writer for The New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, New York magazine’s Grub Street, GQ, and elsewhere. He’s also the coauthor of The Dumpling Galaxy Cookbook with Helen You.
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