Rasa Malaysian Cafe

Since 1994, this cheery family-run outfit across the road from Monash Uni has been dishing up 'real deal' Malaysian and Nonya cuisine. The decor's pleasant enough and the vibe is relaxed, yet it's the lip-smacking dishes are the key draw. Take, for instance, the seafood tom yum, where heady lime-spiked broth works a treat with tender poached prawns, fish, scallops and mussels in the shell. A char kwai teow shows smoking wok deftness: it's a charry jumble of flat rice noodles, prawns, sliced Chinese sausage, fishcakes, garlic chives and beansprouts.